358 
* C'ultivation.—Hevea forms a Mi tall tree, not very 
much branched. It begins to flower at about six years old, but 
for planti ng purposes the seed of AE mature trees (12 or more 
ears old) is preferable. 
* About F orders, i in Ceylon, the leaves mostly turn brown and 
drop off, and the flowers soon afterwards appear. They are 
followed. s large woody fruits, each containing three seeds, 
which ripen in July and August. The fruits open vec aiden 
usually in the hot part of the day, and scatter the seeds to som 
ne The seed is very large, weighing about half an ane 
t has a hard seed coat, and the interior substance is very oily. 
“ The seed soon loses its power of germination, and ought to be 
sown within a week of its falling from the tree. If it has to be 
sent on a voyage of more than a week, it should be very carefully 
packed in charcoal. Even thus, however, the majority of the 
seeds soon die, and rst only satisfactory way of sending seeds to 
distant countries is to plant them in soil in a Wardian case and 
“ The germination of the seed is very rapid, and a long tap root 
is soon produced. The seed should be sown about an inch deep 
in well prepared soil, in nurseries, or, if preferred, in bamboo 
pots or baskets. They should be kept shaded and watered, and 
when the young plants are from 18 inches to 24 inches high they 
may be planted out. Good results are also obtained by stumping, 
the plants being allowed to grow about 3 feet high, then taken 
up, and the main root cut across about a foot below the ground ; 
but the method of planting out the smaller seedlings is iaa 
preferable. 
“The plant may also be propagated by cuttings. The method 
employed in the botanic gardens has usually been to Fuse cuttings 
near the ends of the branches, but further back than any of the 
leaves. Each cutting is about a foot long, and as thick as a lead 
by obli 
earth. This method is somewhat precarious; sometimes nearly 
all the cuttings grow, at other times only a small proportion 
“Thes eedlings, stumps, or ee should be planted out during 
rainy want in prepared plac Holes should be dug as in 
the case of cacao, and filled S p soil. A little manure will 
often be advantageous. 'lhe young plants require to be lightly 
shaded for a time until they are established, and agr for the 
rst two or three years they will grow the better for a certain 
amount of shade, such as would be given by Nanc belts of trees 
running through the plantation. These 1 belts should be arranged 
to act as wind belts, as the Hevea is easily injured by wind. By 
the time the trees are abd three years old they will have grown 
up toa height of about 25 feet or 30 feet and form their own 
sha 
de. 
“ Various distances apart have been tried in planting Hevea. The 
younger plantation at Henaratgoda Garden has the trees planted 
12 feet apart. Their average girth is now about 30 inches, and 
they _ thinning. It will not do, however, to conclude from 
this. is sometimes done, that the trees should be originally 
ratur more than 12 feet apart. On the contrary, the best poorer 
have been obtained by planting 8 or 10 feet apart each way, 
