TREES THAT COUNT THE FICUS 89 



planting in the case of Ficus is not to be recom- 

 mended, but weeding in the early stage of its growth 

 being essential, many Dutch planters raise a secon- 

 dary crop so as to utilise profitably the labour that 

 necessity demands. 



The Government of India for years has been 

 assiduous in its endeavours to cultivate the Ficus 

 elastica in the Assam district, where fully 2000 acres 

 are under Government control. It was from Assam 

 that British West Africa obtained its supply of the 

 Ficus seed that was to replace the wholesale dis- 

 appearance of the rubber tree indigenous to that 

 country viz., the Funtumia elastica aforemen- 

 tioned. The seeds were despatched from Shillong 

 on 24 July 1890 by Mr. Gustav Mann, Conservator of 

 Forests, plants were raised at the Botanical Station 

 at Lagos, and afterwards distributed in the colony, 

 where the tree soon made itself at home. 



In despatching the seed to Lagos Mr. Gustav Mann 

 gave some interesting facts concerning the epiphyte 

 habit of the Ficus elastica. In Assam the seed ripens 

 from January to March, and where the tree grows 

 naturally in the forest germination invariably takes 

 place in the forks of trees. In describing the pheno- 

 menon Mr. Mann tells us that many of these nursery 

 forks " are 30 to 40 feet and more above the surface 

 of the ground, and the young trees grow, in conse- 

 quence, for some six to ten years as epiphytes, after 

 which the aerial roots reach the ground, increase 

 rapidly in size, until some of them reach a girth of 

 from 4 to 6 feet. They are very numerous, and it 

 is not uncommon at a later stage that they are thrown 



