4» 



43^ 



PICUS ELASTICA. 



The following papers on the cultivation of Ficus elastica will be 

 read with some interest by planters. They were procured by Mr. 

 A. B. LAKE, Honorary Secretary of the Negri Sembilan Planters' 

 Association, and forwarded by the Resident-General of the Feder- 

 ated Malay States : 



Land Records and Agriculture, Assam. 



Form No. 118. 



It is requested that any reply, or future reference, to this communication may 

 quote its number and date. 



No. 1552. 



Prom 



B. C. Allen, Esq., b. a., i. c. s., 



Officiating Director, Department of 



Land Records and Agriculture. Assam. 



To 



The Secretary to the Resident-General, F. M. S., 



Selangor, Malay Peninsula 



Dated Shillong, the 7th June, 1902. 



Sir: — With reference to your letter No. N.Sem. 2086/02, dated 

 the 23rd April, 1902, with which you forwarded a copy of a letter 

 dated the I ith March, 1902, from the Honorary Secretary of the 

 Negri Sembilan Planters' Association, asking for information as 

 to the growth and cultivation of the Ficus Elastica. 1 have the 

 honour to forward copies of the papers noted in the margin : des- 



(1) -^Notes by Messrs. Mann & Copeland containing a cribing the method 

 brief account of how rubber trees are grown in Assam : J of tapping and the 



(2) — Letter No. 164K, dated the 22nd August, 1900, from j averaffe yield of 

 the Conservator of Forests, Assam, to the Inspector-General^ , S , ,* 



of Forests to the Government of India containing a report j the rubber tree, 

 on the tapping operations conducted in the Charduar plant- j The best time for 



ation in 1899-1900. j tapping is imme- 



diately after the rains, and the best instruments to use are V 

 shaped gouges which remove the bark without injuring the wood- 

 The trees are allowed to throw out aerial roots at discretion and 

 the branches are not lopped. The age at which tapping operations 

 can most profitably be commenced is a matter which still requires 

 determination, but most of the trees in the Government plantations 

 are now between twenty and thirty years old. 



I have the honour to be, 

 Sir, 



Your most obedient servant, 

 B. C. ALLEN, 



Officiat tng Director, 

 Department of Land Records and Agriculture, Assam. 



