4 <s 



1. The great difference I) twe^n the age and girth of the trees 

 selected ranging from 6 to 15 years, and girth ranging from 

 1 ' 8" to 5 I • 



2. As the experiment w as not carried out long enough in the best 

 season (*. e., from when the new leaves appearand before the bloom 

 commences) it is as yet uncertain at what number of tappings the 

 largest yield could be obtained. 



At the present stage of the rubber planting industry most planters 

 are anxious to know what they may expect to get from 6 to 7 year 

 old trees. Now, as you mentioned (page 46, Agricultural Bulletin 

 S. S. and F. M. S.) 25 trees out of two hundred were under two feet in 

 girth and young trees of 6 to 8 years of age. 1 would propose that you 

 authorize an experiment to be made on these trees, and also invite 

 planters that already have Para rubber trees of about two feet girth 

 more or less to publish their experiments in the Agricultural Bulletin 

 for the benefit of the community : personally 1 would be only too 

 pleased to contribute, but unfortunately my oldest Para rubber trees 

 are only four years old and not ready for tapping. 



May I suggest that the experiment may be done something 

 similar to as follows : — 



[. Select trees ranging from about 1-8* to 26" mentioning the age. 



2. Make 2 or 3 incisions 2" in length (possibly 3 would be too 

 main on such small trees) commencing the first day at about 6 feet 

 from the ground, and make new incisions daily about one inch under 

 the other cuts so that the tree could be tapped at least 70 times 

 before reaching the base. 



3. Mention which kind of tapping tool is found to be the best for 

 making the small incisions. The E. P. & E. Coy.s' patent tapping 

 knife ought to be just the thing for this kind of tapping. 



4. Tap between when the new leaves appear and before the 

 bloom commences, and if possible again in September, October. 



5. Tap daily, for, (!) by previous experiments of Messrs. Arden 

 and Perry, page 312 and 328. Agricultural Bulletin Vol. I, noth- 

 ing is gained by allowing an interval. 



(2). By tapping daily much confusion would be avoided when 

 working on a large scale. 



Feeling assured that such an experiment would be extremely 

 useful to the majority of rubber planters, and would also prove 

 what your first experiment left uncertain, and if planters with avail- 

 able trees ot different ages and girth were to tap them, keeping the 

 records separately of trees ranging from 18" to 24", 24 / to 30'', 

 30" to 36", etc., we should then find the true value of this method of 

 tapping to compare with others. 



I have. etc.. 



w s. 



TODD. 



