4 



mediate black soil, ranging in depth from 2 feet upwards, 

 becoming deeper to the northward. 



Indigenous Trees and Shrubs. 



5. Specimen plants in Botanical Section No. 7 are doing 

 well, with the exception of a certain number which are intolerant 

 of drought, and these have been transferred to more suitable 

 positions in the Garden. 



Rubber Experiments. 



6. Ceara. The average increment in girth of the first set of 

 trees planted in July 1903 is 1*27 inches and that of the second sot 

 planted in August 1904, 3 inches in the 12 months under report. 

 The heights of these vary from about 15 feet to 30 feet. The 

 following table shows the progressive increments : 



In July a plot of about half an acre was selected and planted 

 with 392 seedlicgs, 6 by G feet apart. These are making satisfactory 

 progress without irrigation, and a glance at the plot would convince 

 one regarding the irregularity of growth in height of the Ceara 

 rubber plant in general. The plants here vary from 2 feet to 

 8 feet in height and some of the best are equal in girth to 3-year 

 old plants in plot No. 11. The majority of our plants have been 

 transplanted into the plot and we find that the check caused by 

 this method retards growth in the plants for a considerable time. 

 We find that by sowing filed seeds %n situ no retardation of 

 growth occurs in the first year and the plants are not so suscep- 

 tible to drought. This is an important factor in the cultivation 

 of Ceara in the Daccan, because in black soil it is exceedingly 

 intolerant of long-continued moisture. During spells of cold nights 

 the leading shoots often die; on recovering, the plants throw out 

 forked branches, thus marring their symmetry. In order to 

 arrive quickly at some definite conclusion regarding the advisa- 

 bility or otherwise of extending the cultivation of' Ceara in the 

 Deccan and Karnatak wo have distributed seeds to Agricultural 

 Teachers in all Training Colleges and also to Head Masters of High 



