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planted out. Cuttings from main shoots (not lateral branches) 

 also take. Planting should be done 12" apart and the plants 

 left in shade for 2 or 3 years. Weeding and watering have to 

 be done until the plants can take care of themselves. When 

 trees have attained a girth of 2ft. or 2\ ft., they can be 

 tapped. Cuts should be 3' or 4' apart and not i' apart as 

 in Para rubber trees. 5 ozs. per tapping may be obtained and 

 3 or 4 tappings per year. 



(4) Indian rubber is the product of Ficus Elastica, Ar- 

 tocarpus Chaplasha, Artocarpus Integrifolia, and Alstonia 

 Scolaris. The last is a large tree which grows 60 ft. high in 

 the dry forests of Ceylon, Singapur and Penang. 



787. In a Ficus Elastica plantation, 35 years old, the 

 average yield per tree per year is 600 grammes of solid 

 rubber. The variation in yield, however, is very great. One 

 tree may yield 100 grammes another 12 kilogrammes. The 

 average yield of Castilloa rubber in the same plantation 

 (the plants being 8 years old) is 200 grammes of solid rubber 

 per tree per year. But as there could be about 4 times as 

 many Castilloa trees planted in the same area as Ficus trees, 

 the difference in favour of the Castilloa is decidedly consider- 

 able. Castilloa rubber is also more valuable and it can be 

 gathered from much younger trees. 



788. It is from the Government Forests of Ficus Elastica 

 in Assam that most of the Indian rubber (not Ceylon rubber) 

 is derived. The latex is collected during the dry months. 

 Eight oblique cuts are made with the dao, sloping 

 downwards at a little distance from one another, so that 

 8 kalsies can be tied round the tree one below the other. 

 These remain on the whole day. The cuts should not be 

 deep as the milk is secreted just below the outer bark A great 

 number of incisions should not be made on each tree as they 

 weaken and ultimately kill the tree. The incisions should be 

 made only on the main stem the lowest one being macje 

 about 4 ft. from the ground. 



