2 



April being now over 10 feet high. The percentage of failures 

 varies from about 20 per cent, in the dryest places, to 10 per cent, 

 in places where more moisture was retained in the soil. 



As regards planting seed at stake, this method was tried on a 

 10 acre iiold, 1,936 seeds being planted singly, 15 feet apart. This 

 was not by any means a suceess, as the seeds suffered heavily 

 from the depredations of rats, ants, etc., as soon as germination 

 had begun. 1 found in many cases that the young shoot had been 

 bitten off, and carried some distance from the seed, the inside of 

 the seed shell being in every case full of small red ants. In some 

 cases, whe-e the young shoot had begun to root itself, the shoot 

 was left in position, and the seed itself carried away. In these 

 cases the plants survive 1 for several days, sometimes developing 

 a few very small and sickly looking leaves, but eventually died. 

 In other eases the tops of the plants were eaten away as soon as 

 they appeared above ground. I noticed that when this occurred, 

 tlx- plant usually sent up two shoots in place of the one destroyed, 

 neither of which would show good growth. In some parts, I believe, 

 it is usual to plant the seeds in bamboo pots filled with earth, the 

 pots consisting of a section of bamboo, a few inches in length, open 

 at each end, the pot containing one or more seeds, to be planted 

 at stake, but of this method I have had no experience. Out of the 

 1,936 seeds planted at stake, 1,489 had to be replaced the follow- 

 ing month. This was done with seedlings, from a month to six 

 weeks old, transplanted from the nursery. This, so far as I have 

 seen, appears to be the most satisfactory method, when possible. 

 The plants are taken out when' about 9" to 12" high, and when 

 the first leaves arc fully developed, but before new leaves have 

 started. The tool in use here is a cylinder of brass, 5" high and 

 4" diameter sharpened at the bottom edge, with two side supports 

 about 2 6" high, to which is fixed a cross handle at the top. This 

 is placed over the plant and pressed into the soil and twisted, and 

 the plant lifted out, with a circular block of earth attached. This 

 is disengaged from the transplanter by means of a small slab of 

 wood, to which a circular wooden block is attached, corresponding 

 with the inner diameter of the transplanter. The transplanter, con- 

 taining the soil and plant is placed over this block and pressed 

 down. By this method a coolie can easily take out 400 to 500 

 plants a day. This appears to me to be the ideal method of plant- 

 ing out. for many reasons. First, any failures in germination of 

 seeds will occur in the nursery. Second, failures after planting out 

 are reduced to a minimum (in the present instance being only about 

 one per cent). I bird, no large holes need be dug to receive the plant. 

 Fourth, there is absolutely no check to the growth of the plant, as 

 is bound to be the case when planting stumps even under the most 

 favourable conditions. Many plants that were taken out in Octo- 

 ber when less than one foot high are now over three feet. It may of 

 course be argued that the stumps, when they start, make a stronger 

 and stouter plant, but it appears to me that the growth of the 

 young plant could, if necessary, be checked quite as easily by 



