194 
24,  Rood  Lane,  London,  E.C.y 
S/h  April,  1903. 
Harold  Tunnicliffe,  Esq., 
Atherton  Estate, 
Port  Dickson, 
Negri  Semhihm. 
Dear  Sir, 
We  have  been  pleased  to  receive  your  letter  of  8th  March, 
enclosing  sample  of  rubber  which  we  have  submitted  to  our  rubber 
brokers  Messrs.  Lewis,  Peat  & Co.  They  say  the  quality  is 
excellent  and  they  can  sell  at  present  as  much  as  you  can  send  of 
this  standard  at  4s.  2d.  per  lb. 
We  enclose  a sample  of  Ceylon  rubber  [Arapole  Kandi)  which 
was  sold  recently  at  45.  2d.  per  lb. ; brokers  say  your  sample  might 
fetch  id.  or  2d.  more,  but  they  suppose  it  costs  more  to  send  it  in 
this  thin  state  and  they  advise  shipping  in  the  Ceylon  style. 
We  shall  be  very  glad  to  undertake  the  sale  of  any  rubber  you 
may  consign  to  us  on  the  best  terms,  and  if  it  would  be  any 
convenience,  would  arrange  with  the  Bank  that  you  should  draw 
upon  us  up  to  say  two-thirds  of  value  of  consignments ; we  shall 
also  be  glad  to  send  you  market  reports  or  any  information  which 
may  aid  you  in  securing  the  best  results  for  your  produce. 
The  rubber  market  is  very  strong  and  likely  to  remain  so,  and 
we  consider  those  who  have  the  prospect  of  being  able  to  place 
supplies  in  the  market  soon,  have  a bright  prospect  before  them. 
We  are,  dear  Sir, 
Faithfully  yours, 
SHAND,  HOLDANE  & Co. 
P.S. — Can  you  grow  pepper  ? We  have  been  selling  Ceylon 
white  pepper  at  lod.  to  iid.  per  lb.  S.H. 
YIELD  OF  PARA  RUBBER  IN  CEYLON. 
Mr.  Francis  J.  Holloway  writes  to  the  Tropical  Agrictil- 
tiirist  from  his  estate  at  Keppitigalla,  Matale,  Ceylon,  in  regard  to 
the  yield  of  rubber  from  his  cultivated  Para  trees.  These  trees 
are  at  an  elevation  of  600  to  1,400  feet,  and  of  the  ages  of  8 to  ii 
years ; the  largest  girth  one  foot  above  the  ground  is  47  inches. 
The  trees  are  not  inclined  to  spread,  but  grow  straight  up,  with 
few  side  branches,  and  make  an  excellent  light  shade  for  cacao 
planted  12  x 24  feet,  thus  giving  about  150  trees  to  the  acre. 
Tapping  proceeds  throughout  the  year  and  each  tree  has  two  series 
of  tappings,  lasting  about  two  months.  Now  for  results  : Writing 
August,  1902,  Mr..  Holloway  had  tapped  3,903  trees  once  since 
October,  1901,  obtaining  a total  yield  of  2,128  pounds,  or  a trifle 
over  ^ lb.  per  tree.  Some  of  these  trees  tapped  again  within  seven 
or  eight  months,  yielded  as  much  more,  or  a total  per  tree  per  year 
