1 
System = ore s Mage —According to Cross (Report, 
p. 14) “t an operat of a ver simple description. On 
ined eae vid the a ea takes ines him. a stout knife 
sweeping the ground or laying down leaves, for which reason 
the milk adheres to sand, dust, decayed leaves, and other im- 
purities, The outer surface of the bark of the trunk is pared or 
sliced off to a height of past or five feet. "The milk then exudes 
d runs down in many tortuous courses, some of it ultimately 
gn: on the ground. After several days the juice becomes dry 
solid, and is then pulled off in strings and rolled up in balls 
or pt into bags in loose masses. Only a thin paring should be 
taken off, just deep enough io reach the milk vessels ; but this is 
not always attended to. early every tree has been cut through 
the bark, and a slice taken off the wood. Decay then proceeds 
rapidly, and many of the trunks are hollow. In this condition 
the trees must yield far less milk, and many no doubt are broken 
over by the wind or wither away. Collecting is carried on 
during the dry season only, when rain seldom falls. 
Germination of Seed.—The following is taken from Notes on 
some T'rees yielding India-rubber p: 4), by the late ps a me 
(Ceylon, Sessional Paper, vii, 1880):—*'The seed c is of 
remarkable thickness and very hard, and the na har rod 
of germination occupies din per riod—it is said more than a 
year. All that is Vicent to hasten this, if desired, is to assist 
the seed coat in split (ing. This is best effected by holding the 
seed firmly, and rasping off with a file both edges at the radicular 
end. It is best not to file off the actual end, as it may thus 
easily happen that the radicle of the embryo may be injured. 
After this treatment, properly performed, the young plant 
appears above ground in two or three weeks. The seedlings 
require no particular attention. They grow rapidly and may be 
finally planted out at distances of twenty feet. A peculiarity 
which they share with their close relative the mandiocca is the 
possession of large tubers on the spreading roots. The trees at 
Peradeniya, from which seed has been distributed to Burma, 
ia, Jamaica, &c., flowered at the age of eighteen months, and 
at vu present time e (at 24 years) the larger ones form branching 
trees about 25 or 30 feet high, with a stem 1 foot 9 inches in 
circumference ne a yard from the base, and a smooth, silvery, 
ioni ici; bark readily peeling off ; being poen half the size of 
those which Mr. Cr ross de escribes, and which may be assumed to 
have Aim fully grown. 
Propagation and Planting.—Mr. Cross (p. 14) suggests “ f 
mation of plantations by cuttings, which will take root as abere asa 
willow. These should be taken from the points of strong shoots 
and may be one foot in length. In planting, each cutting may 
be put down in the soil to a depth of six inches. If scarce, 
the entire shoot may be cut into pem speed cines ng a bud, 
all of which will grow if covered with f-an-inch or of 
soil. On loose sandy soils or exhausted Boc land, plantations 
