October, 1912.] 



269 



(September 6, 1877) is quoted, to the effect that the Hevea sent last year 

 (i.e., 1876) were making good progress. 



All the plants consigned direct to Burma died ; but later in the year 

 Duthie took out another case to Calcutta, of which one third were sent 

 to Assam and 16 to Burma (1877). The survivors of the latter, eight in all, 

 were planted in the Forest Office compound at Mergui. 



Third Introduction of Hevea. 



Cross sailed from Liverpool on June 19th, 1876, and on July 15th arriv- 

 ed at the port of Para, which he made his headquarters during his stay in 

 Brazil. After exploring the surrounding districts by short excursions 

 from Para, he began, on August 2nd, to collect seedlings, and by August 

 10th had accumulated about 2,000. Some of these were rejected, and 

 the remainder, over 1,000, were planted in decayed leaves mixed with wood 

 ashes in special cases. He returned to England in November 1876, bringing 

 1080 seedlings, of which scarcely 3 per cent, were saved. These were pro- 

 pagated by cuttings, about 100 plants being subsequently sent to Ceylon 

 (September 15,1877), while small parcels were sent to Singapore, Java, 

 Queensland and Maur itius. This made a total of 2019 plauts sent to Ceylon 

 " for subsequent transmission to India," 



The number of plants sent to Singapore was 22. They were 

 despatched on June 11th, 1877. It was probably nine of these which 

 Murton planted in Perak in October, 1877. 



Other Introductions of Hevea Brasiliensis. 



In the Report of the Forest Department, Singapore, for 1891, it is 

 stated that seeds were obtained from Kew in that year. There is no record 

 of any such consignment in the Kew publications, and Ceylon was then 

 supplying seed to Kew for transmission to the West Indies. It seems highly 

 improbable that Kew ever supplied Hevea seed to any Botanic Garden in the 

 East ;but in the Agricultural Bulletin of the Malay Peninsula (1898), p. 230, 

 Ridley, in a discussion of earlier records, stated "seed has been success- 

 fully sent from South America via England, though usually with much 

 loss." Further information on this point is desirable. 



The Species Introduced. 



During recent years, it has on several occasions been suggested that 

 the Hevea introduced into the East is not the species which yields the 

 Fine Hard Para of commerce, the idea being in nearly all cases based 

 upon the alleged inferiority of some grades of Plantation rubber. And a 

 somewhat similar question has compelled the attention of the rubber 

 planter, namely, whether all the introduced Hevea trees belong to the same 

 species. The inferiority, real or supposed, of plantation rubber is in 

 most cases capable of explanation in other ways, more especially by the 

 age of the tree ; but the planter certainly has good grounds for question- 

 ing the identity of all the Hevea trees on his estate. He sees enormous 

 variation in the size of the leaf, well-marked differences in the character 

 of the bark which appear to be related to latex-yielding capacity, and 

 variations also in the type of seed. It is usual to attribute these variations 

 to the effect of a new environment ; and they are perhaps not more 

 numerous than might be expected to occur when so many thousands of 

 plants are brought under new conditions of growth. Whether these 

 variations breed true has not yet been determined, nor has it yet been 

 decided whether any particular types of leaf, seed, and bark are constant- 

 ly associated with one another. Experiments have been instituted, but a 

 considerable time must elapse before any definite information is obtained, 



