MTSOEE AND COOUG. 263 



Bungaloiv in 1891. The maidan climate is luiich 

 too dry for tliis species, but it would, uo doul^t, 

 become a valual)le forest product in tlie warm stea- 

 my valleys of the Malnad, in moist sholas at the 

 foot of the Baba Budan hills, and in 'se\"eral hill 

 tracts where the atmosphere is compara/.ively moist 

 and steamy all the year round. The conditions 

 most favourable to growth in Brazil are uniformity 

 of temperature, the mean being SI'' F. and the 

 greatest heat 95° F., with a slimy soil consisting 

 mostly of soft alluvial deposits. Plantations arc not 

 recommended where the mean temperature falls 

 below 60° P., but in the valleys referred to above, tlie 

 temperature is uniformly higher. For cidtivation 

 in this country, Sir D. Brandis thinks that the dis- 

 tricts of Kanara, Malabar, Travancore, and the 

 Burma coast from Moulmein southwards, offer the 

 most suitable conditions, and he draws s]iecial atten- 

 tion in this respect to the moist evergresn forests at 

 the foot of the Coorg Grhats and in Kanara. Para 

 rubber is worth 4 shillings a pound, and under the 

 most favourable conditions, a tree will yield ■! — (i 

 imperial pints of milk-sap per annum. Proficidy 

 placed with regard to soil and climate, the species 

 grows very rapidly, often attaining a height of 20 — oO 

 feet in three years. But the trees should not be 

 tapped for caoutchouc until they are neai'ly 3 foet in 

 circumference at the base. For details as to the 

 mode of tapping, &c., the reader should see Dr. Watt's 

 Dictionary of the Economic Products of India. The 

 tree is strongly recommended for trial in the ever- 

 green sholas of Western Mysore. 



Cultivation,— The Para rubber tree is propagated 

 bothfromseedandcuttings, butMr. Jamieson of Oota- 

 camund remarks that the latter are apt to damp off 

 during the first few days of insertion if constant 

 personal attention is not devoted to the operation. 

 When seedlings or rooted cuttings are a foot high, 



