53 



I naturally looked to find some laid down, but in 

 vain. I was surprised to learn, however, that the new 

 ships, owned by the Straits Steamship Company, are 

 being' supplied with rubber tiling in some of the saloons 

 and corridors. 



During- the voyage we did not see much land, though 

 just before sunset a part of Jugra Hill was visible. 



Singapore and the Rubber Industry. 



I do not know of any other tropical British port in 

 the East where rubber manufacturing has gained a foot- 

 ing. It appears to have taken up a position, in Singa- 

 pore, of interest if not of importance. The factory is 

 run by Van Ryn; a large number of sound tyres for 

 carriages and cycles, and valves for ordinary engineering 

 work, are being turned out. 



My object in visiting Singapore was to call on H. N. 

 Ridley, F.R.S., the Director of the Botanic Gardens, and 

 to see the Para rubber trees on which he and Derry have 

 been conducting so many valuable experiments. The 

 Para trees are of special interest, especially those planted 

 by Murton in 1876 and Cantley in 1887; some of the 

 latter are five, six, nine and twelve feet apart, have 

 attained a large size, but now appear to have stopped 

 growing. Another batch of trees gives one a very good 

 idea of the hardy nature of Hevea brasiliensis; two trees 

 have been blown over, and from each stem branches have 

 assumed an erect position, have developed, and now form 

 vertical stems which can be tapped; one tree has no less 

 than nine vertical branches, the other eight, six of which 

 have been tapped. 



Everybody knows how well Para trees may thrive on 

 soils too poor to support other plant life, but I saw one 

 case at Singapore which indicates the limit. The tree 

 was growing on a slope possessing a few scattered trees 

 and a thin layer of turf, the soil was poor, and really 

 was more inferior than it appeared to be. Mr. Ridley 

 asked me to guess at the age of the tree — work which 

 one thinks he gets quite smart at after visiting properties 

 of all ages in Ceylon and Malaya. The tree had the ap- 

 pearance of an ordinary eight-year-old specimen in Selan- 

 gor, and I fixed the age at that figure; it was twenty- 



