TROPICAL EXPLOITATION va 
after its establishment in the East, rough experiments 
on yield began to be made in the botanic gardens there, 
but had not very satisfactory results, Thus Dr. Trimen 
in Ceylon showed that a yield of about 14 Ib. a tree a 
year might be expected at ten years old, provided that 
every tree yielded as well as did the one that he tapped, 
which was the largest of the forty-five existing. To 
wait ten years for a return meant a large outlay of 
capital, and this amount of rubber, valued as it was. 
considerably below as. 6d. a lb., did not offer any very 
glowing prospects. It was a long time before any 
planting estates were induced to plant the tree seriously, 
and indeed it was also long before any large quantity 
of seed was available. 
However, in the nineties, especially as the result of 
further experiments, which were carried out on larger 
numbers of trees, and gave more encouraging results, 
the tree began to be taken up to a greater extent, and at 
the same time a rise in the price made the prospect of 
profit more alluring. In the later nineties some of the 
earlier trees in Ceylon were tapped, and produced 
better results than was anticipated, and the planting of. 
rubber was suddenly taken up with a rush. Seed, for 
example, which was available in the botanic gardens, 
had to be sold by auction, and at one period as much as 
3d. was realised for each seed. In a year or two after- 
wards the price went down, as large quantities began to 
be available on the estates which had first taken up the 
tree. 
At the same time that seed began to be plentiful, 
the results of the sale of the rubber first exported began 
to be known. Soon it was clearly seen that the older 
