105 



Messrs. Hecht, Levis & Kahn to Royal Gardens, Kew, 



21 Mincing Lane, London, E.C., 



7th February, 1893. 



Dear Sir, 



We have received your yesterday's letter, and also the sample of Cey- 

 lon rubber which you have sent us. The quality of this rubber is very 

 good indeed, and the curing of the same seems to have been effected in 

 the proper manner. This quality would be easily saleable, and we esti- 

 mate its value to-day as being about 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. per lb., according 

 to whether the rubber would be dry or damp. It would be easily sale- 

 able in large quantities. 



We return the sample to you, according to your desire. 

 We remain, &c, 



(Signed) Hecht, Levis & Kahn. 



John K. Jackson, Esq., 

 Eoval Gardens, Kew. 



[Kew Bulletin, July 1893]. 



Assam Eubber. 

 (Ficus Elastica, Eoxb.J 

 Source. — Assam Eubber* is obtained from large trees of Ficus elas- 

 tica. This fig tree generally germinates in the fork of another tree y 

 sending down immense aerial roots into the ground and from the top 

 of these (60 to 100 feet high) it throws out its branches. 



Locality. — It grows in the damp forest which clothe the base of the 

 Himalaya Mountains in Sikkim, and stretch away into Assam and 

 Burma. 



Effect of Soil, etc., on yield, — rt As the distance from the hills in- 

 creases, and the atmosphere in which the tree grows, gets drier, the 

 quantity of rubber to be obtained from a tree decreases ; and whilst it 

 is seated by the men who fetch it from the hills, that one tree is able 

 to produce from 2 to 3 maunds [160 to 240 lbs. J the men who gather 

 it from the forests at the foot of the hills, only get from 20 to 30 seers 

 [40 to 60 lbs.] per tree, and if far away from the hills, only half that 

 quantity is obtained, especially if the ground is gravelly or otherwise 

 severely drained 99 . G. Mann, Conservator of Forests, Assam. 



Yield. — In Algiers, this tree thrives, but does not form milk in 

 sufficient quantity to make it a profitable source of rubber. Continu- 

 ous tapping for 6 months year after year, Mr. Mann affirms, will kill 

 the trees, and accordingly he urged either that tapping should be re- 

 stricted to three months a year (January, February, and March), or 

 that a regulation should be made prohibiting the tapping of Forests 

 more frequently than once every three years. Mr. Mann further gives 

 instructive figures as to the value of the rubber trees and their yield 

 of caoutchouc. " Assuming that a tree reaches its full size at fifty 

 years without tapping, and would after that yield every third year one 

 maund of rubber, which would be collected, manufactured, and deli- 

 vered in Calcutta at 15 rupees per maund, and should realise the pre- 

 sent price of good rubber, viz., 35 rupees per maund, it would have a 

 net profit of 20 rupees, per tree every third year. Besides this one 



* The information about this rubber in India is chiefly derived from Watts 7 

 Dictionary of Economic Products of India . 



