365 



produced in great quantities when the tree does fruit and 

 germinate readily. Very often a large percentage of the 

 seed are barren. 



The rate of growth is very slow in Shorea leprosula 

 and the other species and having few data as to its rate of 

 growth we can only roughly guess the age of the large tree 

 in the illustration; but judging by the rate of growth of 

 young trees we should say that this tree is considerably 

 over 100 years old with a girth of 10 ft. 3 ins. at 4 ft. from 

 the base. 



During a severe thunderstorm last February this tree 

 was struck by lightning the bark being split from the bole 

 for a length of 60-70 feet. As would be expected the tree 

 has not recovered from the shock and at the present is 

 almost entirely dead. 



The loss of this tree to the Gardens is unfortunate as 

 it was the finest specimen we possessed, and was a constant 

 object of admiration and enquiry from visitors. 



T. W. Main. 



RUBBER PLANTING IN BRITISH NORTH 

 BORNEO. 



At the end of 1908 there were in British North Borneo 

 ten Companies planting rubber. The total area of land 

 owned by these companies is 87,000 acres excluding the 

 North Borneo Trading Company's properties of 94,000 

 acres, of which approximately 6,000 acres were planted up 

 with Para Rubber. 



The Commissioner of Lands in his Report on Agri- 

 culture for 1908 states that Sekong, the only estate which 

 has reached the productive state, was sold in June of that 

 year by the North Borneo Trading Coy. to the Sekong 

 Rubber Coy., the price paid being £40,000. 



In November of the same year the Government estate 

 at Lumat was sold for £25,000 to the North Borneo State 

 Rubber Coy., Ltd. This price would seem to have included 

 the remaining 5,000 acres of land (150 acres planted and 

 500 felled) and the buildings, plant and improvements. 

 During 1908 the Tenom Borneo Coy. who have an estate of 

 3,000 acres at Beaufort opened a further 2,000 at Menggatal 

 north of Jesselton. By the end of the year 500 acres of 

 this had been planted. 



Owing to the gradual rise in the price of rubber during 

 the year the planters of British North Borneo are optimis- 



