PARA RUBBER. 47 



For the successful cultivation of the herbaceous green manures 

 about 10 to 20 lb. of seed, per acre, should be broadcasted on clean 

 land in wet weather and the land lightly forked. In Fiji as much as 

 50 lb. of Vigna seed is used, per acre, in connection with other 

 products. 



An illustration is here given to show the characters of C. striata, 

 when only six months old, on Plate 4, Series A. The young rubber, 

 a year old, is just showing above the Grotalaria ; the latter 

 covers nearly the whole of the ground and tends to keep the weeds 

 in check. 



Tree Forms. 

 The best tree forms to use for green manure are Dadaps (Erythrina 

 species) and Albizzia moluccana. Dadaps can be propagated from 

 cuttings ; in some districts they will give a very Large amount of orga- 

 nic matter within a few months from planting the cuttings ; plants 

 can also be used, though the organic matter obtainable from them 

 within a couple of years is less than that from cuttings in a few 

 months. If cuttings are used, they can be planted between every 

 two rubber plants. The best results are obtained if the cuttings 

 are about two inches in diameter and four feet long with one foot 

 below ground ; they should be planted in very wet weather. 

 Dadaps can be used on hillsides where the cultivation of herbaceous 

 green manures is practically impossible. They should be lopped or 

 hand-pruned as frequently as possible and the material buried in 

 the same manner as for other species. The following table shows 

 the weight of fresh leaves obtainable from one acre of Dadap 

 cuttings planted 4 by 8 feet apart in July, 1904. 



lb. 

 November, 1904 .. .. 791 



December ,, . . . . 967 i 



March 1905 .. .. 1,935 



April ,, .. .. ' 1.444J 



May ,, .. .. 2,255 



Jmio ,, .. .. 2,240 



July .. .. .. 2,180 



.August .. .. .. 3,058 



September ., .. .. 1,569 £ 



November ,. .. .. 2,104} 



December ,, .. .. 1,65:! I 



Total .. 20,1981: 



Dadap Leaves. 



These experiments show that Dadap cuttings may produce over 

 11,000 lb. of fresh green leaves within one year from planting, and 

 the leaves may be hand-pruned nearly every month in the year. 

 The fresh leaves contain 0*3 to 0-8 of nitrogen, 0148 of potash, 

 008 of phosphoric acid and 0197 of lime. 



