and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— February, 1912. 183 



acres planted (giving an annual export of a mil- 

 lion cwt.— making the island the third coffee- 

 growing country in the world.) Now coffee has 

 disappeared until only 550 acres are cultivated. 

 First it was superseded by cinchona plants, 

 which grew readily on the same fields, until in 

 eight years (18S5 onwards) Ceylon exported over 

 100 million pounds of "bark," which helped to 

 reduce the price of Howard's quinine from 16s 

 and 12s per ounce, until in 1898 it was quoted Is 

 '2d. — a special boon to India, Southern China, 

 Africa, and large parts of America, where ma- 

 laria abounds. But when the price of quinine fell, 

 it became unprofitable to grow the cinchona 

 shrubs in Ceylon, and, very fortunately, it was 

 then found that the hardy tea plants of Assam 

 flourished exceedingly all over the then "coffee 

 region " of Ceylon and much beyond it, for while 

 coffee only succeeded between 1,500 feet and 

 4,500feet above sea level, tea grows in maritime 

 districts and right up to fields even 6,500 feet 

 and higher un. At this moment there are only 

 nine acres of cultivated cinchona in Ceylon 

 (against 55,000 acres 30 years ago) and the in- 

 dustry is monopolised in Java, with the Govern- 

 ment gardens in India. But then Ceylon has 

 instead its 670,000 acres of tea, rubber, cocoa, 

 and cardamoms — apart from its 760,000 acres of 

 coconuts, 140,000 acres of other cultivated palms, 

 45,000 acres of cinnamon, and a great native in- 

 dustry in growing rice, other grain, tobacco, 

 essential oil grasses, cotton fibres, fruit, and 

 vegetables. — London Times, Jan, 22. 



RUBBER IN CEYLON. 



GKEAT SPREAD OF THE INDUSTRY- 

 REMARKABLE DIVERSITY OF 

 METHODS— POINTS OF INTEREST. 



There are two districts in Ceylon where 

 rubber is said to grow best, namely, the Kalu- 

 tara district and the Kelani Valley, and as 

 most of the older estates are situated in 

 one or other of these two districts a visit to 

 them is perhaps the best introduction to rub- 

 ber planting that could be obtained. But 

 there are now many other districts where 

 rubber is grown, where the conditions are 

 little, if any, inferior for cultivation to the 

 two already named. Indeed, it is remarkable, 

 in going through the rubber districts of the 

 island, to observe to what a great extent rub- 

 ber is being cultivated ; it appears to be every- 

 where, up to an elevation, at all events, of 

 between 2,500 to 3,000 feet, and even at a 

 height of 4.000 feet it may be seen, though at 

 this elevation it is grown experimentally rather 

 than as a commercial enterprise ; naturally, 

 at a height of 3,000 to 4,000 feet the trees, 

 even if they prove ultimately successful, take 

 much longer to mature th;tn those grown at a 

 lower elevation. Hopes are expressed that, 

 aB is the case with tea, rubber grown at a 

 high elevation will prove to be superior in 

 quality to that grown lower, but that this 

 will prove to be so seems very doubtful, as the 

 requirements of the two products are by no 

 means entirely similar. It is only by an 

 extended tour in the planting districts that 

 the rapid growth of the industry can be ade- 



quately realised ; the fact that the area under 

 rubber at the middle of last year amounted 

 to over 180,000 acres, including the areas in- 

 terplauted amongst other products, does not 

 give much idea of the manner in which it 

 is spread over the country. There are 

 situated in the Kalutara district estates 

 belonging to such well-known Companies 

 ■as the General Ceylon, P. P. K., the 

 Rosehaugh, the Neboda, the St, George, 

 the Glondon, the Dalkeith, the Eastern Pro- 

 duce, the Kalutara and the Doranakande, in ad- 

 dition to many owned by local rupee Companies 

 and in private hands. The rainfall is consider- 

 able, ranging up to an average of over 150 in. per 

 annum ; it is well distributed. In the Kelani 

 Valley district (usually known as the " K. V. ; ') 

 are situated estates belonging to the Grand 

 Central, the Sapumalkande, the General Ceylon, 

 the Ceylon Tea Plantations, the Yatiyantota, 

 the Nagolle, the Doranakande, the Rajawella, 

 the Doolgalla, the Sunnygama and other com- 

 panies. The rainfall here ranges up to over 180 

 in. per annum, and is well distributed through- 

 out the year. Other rubber growing districts, 

 which are given in order according to total 

 acreage planted are: — Ratnapura, Kegalla, Galle, 

 Kurunegala, Matale, Haputale, Monaragala, 

 Madulsima, Kadugannawa and Rakwana. There 

 are also several others, but the acreage there is 

 not as yet very large. 



Standard Methods in the Making. 

 It may be said as a general rule that the 

 estates in Ceylon have beeu very thoroughly 

 cleared, and that they are kept very clean ; 

 whole fields, and almost whole estates, may be 

 seen without a weed visibleany where. Naturally, 

 in the dry weather this absence of undergrowth 

 makes the surface of the ground dry and hard, 

 and as it is during the hot, dry weather that 

 the trees " winter" and shed their leaves, thus 

 removing the shade which they usually give to 

 the ground, the soil would receive the full rays 

 of the sun were it not for the fallen leaves, 

 which provide a thick, if dry, carpet. It is im- 

 possible, on visiting a number of estates, not 

 to be struck by the diversity of opinions held 

 and methods adopted by different superinten- 

 dents and their visitiug agents. It might be ex- 

 pected that in various districts, where the same 

 conditions do not prevail, different methods 

 would be required, but the diversity may be, 

 and indeed often is, found on estates where the 

 conditions are nearly identical; and it is not 

 in one point only as to field-work or manufac- 

 ture that it shows itself, but in almost every 

 detail of the estate ; from this it seems obvious 

 that a great deal has yet to be done before the 

 best methods can definitely be stated to have 

 been agreed upon and a standard reached. Views 

 as to the distance apart that trees should be 

 planted vary very much — 20 by 20, 20 by 10, 15 

 by 15, 30 by 10, 10 by 10, &c, all these and others 

 are advocated and adopted on different estates. 

 Attention has already been called to the general 

 absence of weeds, and this is a point on which 

 opinion seems to be united. 



Diverse Tapping Systems. 

 Methods of tapping and tapping instruments 

 are far from being uniform. A great many 



