354 
have  ‘gone  under’  in  the  struggle  for  existance,  and  the  200  which 
remain,  is,  I take  it,  the  maximum  number  tliat  can  be  grown  per 
acre  to  maturity. 
Those  figures  however  refer  to  the  j)ine  tree,  [Pinits  strohus)  a 
lofty  tree  with  very  narrow  leaves,  which  do  not  form  nearly  so 
dense  a canopy  as  the  para-rubber  tree,  in  which  case  I fancy  still 
fewer  of  the  original  seedlings  would  survive  the  struggle. 
“The  important  factor  in  production  is  therefore  the  intensity  of 
utilization  of  the  light,  and  not  the  number  of  trees.” 
There  remains  to  be  considered  the  system  of  grow  ing  up  to  a 
certain  age  more -trees  to  the  acre  than  can  possibly  come  to 
maturity,  afterwards  thinning  out  one  tree  so  as  to  stimulate  the 
growth  of  its  neighbour  as  is  practised  by  the  forester;  but  in  the 
case  of  such  a quick  growing  species  as  the  Para  rubber  tree,  this 
thinning  out  must  be  done  at  an  early  date,  the  age  being  dependent 
upon  the  number  of  trees  planted  to  the  acre,  and  it  is  a matter  of 
doubt  whether  the  small  returns  av^ailable  at  this  stage,  will  com- 
pensate the  planter  for  the  expenses  incurred. 
A last  but  by  no  means  the  least  consideration  is.  what  effect 
will  the  trees  cut  down  and  left  in  the  plantation  to  rot  have  on  the 
‘ white  ant  ’ ? 
We  know  only  too  well  what  suitable  breeding  places  decaying 
vegetable  matter  provides  for  the  coco-nut  beetle. 
RUBBER  TAPPING  IN  THE  BOTANIC 
GARDENS 
Plate  13  & 14. 
With  this  number  we  give  two  plates  illustrating  the  method  o^ 
fixing  the  cups  for  the  latex  of  Para  rubber  in  the  Botanic  Gar- 
dens, Singapore.  In  Plate  13,  the  cups  are  arranged  in  two  rows 
down  the  trunk  of  one  of  the  larger  trees.  The  tree  Itself  was  one 
of  those  planted  in  1884.  In  Plate  14  t.a:-  men  are  seen  removing 
the  cups  from  the  base  of  a younger  tree  and  transferring  the  latex 
to  the  coffee  pot  used  for  collecting  in  Higher  up  0:1  the  trunk 
are  seen  the  tapping  marks  made  on  the  previous  day.  The 
account  of  the  method  adopted  which  these  photographs  illustrate 
is  described  in  Bulletin  No.  2,  p.  44.  The  photographs  were  taken 
by  Mr.  Machado  & C.  DE  Alwis. — Editor. 
Para  Rubber  Tapping. at  Bukit  Sebukor,  Malacca. 
The  Para  Rubber  trees  growing  at  Bukit  Sebukor  w'ere  recently 
tapped  by  Mr.  F. ’B.  Gagliardi  on  sixleeri  different  occasions. 
The  experiments  took  place  between  June  i6ih  and  Julv  2nd  la^t. 
Nine  trees,  varying  in  girth  between  27"  and  55"  (average  38;P'(' 
were  tapped,  wdth  the  result  that  15  Tbs.  of  clean  rubber  'md  q'lhs. 
