CHAPTER III. 

 CULTIVATION OF PARA RUBBER TREES. 



Rate of growth — Size of trees at Henaratgoda, Peradeniya, Edangoda, 

 and parts of Ceylon— Illustrations showing Para rubber on rocky 

 hillsides and in drained swampy land — Kegalla, Knuckles, Nttambe, 

 Katugastota, Sabaragamuwa, Wattegama, Kalutara, Mat ale, 

 Baddegama — Spread of foliage each year from 2nd to 30th year 

 — Rate of growth in the Gold Coast — Height and circumference — 

 Rate of growth in the Straits, Perak, Selangor — Carruthers on 

 rate of growth in F. M. S. — Rate of Growth in India — Mergui, 

 Slievaroy, Nilgiris — High average incremental growth in the 

 Straits — Leaf-fall — Root System — Propagation of plants — Shade 

 and wind in the F. M. S. and Ceylon — Planting operations — 

 Illustration showing a rubber clearing and nursery in Ceylon 

 — Nurseries — Fencing — Draining — Distance, Holing, and Planting 

 — Close planting and available tapping area — Number of trees 

 per acre— Distance for rubber alone and catch crops — Pruning 

 Para rubber — Principles and effect — Measurements of straight- 

 stemmed and forked trees in Ceylon — Inter and eateli crops — 

 Cacao, Coffee, Tea, Groundnuts, Lemon-grass, Cassava— Future 

 of inter crops — Illustrations showing Para rubber and cacao at 

 Kepitigalla — Para rubber and Tea on Nikakotua estate — Para 

 rubber and tea on Undugoda estate, Kegalle— Para rubber and 

 cacao on Dangan Estate, Matale. 



Rate of Growth and Size of Mature Trees in Ceylon. 



rrHE rate of growtli depends upon the nature of the soil and 

 1. climate and the care which lias been exercised in selecting seed 

 parents and in planting operations. In districts having a rainfall of 

 about 100 inches per year, an average mean annual temperature of 

 80° F., and soil of medium quality, the trees will grow about six to 

 ten feet in height every year for the first three or four years and attain 

 a height of 80 to 90 feet within thirty years. The growth in circum- 

 ference is by no means slow ; trees one year old from planting may 

 have a circumference of three to four inches, and they usually 

 increase at the rate of four to five inches each year for the first few 

 years when planted as a single product. During the first few years 

 the growth is mainly in length, and the rapid increase in girth is 



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