490 



RUBBER 



wide. In this area numerous incisions are made, the latex being 

 allowed to run down to the base of the tree. A similar method is 

 employed in German East Africa, where the tree is more or less 

 extensively cultivated, and also in South America. Vertical incisions 

 with the multiple pricking knife, without removing the outer bark, 

 is considered by some the most satisfactory system of tapping 

 for Manihots. The Manihot latex is remarkable for its readiness 

 to coagulate without the addition of acid. The tree may 

 be planted at closer distances than Hevea, and also tapped 

 at an earlier age than the latter. Seeds of a hard horny 



Manihot dichotoma plantation, 2 years old, in dry region, Ceylon, interplanted 

 with Crotolaria striata, a green-manure crop. 



character, retaining their vitality a long period; should be rasped at 

 one or both ends before sowing (see under Propagation] ; about 

 720 seeds go to a pound. According to MR. H. POWELL, in the 

 Agricultural Journal of British East Africa, for April, 1908, seeds at 

 least a year old (from the time they fall from the trees) should be 

 selected for propagation, fresh seed being "of slow and uncertain ger- 

 mination." The seeds are edible, having a pleasant nutty flavour. 



Jequie Manicoba Rubber. (Manihot dichotoma). A quick- 

 growing species similar to, but rather smaller than, Ceara rubber, 

 being distinct from the latter by the regular forking of the 



