Gums, Resins. 



490 



[June, 1910. 



are favourable* the iron sheet is carried 

 to the holes and the seeds placed in 

 position and lightly covered up. This 

 is a great saving of trouble and expense 

 over the nursery system from which 

 the young rubbers are transplanted 

 when 18 inches to 2 feet high, often sub- 

 jected to rough handling in the lifting 

 and transplanting which damages and 

 destroys a fair percentage besides throw- 

 ing back and retarding the growth of 

 the plant. 



Another method employed for quick 

 germination is to spread seed on a 

 blanket and cover it up with another, 

 keeping the seed well watered and 

 thoroughly moist in the sun. In a very 

 few days germination takes place, when 

 a couple of seeds are placed in soil in 

 small baskets or rotting pots. These are 

 packed closely together in a shaded 

 place and watered regularly. When- 

 ever the rains come the pots are placed 

 in the holes or pockets loosely packed 

 with soil, and after a time the better 

 of the two plants is left in possession. 

 Though more trouble than the corru- 

 gated iron plan I am inclined to favour 

 this latter system as, in the event of 

 the rains not coming when expected, 

 the young plants would have to be 

 watered in the holes and, unless this 

 is done regularly, would speedily wither 

 off and die, whereas it is a much sim- 

 pler matter to water all the baskets 

 when closely packed together than the 

 holes singly. The average distance of 

 planting is about 10 feet by 10 feet, 

 which brings it out at 435 plants per 

 acre. As two or more plants come up 

 in one hole they are allowed to grow 

 together for a time, when the best is 

 selected to remain and the others are 

 either planted out independently or 

 used for filling up casual vacancies. 



The Germans are very careful as to 

 clean weeding from the earliest stages 

 of growth for first few years of the 

 life of the youug rubber. After three 

 years the weeds do not trouble them 

 much, and then perhaps a couple of 

 cleanings a year will suffice, but, as I say, 

 in the earlier stages they are very parti- 

 cular. NDr are they keen on intermediate 

 catch crops. Only on one estate did 

 I see a leguminous crop being raised 

 between the lines of rubber. For Ground 

 Nuts and other cereals they seem to 

 have "no time," devoting all their atten- 

 tion and energies to the rubber. With 

 their fine soil it is not necessary to 

 provide a green crop for the nourishment 

 of the plants and, having plenty of it, 

 they do not need to make ridges for the 

 prevention of its being washed away, nor 

 is draining necessary. With the rapid 



growth of the tree tapping is general 

 by the end of the second year. For the 

 following twelve months the trees are 

 not severely dealt with. They are going 

 through a sort of apprenticeship and 

 getting accustomed to the knife. It is 

 wonderful how the trees seem to take 

 to this and the effect it has on them. 

 Once a tree is tapped it increases more 

 rapidly in girth than one untouched, and 

 evidently settles down at once as a 

 latex producer, in which it can evidently 

 be encouraged. If two trees of the same 

 age and like each other are treated 

 differently this becomes apparent. Say 

 No. 1 is tapped at the end of the second 

 year and No. 2 a year later, it will be 

 found that No. 2 yields no more during 

 its first year's tapping than No. 1 did 

 when a year younger, while No. 1 in its 

 second year's tapping gives considerably 

 more, clearly showing that the yield 

 can be encouraged by tapping judi- 

 ciously. Though trees are reckoned to be 

 giving a good yield at five year's of age, 

 yet the quantity goes on increasing 

 under favourable circumstances. On one 

 estate there is a tree whose career seems 

 phenomenal. It is now in its eleventh 

 year and during the past twelve months 

 yielded 26 lbs. of moist rubber, while two 

 years ago it was giving considerably 

 less. This tree has been tapped monthly 

 and is in a flourishing condition. No 

 amount of proper tapping seems to in- 

 jure good trees. They will cease yield- 

 ing latex if over-taxed, but the life of the 

 tree is not endangered. It just requires 

 a resting time to gather its forces again. 

 During the first year of tapping the 

 Germans are satisfied if a tree yields one 

 quarter pound of wet rubber, — say two 

 ounces of dry. No peeling of the bark 

 is required during this period, but it soon 

 becomes a necessity, as the outer bark 

 thickens very much and becomes a har- 

 bourage for white ants and other insects, 

 the refuse from which dirties the rubber. 

 Methods of tapping vary much in 

 different properties. In one case the 

 oricking might be confined to a single 

 section on one side of the tree, while in 

 another it may be in three or four 

 vertical lines, but in no case is pricking 

 permitted all round the trunk at one 

 time. Morning and evening are said to 

 be the best times for tapping, and the 

 part being operated on should never face 

 the snn, 



I did not see anything new or striking 

 in the matter of the knife used. Here is 

 one of the things in which I wa9 dis- 

 appointed at not finding something I 

 had not seen before. Anything seems to 

 do, from an ordinary carver or table 

 knife to a tool made on the premises, 

 something like a chisel with a very flat 



