• 587 



—say, within a week — after collection as they soon lose their 

 'Vitality^2 or 3 weeks — [although packed carefully in charcoal 

 or slightly damped incinerator earth they carry long distances ; 

 of 100 seeds despatched from Singajiore July 6th to Old Calabar 

 !( arriving >Sept. 20th) in 1906, 90 per cent, germinated (Kew 

 JBull, 1906, p, 196)]. They germinate in a few days and plants 

 should be ready for transplanting when about 2 ft. or so high, 

 or sometimes allowed to grow to 6 ft, or more, when they are 



topped and trimmed to the so-called " stumps." '' Para stumps ' 

 have been advertised for sale when two years old ; but in general 

 it should be possible to raise the plants for putting into perma- 

 nent places, within 6-9 months. Propagation may also be 

 effected by cuttings, and planting seed at stake is sometimes 

 practised. Experiments with budding and grafting have been 

 made in Malaya and Java with some success and trials are being 

 made in Ceylon (Trop. Agric, Nov. 1919, pp. 297-298; Kew 

 Bull. 1920, pp. 113-119), The distance apart in the plantation 



may be 10 x 10 ft.; or 15 x 15 ft. so that oh thinning out 

 the jBnal distance apart may be from 20-30 ft. It is, however, 

 open to question whether it is not more advisable to plant out 

 20-30 ft, at the outset; the i^ider planting encourages healthier 



and stronger growth and the only advantage in close planting 



appears to be a comparatively small return from the early 

 tapping of trees that must be marked for removal in time to 

 prevent overcrowding. - The inter-planting of suitable catch- 

 crops, such as " Robusta Coffee " {see p. 367), " Capsi'cums '' 

 (p. 489), " Pine Apple," " Lemon Grass," Bananas, &c., might 

 just as readil}^ bring in as good an income and do more towards 

 keeping the ground in good tilth for the main crop of rubber. 

 , Tapping commences at from 4-7 years of age when the trees 

 should be not less than 6-8 in. in diameter at from 8-6 ft. from 

 the. ground^ 5 ft. from the base of the trunk being usually the 

 limit allowed for tapping. The methods in vogue from time to 

 time have varied from the V-shaped cut, under which system 

 some of the earher Ceylon trees were tapped {see Kew Bull. 1898, 

 J). 260 : Add. Ser. vii. p. 95)— an improved modification of the 

 native Amazon method — spiral, herring-bone and vertical inci- 

 sions, all of wliich now appear to be becoming obsolete, 

 excepting a basal V and a mocUfied herring-bone system, that is 

 with lateral incisions 12-18 in. apart on one side of the vertical 

 line only, usually the left at an angle of about 45^ ; one- quarter 

 or one-third only being taken in hand at one time, the tappings 

 being calculated to cover the section in one to two years 

 and the circumference in four to six years, when the bark on the 

 first section tapped is sufficiently renewed to admit of a repetition 

 of the process. The proportionate value of one or more tapping 

 lines at each operation has not yet been determined ; but there 

 appears to be a strong tendency at the present time to regulate 

 the tappings in order to cover the regulation area of tnmk in 

 eight years. The tapping tools are various in make and the 

 same remarks may be more or less appfied here as ^ven under 



D Z 



