CHAPTER I. 

 HISTORY OF PARA RUBBER IN THE EAST. 



Work of Chapman, Wickham and Cross — Illustration showing old 

 trees — Propagation from cuttings from two to three-year-old trees — 

 Flowering for the first time in Ceylon and the Straits — First seed in 

 Ceylon and the Straits — Distribution of seeds and plants from Ceylon- 

 Cultivation — Yields — Preparation — Value — Export, and Acreage of 

 Para rubber in Ceylon from 1884 to 1906 — Distribution of Ceylon 

 rubber — Acreage in Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and India- 

 Acreage in parts of Ceylon during 1906 — Eastern rubber areas 

 owned by public companies — Characters of the Para rubber tree — 

 Illustration of leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of Hevea brasiliensis 

 — The Laticiferous system — Origin — Distribution and characters 

 — Functions of the latex — Anatomical details illustrated. 



History of Introduction to Ceylon and the East. 



THOUGH rubber had been known for many years it was not 

 until 1875 that the now famous Para rubber was seriously 

 talked about in Ceylon. In the following year nearly two thousand 

 seedlings of Hevea brasiliensis were despatched to Peradeniya, 

 Ceylon, from Kew. These were contained in Wardian cases and 

 arrived by the ss. " Duke of Devonshire " in excellent condition, 

 under the care of Mr. W. Chapman. They were raised from seeds 

 collected by Mr. Wickham who succeeded in securing 70,000 in the 

 Ciringals of the Rio Tapajos. 



Mr. Cross was also sent to South America to bring home plants 

 in case the transmission of living seed should prove impossible. He 

 arrived at Kew in November, 1876, and brought with him about 

 1 ,080 seedlings without soil, of which, with the greatest care, scarcely 

 three per cent, were saved ; from these, about 100 plants were pro- 

 pagated at Kew and subsequently sent to Ceylon. A photograph of 

 a Para rubber plantation at Henaratgoda with trees 15 to 20 years of 

 age is shown on Plate 1, Series A. The cost of procuring the seeds 

 and plants, including freight and other expenses, appears to have 

 been no less than £1,505 4s. 2d., or an equivalent of about Rs. 11 

 for every plant delivered in Ceylon. The whole expenditure was 

 borne by the Indian Government. 



Propagation from Cuttings and the First Seeds 

 in the East. 

 The plants were first propagated from cuttings, the twigs from 

 two to three-year-old trees being used for this purpose, and a con- 

 signment of 500 rooted plants was sent to British Burma and Mad- 

 ras in 1878. 



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