and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— June, 1910. 573 



mes, and the Kali-Mrawan at 1844 grammes, we 

 are still far off half a pound per tree, and it 

 must be remembered that the yield begins to 

 fail in the eighth year But even the yields 

 named were not reached with repeated tapping. 

 I only know one district in Java that favours the 

 castilloa : it is in the Preanger, where the trees 

 return 2 lb. of dry rubber each ; but I am un- 

 able to say whether this refers to a limited or a 

 large number of trees. It is always to be under- 

 stood that the castilloa fumi yields more than 

 the castilloa elastica. 



I found castilloa yield V 2 lb. of dry rubber per 

 tree in Ceylon— a 1 lb. yield being reckoned on 

 for seven-year old trees. The question, there- 

 fore, arises, how is it that trees so generous in 

 Ceylon are so niggardly in Java ? I am at a loss 

 for a reply. I hope for better results with the 

 Hevea.— Indian Trade Journal, May 26. 



" MANIHOT " RUBBERS ON THE 

 NI LGIRIS . 



The Rubber for High Elevations. 



A planter, who signs himself "Hopeful," 

 writes to us as follows from the Nilgiris :— - 



Sufficient time has now lapsed on the Nilgiris 

 since planters started experimenting with the 

 three new varieties of the Manihot, for at least 

 one of these planters to state from actual ex- 

 perience, whether he thinks these rubbers will 

 prove the salvation of the planter, who owns 

 land at an elevation at which it is absolutely 

 certain no rubbers such as Para, Castilloa, etc., 

 will grow. At the start, no one could tell, not 

 even the exporter of the seed from Bahia, the 

 seller in Ceylon, or the purchasing planter, at 

 what extreme height these Manihots would be a 

 success. The general idea was that these var- 

 ieties would grow at higher altitudes than the 

 species above-mentioned, and consequently allow 

 planters at these altitudes to participate in the 

 great boom 1 It is only natural that planters 

 whose land elevations prohibited rubber plan- 

 ting anxiously wanted a species that would 

 really thrive in more temperate zones, and like 

 the proverbial drowning man and the straw, 

 when the Manihot arrived, with even the sus- 

 picion of a likelihood of its being grown profit- 

 ably, at 5,000 ft. above sea level, there was a 

 great rush to try it. As I will later on show, 1 

 do not think there is the slightest doubt that 



THESE RUBBERS WILL DO, AND DO WELL, IN SHEL- 

 TERED BLOCKS, AT EVEN 5,500 FT., ELEVATION. 



Everything, however, must have its drawbacks 

 or this disappointing old world would be too 

 easy to live in. There certainly would be no 

 booms of any kind. The great drawback, one 

 which has well-nigh disgusted and compelled 

 most experimenters to stop and abandon hope 

 as to its being even moderately cultivated, is 

 the utter impossibility of germinating even 5 per 

 cent, of the seed! With the utmost care, i.e., well- 

 regulated heat, good drainage, the right amount 

 of watering, etc., from 10,000 seed (90 per cent 

 guaranteed sound) I have only managed to raise 

 250 plants, or 2^ per cent. The remaining un- 

 germinated seed, if still carefully nursed, may 

 distribute its germination over a twelve-month ; 

 but, at this rate, when would any appreciable 

 area come into yielding ? I think men at high 

 elevations are far from wise to let this trouble- 



some germination damp their ardour, or indeed 

 make them " chuck it," as some seem inclined 

 to do. Knowing that I have got hold of a good 

 thing, I also know what my 2J per cent of plants 

 will yield in three years, in the way of cuttings ; 

 these are easy to strike, and 



EACH THREE- YEAR-OLD TREE 



(judging by the growth, which I shall presently 

 describe, of one year old trees) 



WILL AT LEAST YIELD 20 CUTTINGS, 



at a modest estimate, so that every 250 plants a 

 man owns at the present moment will, in three 

 years, give him 5,000 cuttings and so on, ad lib. 

 Thauk Heaven with drawbacks there is the "law 

 of compensation" also. As this is a subject 

 which must interest a great number, I will now 

 give the experiences up to date of another 

 planter and myself, who were absolutely the first 

 to try the Dichotoma and Piauhyensis on these 

 hills at a high elevation. We started by pur- 

 chasing a few Dichotoma plants from the Horti- 

 cultural Gardens, Madras ; this was during May- 

 June, 1909. When planted on my friend's estate 

 at an elevation of 5,400 ft., and on my estate at 

 5,750 ft., the average height of tho plants wa3 

 I ft. Today (exactly a year after) these trees 

 average 6 ft., and some stand at 7 and 8 ft. All 

 are branching beautifully, and what is most 

 encouraging, many have a girth of 7 in. at the 

 collar. These plants have 



STOOD THE FIRST WINTER WELL, 



frost lying in the valley not 500 yards away ! 

 I consider that my friend's elevation is 

 the maximum height at which these rubbers 

 will be quite satisfactory, as my Dichotoma, 

 which is now 6ft., is not nearly as tine as his 

 in girth measurement, in consequence of my 

 350ft. higher elevation. We have kept careful 

 notes, and made searching enquiries from men 

 who are growing these at elevations lower than 

 5,000ft. and from all the replies we have had 

 and from what we have seen, 



PERADENIYA IN CEYLON NOT EXCEPTED, 



we have come to the conclusion that the 

 Dichotoma will at anything below 5,000ft. grow 

 spindly and tall, and from 5,000ft. up to 5,500ft. 

 thick, robust and sturdy, provided always this 

 variety is grown in well sheltered hollows. 

 A Mysore planter was disgusted with the gtowth 

 of his Dichotoma at 3,000ft. aiter seeing my 

 friend's at 5,400 not only as regards girth, but 

 also in height ! — The above notes concern the 



PLANTS BOUGHT AT THE HORTICULTURAL 

 GARDENS, MADRAS. 



Subsequently my friend got 2,000 seed from 

 London, of which he raised 25 per cent plants. 

 These he planted in the field six months later 

 and all are now growing vigorously in a one-acre 

 plot. This plot was visited by our Scientific 

 Officer a few days ago and that gentleman, who 

 has seen the growth of the Dichotoma in various 

 localities and at various elevations, was asto- 

 nished, as well as hugely delighted, at the 

 growth and robustness of both Dichotoma and 

 Piauhyensis on my friend's experimental acre. 

 The rainfall, I might mention, is only 50 or 53 

 in yearly. It will yet pay those who think they 

 have thrown away rupees on non-germinating 

 seed, carefully to conserve all plants they have 

 managed to raise, no matter how few; for in a 

 short time they can multiply each plant many 

 times over with cuttings.— M. Mail, June 1, 



