2l6 



In the estimate for Australia with white labour, it is expected to 

 pay off the cost of the estate and get a profit of £l 1,128 in the end of 

 the seventh year and of £45,000 in the eighth and following years from 

 which must be deducted freight, cases and some contingencies. The 

 rubber is valued at 5 shillings a pound which for a permanent esti- 

 mate price is perhaps high, and cost of collecting I shilling a pound, 

 but if with native labour here the cost of collecting amounts to this 

 price, with white labour at 8 times the cost it is hardly likely to be 

 as low. As a set off against this, however, there is no assumption of 

 profit for rubber taken before the sixth year, which if the trees grow 

 well might easily be added. However, even with white labour only 

 a good profit would probably be made, but of course nothing like 

 what black labour would give. 



ANOTHER PARA RUBBER FUNGUS. 



On two or three occasions we had observed that on dead trunks 

 of Para rubber trees, after being untouched for some weeks the outer 

 corkj layer of bark split off in flakes and beneath appeared large 

 black patches of a fungus. 



This fungus was in the form of a crust, black, hard and rather 

 brittle about — | inch thick and looking like dried tar or 

 asphate. It formed rather irregular patches of various sizes from 

 one to ten inches across the edges of the patches being rounded, 

 and the mass usually longer than broad. In one tree about 25 years 

 old and about two feet through, there were no previous signs of any 

 disease but the tree rather suddenly died and the fungus came out 

 on the wood some weeks later. Since then the next tree to it has 

 died, much in the same way as if it had been killed by Fomes, but 

 it was not attacked by that. On removing the stump we found that 

 just below the tree was an accumulation of foul smelling water. 

 The roots of the tree were quite dead. Several other trees in this 

 part of the garden, but at some little distance, died in a somewhat 

 similar manner. None of these, however, so far as I remember 

 except the first mentioned one, showed any sign of the fungus after 

 death, and indeed on seeing the foul putrid mass of water and 

 decayed sticks in which the trees' roots had been living, I was more 

 surprised that they had lived so long than that they had died. 



About the end of last year, a smaller tree eight inches through in 

 another part of the garden was overset with several others by a gale 

 and its roots were badly broken. It was replaced in position but 

 never recovered and remained erect, but dead for some time. 



it then developed the fungus in several parts of the stem from 

 about 5 feet downwards. 1 then cut it down and sent a section of the 

 tree with the fungus to Dr. Prain, of the Royal Gardens, Kew, who 

 asked Mr. Massee to report upon the thing. I submit his report. 



