92 RUBBER PLANTING IN CEYLON 



I was also fortunate enough to have the time for another rickstiaw 

 ride over Orchard Road to the Botanic Gardens. Here I found that 

 Director Ridley's right hand man, Mr. De Alweis, had made a set of 

 photographs for me that embraced the whole of their varied growths of 

 India-rubber and Gutta-percha trees. One of the most striking of these 

 was the photograph of the Hevea seed beds, in which the effect of various 

 manures was shown. The experiments covered the use of poudrette, 

 mixed lime and soil, burnt earth and leaves, cow dung, and burnt earth. 

 As may be seen in the illustration on this page, the rubber trees planted 

 with cow dung far surpassed all the others in height and sturdy growth. 



The next day I said farewell to Singapore and was well on my way 

 to China, Japan, the Sandwich Islands, San Francisco, and home ; that 

 in brief is the finish of my visit to the rubber plantations in the Far East. 



On my way home I met those who were deeply interested in rubber 

 culture, as a future development of the rich lands in French Indo China, 

 British North Borneo, and Sumatra in fact, wherever there is the con- 

 junction of proper soil, climate, and cheap labor. Even the Japanese are 

 preparing to plant rubber in Formosa. In the Philippines there is little 

 present interest, as the shutting out of Chinese and Javanese labor makes 

 the installation and care of a plantation far too costly to be remunerative. 



