132 THE RUBBER INDUSTRY 



Valley, and other districts, to that of 1,700 feet at Pera- 

 deniya and the vicinity of Kandy. The development 

 of Para rubber-trees at elevations from sea-level to a 

 height of 700 feet in the districts of Kelani Valley, 

 Kalutara, and those lying to the south of Adam's Peak, 

 is undoubtedly much greater than is obtained at the 

 higher altitudes around and to the north of Kandy, but 

 this may be accounted for to a very great extent by the 

 more abundant rainfall in the former area. 



The rainfall is very unevenly distributed throughout 

 the island. To the south of the range of mountains of 

 which Adam's Peak is the central point, the annual 

 fall varies from 132 inches to 170 inches ; in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Kandy it is from 72 inches to 92 inches ; 

 in the district of Matale it averages 75 inches. In the 

 northern section of the island, at Anuradhapura and 

 the surrounding districts, the annual fall is frequently 

 below 40 inches. The moisture brought by the north- 

 east and south-west monsoons is precipitated by the 

 mountain ranges in the vicinity of Adam's Peak, 7,200 

 feet above sea-level. 



The soil throughout the rubber-growing districts is 

 a gritty and somewhat sandy red loam. A large pro- 

 portion of the planted sections were cultivated many 

 years before the introduction of the rubber industry, 

 and humus and topsoil have been washed away by 

 constant heavy rainfall. Many plantations are located 

 on rocky hillsides, and the trees are thriving under 

 those conditions. To remedy the effects of the loss of 

 topsoil, the practice of manuring has become accepted 

 as a necessity on nearly all plantations, and, as a 

 general rule, this work is commenced immediately 

 the young trees are planted. The usual practice is to 



