and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— July, 1912. 83 



SALES OF PRODUCE IN BRITISH AND CONTINENTAL MARKETS. 



Fibres, Cotton, Grain, Oil Seeds, Hides and Skins, 

 Timber, Rubber, Drugs, Wool, Ores, Mica, Gums, Tea, 

 Cocoa, Coffee, Copra, Sugar, etc., are being regularly 

 dealt in; Keymer, Son & Co., being selling Agents for 

 Estates, Mills and Exporters. 



Samples valued. Best ports for Shipments indicated. 



The management of Estates undertaken. Capital found 

 for the development or purchase of valuable properties. 



KEYMER, SON & CO. , 

 Cables: Whitefriars, 

 KEYMER, LONDON. LONDON, E. C. 



(Sane address since 1844). 



MR. WICKHAM'S NEW TAPPING 

 KNIFE. 



We had an opportunity recently of seeing the 

 very strong and substantial tapping knife which 

 Mr H A Wickham— the Father of the Rubber 

 Industry in the East— has invented, brought 

 out by Messrs, David Bridge & Co., for whom 

 the Colombo Commercial Co. are the Agents in 

 Ceylon. Those rubber planters who visited this 

 Company's attractive Pavilion at the Ceylon 

 show would have examined it. It consists 

 of a very powerful spring handle, attached to 

 which are three chisel-like knives of nearly an 

 inch in width almost totally enclosed in a metal 

 box, but each of which comes through an aper- 

 ture and performs its instantaneous task when 

 a quick blow is given to the spring handle. The 

 knife, of course, has to be placed perpendicularly 

 against the tree bark, the individual chisels mak- 

 ing parallel incisions at an angle of 45 degrees to 

 the upright. The depth of the cut can be easily 

 regulated, and from the general build of the 

 knife we imagine that the coolie would be lesB 

 able to go wrong with this instrument than 

 with almost any other. Mr Wickham was not 

 able to explain to us scientifically the reason why 

 there were three individual knives instead of 

 one ; but from the fact that it is, in principle, on 

 the South American Indians' mode of tapping, 

 which is the most skilful in the world, no doubt 

 it will produce the best results, in yield and 

 minimum injury to the tree. Mr Wickham is 

 convinced that the method of paring away the 

 bark, and making large incisions, is bound to be 

 detrimental to vigor and further yield ; many 



estates today confirm his view. Incidentally, 

 we might mention that Mr Wickham, who all 

 along has been an enemy of close planting, — in 

 fact an advocate of one hundred trees to the acre 

 or rather less, — is rinding his views supported 

 by the way in which many Ceylon rubber plan- 

 tations vvhere there are 220 trees to the acre, 

 more or less, show trees of entirely deficient 

 proportions and with no prospect growing as 

 Hevea should— and does in the Brazil forests. 

 The growth {in girth especially) is delayed and 

 malformation of the trees militates against their 

 giving early or permanently abundant yields. 

 Mr Wickham proceeds very shortly to Pera- 

 deniya and some upcountry estates. We shall 

 be interested to hear his views, and the changes 

 he has noted, on his return. 



PAPAYA AS A DIGESTIVE. 



How many people know that the papaya fruit, 

 which is in lull swing just now in our fruit mar- 

 kets on this side of India, is one of tho very best 

 cures for that distressing complaint known as 

 indigestion or dyspepsia ? Analysis shows that 

 this fruit is extremely rich in peptonic qualities, 

 so rich, in fact, that a piece of the toughest 

 meat placed between two slices of the fruit will 

 not only become tender but somewhat prediges- 

 ted. The papaya tree is one that should bo 

 found in every garden. It produces fruit in from 

 nine months to a year from the time the seed is 

 sown, and, according to the best medical evi- 

 dence, a sound papaya would make a valuable 

 adjunct to the breakfast table of each and all of 

 us, But dyspeptics should take special note, 



