PARA RUBBER. 31 



ounce, and is obtained by steaming the freshly-cut grass. A distil- 

 ling apparatus is required and can be kept in constant use by the 

 grass from 300 acres. The fresh lemon grass contains 0-65 per cent, 

 of potash, 009 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and 0-12 per cent, of 

 nitrogen, but if the dried distilled grass is used as fuel and the ashes 

 for manuring the rubber plants, the exhaustion is considerably 

 reduced. The plant is propagated from cuttings. It is being culti- 

 vated in parts of Ceylon and the Straits. 



Groundnuts yield as a single product a crop of 1,500 to 3,000 lb. 

 of nuts per acre in various countries, the best-yielding varieties in 

 Ceylon being the " Mauritius " and " Barbadoes." The nuts are 

 valued at from £8 to £14, according to size, number of seeds per 

 nut, and cleanliness. The seeds yield a valuable oil, equal to Olive 

 oil in quality, and the residue after extracting the oil is sold as a 

 manure — groundnut cake — containing 7$ per cent, of nitrogen. The 

 foliage can be used as a green manure or cattle food, and is known as 

 pea-nut hay in America. The leaves and roots contain nearly 1 per 

 cent. of nitrogen, and when mixed with lime form a good plant food for 

 the young rubber trees. The plants are propagated from seeds. 

 The crop ripens in 4 to 6 months, very little machinery is required, 

 and there is a good demand for the oil and cake. 



There are several famous Para rubber plantations in the Straits 

 which have practically paid for all working expenses by cultivating 

 varieties of cassava as catch crops for the first three or four years. 

 On one plantation the rubber was planted 15 by 15 feet and the cas- 

 sava 6 feet apart at the same time as the rubber. The crop was 

 ready for harvesting in 18 months from planting. A second crop 

 was taken off the land before the end of the fourth year, after 

 which the cassava cultivation ceased to be profitable. I have been 

 informed that a crop of tapioca or cassava flour of 1J to 2 tons per 

 acre, per crop, is thus obtainable. The proceeds from these crops 

 have on several estates more than paid for the upkeep of the rubber. 

 On one estate in the Straits cassava or tapioca is largely cultivated, 

 and on one field, from which very good crops of this product have 

 been taken, the six-year-old Para rubber trees have an average 

 circumference of 2021 inches, the largest measuring 33 inches and 

 the smallest 13 inches in girth at a yard from the ground. 



The profitable cultivation of catch crops is limited to about the 

 first four years, as the products grown cannot be planted close to 

 the Para rubber trees, and at the end of the fifth year would be al- 

 most limited to the middle of the lines. Furthermore, they are 

 all very exhausting. 



Future of Inter Crops. 

 The successful and continued cultivation of inter crops with Para 

 rubber mainly depends on the distance the plants are from one 

 another. The rapidly-growing surface roots of Para rubber will 

 ultimately take possession of the soil, and the inter crops of tea, 

 cacao, or coffee cannot be expected to thrive except the rubber plants 



