PARA RUBBER. 21 



Where the trees are planted closer than 10 x 15 feet apart they 

 will probably show a greater height and smaller circumference. 

 One tree, ten years old, grown more or less in the open, lias a spread 

 of 36 feet, whereas one of the same age surrounded with other trees 

 has a spread of only 20 feet. The largest tree in Ceylon , now thirty 

 years old from seed, measures about 90 feet in height and 109i 

 inches in circumference, and there are many others of the same age 

 which have a circumference of 8 to 9 feet and a height in proportion 

 to the above examples. Several of the Henaratgoda trees, owing 

 to their being too closely planted, have only a branch spread of 15 to 

 20 feet in diameter. (See Plate 1, Series A.) 



Rate of Growth in the Gold C< >ast. 

 Plants have been established in the Botanic Gardens,* Aburi, 

 at different dates, and most of them have made very rapid growth. 

 Some of the trees only IS months old are 10 feet high, and have stems 

 3 inches in diameter. The following table shows the growth of cer- 

 tain trees at different ages in the Gold Coast : — 



1 .. (i .. — 



Pate of Growth in the Straits. 

 The growth in most parts of the Straits is considered to be very 

 encouraging and superior to that obtained in many other Para rub- 

 ber-growing countries. In Perakf 11-year-old specimens may he 

 70-75 feet high andhavea mean girth of i\ feet, at 3 feet from the 

 base. 



Age in Circumference at a Yard Height 

 Years. from Base in Inches. Ft. 



Trees in F.M.S. . . 3\ 17.', — 



. . 4 22| 30 



. . 10 54 65*75 



At Perak.J . . 10 50 79 



Trees on an estate in Selangor grew to a height of over 30 

 feet and attained a girth of 19 inches in four years. At Perak, 

 an 18-year-old tree growing at Kuala. Kangsar, has a girth of 8ft. 

 6 inches at a yard from the ground. Phenomenal growth in some 

 parts of the Straits is often met with, trees is months old being 

 sometimes nearly 30 feet high, and trees 8 years old having a 

 circumference of 45 or more inches a yard from the ground. 

 According to Carruthers the rate of growth in the Federated Malay 

 States cannot be definitely given but 3 to !> inches girth in 2 years, 

 10 to 30 inches in 4 to years, and 30 to 60 inches in 7 to 10 years 

 are quoted as averages by that ge ntleman. 



* Johnson, Report on Rubber in the Gold Coast, 1905. 

 t Annual Report, F. M. S., for 1902, by Stanlej Arden. 

 JAgr. Bui. of the Straits and F. 31. !>., June, l'J02. 



