30 PARA RUBBER. 



An interesting series of figures obtained in the Kaiidy District 

 showed that trees of the same age, which had branched at a point 

 12 to 14 feet above ground, had an average circumference of 19 

 inches, and those which had branched at 5 and 8 feet from the 

 ground had an average of 26 inches. 



In the Kalutara District trees of the same age, but divided at 

 the base into two, three, and four stems respectively, measured, 

 in stem circumferences per tree, 14*4, 18 • 1 , and 22 inches respective- 

 ly. In all parts of the Island the increased circumference due to 

 forking of the trees can be seen, and the fact has even been noted 

 in the annual report of a prominent Company largely interested in 

 rubber. 



The Neboda Tea Co. of Ceylon, Ltd., in their annual report 

 for 1905, state that the two tallest trees show the smallest girth, 

 and the shortest and well-branched trees the best. 

 Inter and Catch Crops. 



Where the rubber plants are closer than 10 to 15 feet the culti- 

 vation of inter or catch crops is limited to about four to eight years. 

 Cassava, bananas, cacao, coffee, chillies, groundnuts, lemon grass, 

 pepper, gingelly, and perhaps tobacco and cotton, are amongst the 

 most notable products for use under such conditions. If the inter- 

 crops are such that they can under ordinary circumstances 

 be grown permanently — as cacao and coffee — it is better to grow 

 them only in widely-planted rubber and to arrange them among 

 the rubber plants, so that a fair root space is available for all the 

 plants. Cacao and coffee are among the best products to be grown 

 as intercrops in rubber, and are being cultivated extensively in 

 India, Samoa, Java, Straits, and Ceylon as permanent intercrops. 

 Coffee is known to grow well under shade, and in parts of India it 

 is being cultivated as an inter or catch crop in rubber clearings, 

 where the rubber plants are planted twenty-four feet apart and the 

 coffee six feet apart. 



If real catch crops are grown to occupy the land from 

 6 to 12 months at a time, care should be taken not to plant them 

 too near the rubber plants. A radial distance of one foot should be 

 allowed for the growth of the roots of the rubber trees each year, 

 and catch crops should not be planted within the rubber root area. 



The catch crops can be planted one, two, three, and four feet 

 from one, two, three, and four-year-old rubber trees respectively, 

 and in all cases the foliage or ashes obtained as by-products of the 

 catch crops can be forked in around the trees or broadcasted 

 over the areas which are partly occupied by the rubber roots. 



Groundnuts, Lemon Grass, and Cassava. 

 Three profitable catch crops for export or use are lemon grass, 

 cassava, and groundnuts. Lemon grass gives a return six months 

 after planting, and may be expected to yield about 14,000 lb. of 

 fresh grass containing about 20 lb. of pure oil, per acre, per year, 

 when grown in open free soil. The oil is valued at Sd. to 8%d. per 



