INTRODUCTORY 15 



completely to kill the whole of the plantation at 

 Edangoda. A second trial was made the next year, 

 with similar results, when the land was abandoned 

 in favour of higher ground at Yattipowa. Here 

 in three years the trees attained an average girth 

 of 9! inches at three feet from the ground, while 

 experimental tapping made when they were six years 

 old produced z\ oz. of dry rubber per tree. Such a 

 small yield was considered to be very disappointing, 

 and these particular trees were not tapped again until 

 1888, when they were eleven years old ! As a matter 

 of fact, both experts and planters were puzzled to 

 know what to do with the tree when it had reached 

 maturity. Many amusing stories are told of men 

 who, having their own ideas on tapping, subjected 

 the rubber trees to the most extraordinary treat- 

 ment at the hands of natives armed with vicious 

 axes, cutlasses, knives and other deadly engines of 

 plant extermination. Thousands of healthy promis- 

 ing trees, that would to-day be worth a king's ransom, 

 were ruthlessly felled, chiefly because the first 

 tappings did not happen to fill the bucket set down 

 to receive the milk ! In a circular issued by the 

 Ceylon Forest Department in 1888, planters were 

 advised not to attempt to tap the Hevea until it was 

 ten years old. Now the planter is not out to make 

 a living on mere sentiment. He wants something 

 more solid. Moreover, no man, unless he is in the 

 tropics for his health and has no expectations, can 

 afford to wait a decade for a return of his capital. 

 It is not surprising, therefore, that a mild panic 

 against rubber set in, and plantations galore were 



