THE CEARA RUBBER TREE 145 



Per acre. 



Cost of clearing (native labour, 



etc.) .... Rs. 15 



Holing ..... 5 



Rearing plants in nursery and 



planting out . . . 15 



Weeding and cleaning for first 



three years ... 30 



Sundries (filling in vacancies, etc. ) 5 



Rs. 70 = £4 13s. id. 



Rate of Growth. — The Ceara tree makes very rapid 

 growth under favourable conditions, and the following 

 particulars will indicate the rate of development in several 

 countries : 



Brazil. — Biffen states that one-year-old Ceara trees 

 which he saw at Baturite were 10 to 12 ft. higli, and that 

 trees five to six years old and ready for tapping are about 

 25 ft. high with trunks 8 to 9 in. in diameter. 



Uganda. — At the Government Plantation at Kampala 

 twenty Cecira trees planted iu November 1909 were 

 found to have an a,verage gh-th of 16" 45 in. at 3 ft. from 

 the gi'ound in November 1911, and 17"32 in. in March 

 1912. A second group of twenty trees, also planted in 

 November 1909, had an average girth of 15" 6 in. in 

 March 1912. 



Three eight-year-old trees growing in the Botanic 

 Gardens at Entebbe had ah average girth of 30 in., the 

 largest measm'ing 35 in. and the smallest 25 in. 



Many of the three-year-old trees in the Protectorate 

 have attained a gkth of over 20 in. at 3 ft. from the 

 ground, whilst the largest eight-year-old tree measured 

 just under 4 ft. in girth. The oldest Ceara trees in Uganda 

 are growing on poor, stony soil, and measured 30 in. 

 in girth when ten years old. 



East Africa Protectorate. — It is stated that Ceara 

 trees growing under favourable conditions in the East 

 Africa Protectorate may attain a height of 8 to 10 ft. 

 with a gu-th of 5 to 6 in. within a year from planting out. 

 Three-year-old trees at Kibwesiwere 22 ft. high, the trunk 

 measuring 10 ft., and 19 in. in girth at 3 ft. from the 



