MYSORE AND OOOEG. 277 



" A tree of F. elastieais tapped in Assam -when 

 25 years old. After 50 years the yield is about 

 40 lbs. of caoutchouc every third year. " Marlcham 

 and Collins. Moist sholas (vfilleys) leading up to the 

 Malnad are well adapted for the profitable cultiva- 

 tion of this industrial tree, and it is the work of the 

 Forest Department to establish the species in such 

 localities. 



Cultivation.— In the first stages of development, 

 the India rubber seedling is very epiphytic in its 

 nature, and naturally clings to moist but at the 

 sametime well-drained crevices in rocks and trees. 

 Stagnation of water appears to kill as effectually 

 as the complete drying up of the material in which 

 the seed is deposited, so that it is only with great 

 care that seedlings are raised artificially. 



Cuttings root freely in bottom heat, and layers can 

 be rooted and detached in the course of 3—4 

 months. In Assam, the prevailing practice is to 

 plant in clearances within the virgin forest, eg-ch 

 clearance being a line or strip 40 feet in width, with 

 an intervening belt of natural forest 60 feet in width, 

 the object being to retain moisture around the seed- 

 lings. "When a foot and upwards in height, the 

 latter are planted on small mounds at 25 feet apart. 

 Colonel Campbell Walker, Conservator of Forests, 

 Madras, gives the following Memorandum on the 

 methods employed in cultivating the India Rubber 

 tree in the Malabar District : — 



" The method of sowing is as follows :-- 



" A seed bed, 10 feet long x 2^ feet broad, should 

 be prepared. The soil should first be well forked 

 over to a depth of at least 18 inches, well pulverised 

 and mixed with sifted stable manure (old), ashes, 

 and sand. The proportion of moiild, sand, ashes, 

 and manure shoidd be as follows : one of mould, 

 two of sand, one of ashes, one of manure. AH these 



