50 



the wild state the lianes may reach 4-6 inches diameter but 

 under cultivation no such dimensions can be obtained, and 

 even if under cultivation satisfactory growth could be ob- 

 tained, I am confident that, at the present time such cul- 

 tivation could not be made remunerative, and the superior 

 claim of arborescent trees over climbing plants — for econo- 

 mic working — will commend itself to all parties. 



Urceola elastic a (getah gerip tembaga and getah gerip 

 merah) is also a climbing plant. It does not grow in 

 Borneo and is now rare in the Malay Peninsula. This was 

 the first rubber plant brought to notice from any part of 

 Asia by Mi*. J. Howson — a surgeon of Penang — in 1798. 



The rubber is fair grade — of the quality of Willugh- 

 beia fir ma. 



Leuconotis eugemaefolius (akar Getah sundi*) another 

 climbing plant occurs in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and 

 Borneo. A fair grade rubber but now rare. There are 2 

 or 3 species. 



Melodinus orientalis is also a Peninsula climbing plant 

 of only little value. It was formerly used for adulterating 

 the latices of WiUugkbeia and Leuconotis. 



Parameria glandulifera (akar gerip puteh) and an- 

 other apocynaceous climber — (Jhonemorphs macrophylla — 

 have a wide Eastern distribution and some repute as rub- 

 ber plants. A sample of rubber prepared from Chilocarpus 

 costatus was exhibited in the Netherlands section from 

 Sumatra. 



By era costulata (getah jelutong) is a well known tree 

 in all parts of Malaya but has only received attention for 

 its commercial value during the last few years. It is a 

 gigantic tree — much larger than Castilloa (the writer re- 

 members a tree in Malacca nearly 200 feet high, and at a 

 man's height from the ground it requires 5 men with out- 

 stretched arms to span its circumference§). Locally, the 

 wood — although light, is less brittle than Hevea or Cas- 

 tilloa and is used for several bazaar purposes, and by 

 Chinese for* Avooden sandals. Hitherto, native collectors 

 obtained small supplies for adulterating better grade rub- 

 bers and for making a local bird lime. Although the latex 

 only contains a small percentage of caoutchouc (about 5%) 

 a large tree is capable of yielding a considerable volume 

 of such latex, reports place the weight at 2 or 3 pikuls,t and 

 as previously stated, about 10,000 tons of this rubber is 



* Getah Sundeh (true) = Payena Leerii, a true gutta not rubber. 

 § About 30 feet circumference, 

 t One pikul = 133 lbs. 



