RUBBER PLANTING 115 



If the growing of an intercrop is decided upon, care 

 must be taken to allow plenty of space for the growth 

 of the rubber in its early stages. As the trees develop, 

 the shade of the rubber will generally bring the life of 

 the subsidiary crop to a close after it has served its 

 purpose. All traces of the latter must then be cleared 

 away, and no dead remains be left to serve as a centre 

 for the spread of fungus diseases. 



Cultivation and Manuring. 



Few data exist with regard to the effect of cultivation 

 on growth. Frequent deep forking has been tried on a 

 small scale in Ceylon, and has apparently no harmful 

 effect upon the trees. It is hardly to be expected that 

 this expensive operation can lead to much financial 

 profit when carried out over wide areas, although on 

 sloping ground an occasional forking has a marked 

 effect in checking wash. Mr Tisdall informs me that 

 cases of wonderful development in growth have occurred 

 as the result of annual deep forking in fields which were 

 thought unsuitable for Hevea, owing to the slowness 

 of growth during the early stages. Where the con- 

 ditions are favourable for the employment of agricultural 

 machinery, deep cultivation may profitably be employed 

 between the rows of rubber, in connection with the 

 eradication of weeds during the early stages of growth. 

 More often than not the use of such machinery will 

 be prevented by the frequency of drains, by the presence 



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