362 



This bleeding has been going on for a whole year, and yet the 

 crown of the tree looks perfectly healthy and has put out fine new 

 shoots. There is not a dead branch on the tree nor an unhealthy 

 looking leaf. He remarks that at the rate of rubber production in 

 this way, it would be satisfactory to have a number of such trees as 

 it only took him two minutes to dig out 2 pounds of wet rubber, and 

 a cooly could collect 1 50 pounds a day at a cost of 50 cents, i.e., a third 

 of a cent a pound, and even cheaper on contract rates. 



I have not seen the tree and can give no suggestion as to the 

 cause ir this case, but the amount of latex produced by so small a tree 

 is rather remarkable, as it seems to be a good deal m.ore than 

 one could obtain from so small and young a tree by ordinary 

 tapping. — Ed. 



MANURING FOR RUBBER. 



The Department of Agriculture has recently been asked by a 

 number of planters to advise as to what manures to apply to rubber 

 trees and in what quantities they should be used. 



On the majority of plantations it is doubtful whether any 

 manuring is required. There are a number of places, however, 

 where the growth or the general vigour of the trees is not equal to 

 that on others. In these places, provided it is not the cultivation or 

 the drainage that is at fault, manuring may prove of advantage. 



Cultivation in most places will be found of greater advantage 

 than manuring. If every rubber field could be changkolled twice a 

 year or receive an equivalent cultivation with ploughs, disc harrows, 

 etc., it is certain that both the immediate and permanent benefits 

 would be great. Of course with old trees which have formed a 

 interlacing root system near the surface of the soil such cultivation 

 would be dangerous, but with young plantings cultivation is strongly 

 recommended. On fairly flat lands which have been thoroughly 

 cleared of timber and stumps, probably mechanical cultivation by 

 ploughs or disc harrows will be found more economical and more 

 effective. 



The following recommendations for manurial treatment have 

 been drawn up by Mr. B. J. Eaton, Agricultural Chemist, Federated 

 Malay States. It must be borne in mind that they are based on 

 general principles and are not the result of experiments. Manurial 

 experiments have been started by the Department of Agriculture, 

 but reliable results will not be obtainable from them for some years. 

 It is proposed to publish similar notes for other types of soils. 



