274 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



was met with until a commission to supply the 

 seeds was given to Mr Wickham by Sir Clements 

 Markham of the India Office. .Even so these 

 seeds might never have reached Kew, but for 

 the extraordinary chance which enabled Wick- 

 ham to charter an ocean-going steamer which 

 had arrived on the great river and had there 

 been abandoned by her supercargoes. The seeds 

 were hurried on board, and a great number of 

 them safely survived their journey. Having 

 arrived at Kew it was decided that the climate 

 of Ceylon was better suited than that of India 

 for the rearing of the seedlings, and the 

 gardens at Henaratgoda, sixteen miles from 

 Colombo, were opened for their accommodation, 

 and here some forty of the original trees still 

 survive. Upwards of 7,000 plants arrived in 

 Ceylon in 1876 in 39 Wardian cases by the s.s. 

 Duke of Devonshire, and their subsequent his- 

 tory may be traced in the annual reports of three 

 Directors of Botanic Gardens in Ceylon — 

 Doctors Thwaites, Trimen, and Willis. 



The first tree flowered at Henaratgoda in 1881 

 and during this year Trimen commenced his 

 first experiments in tapping. The plantation 

 was thinned out in 1882, and in 1883 260 seedling 

 plants were raised, most of which were distri- 

 buted in Ceylon. In 1884 thore were over 1,000 

 trees at Henaratgoda, but it was found necessary 

 to thin the plantation again in 1885, and wo read 

 of 457 fine trees existing in 1887. In his report 

 for 1888 Dr Trimen strongly advocated the cul- 

 tivation of Hevea in Ceylon, and in 1890 the 

 Forest Department opened a plantation at 

 Edangoda, which was increased to a certain 

 extent in subsequent years. In 1893 about 

 90,000 seeds were distributed to planters in 

 Ceylon, and similar numbers were disposed of in 

 the years immediately succeeding, the seeds 

 being eagerly taken up at a price of Rs. 10 per 

 thousand. 



Trimen's estimate of the probable yield of a 

 rubber plantation was very low according to 

 modern ideas, and it was not considered safe in 

 those days to tap trees at an earlier age than 

 ten or twelve years. The largest of the Hena- 

 ratgoda trees, tapped of course very lightly by 

 an incision method, gave the following yields in 

 alternate years, beginning with 1888, when it 

 was already twelve years old : — 



lb. oz. 



1888 ... 1 11| 



1890 ... 2 10 



1892 ... 2 13 



1894 ... 3 3 



1896 ... 3 



From these yields Trimen estimated that a 

 very handsome profit could be obtained. 



Dr. Willis started tapping experiments at 

 Henaratgoda on a plantation of eleven to twelve- 

 year old trees in 1896, and in 1898 Mr J Parkin 

 carried out a series of experiments in the coagu- 

 lation of latex and in tapping, which are now 

 classical in the history of this product. During 

 1905 and 1906 experiments were carried on at 

 Henaratgoda by Mr Herbert Wright, and since 

 1908 by Mr Kelway Bamber and the present 

 writer, 



Planting continued steadily until 1904, when 

 the area was estimated at 1 1,000 acres, and then 

 came the historic rush into rubber which charac- 

 terised the years 19051907. In 1906 the first 

 World's Rubber Exhibition was held in the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya. At the 

 time a great deal of rubber was planted throuph 

 existing tea fields, a fact which has caused con- 

 siderable fluctuation in the estimates of the 

 present area under rubber ; but with the recent 

 increase iu the Drice of tea, combined with some 

 falling off in the price of rubber, this practice 

 has been largely given up. 



Of the total planted area, probably exceeding 

 200,000 acres, some 50,000 acres are now being 

 tapped, but only a part of this area has yet 

 arrived at the full producing stage. The follow- 

 ing table shows the increase in the area planted 

 with rubber in Cey.'on, and in the quantities of 

 rubber exported during the past ten years — 





Acres. a 



Tons, 





Acres. a 



Tons. 



1900 



1750 





1906 



100,000 



146-3 



1901 



2,500 





1907 



150,000 



248-3 



1902 



4,500 





1908 



175,000 



407-2 



1903 



7,500 



18-7 



1909 



180,000 



666 3 



1904 



11,0U0 



34-5 



1910 



184,000 



1,601-3 



1905 



40,000 



752 



1911 



190,0006 3,000-06 





Hkvea Rubber in 



Ceylon. 





The hardiness of the Para rubber tree in its new 

 home is a matter for astonishment, and the trees 

 have made good growth in situations where in 

 the early days botanical experts would never 

 have dreamt of their succeeding. As might be 

 expected, however, the tree makes its most rapid 

 growth and gives an earlier and heavier yield in 

 the moist low-country. The plant will grow, 

 though less luxuriantly, in rocky situations 

 above 2,000 feet, where it may be seen entering 

 into competition with the still more hardly tea 

 bush in its power of making the best of un- 

 favourable circumstances ; and it will also grow 

 in comparatively dry districts, if adequately pro- 

 tected from wind. It may be mentioned here that 

 wind is perhaps the worst onemy of the rubber 

 tree; but others are cattle, pig, deer, monkeys, 

 and porcupine, the last of these even continuing 

 their attacks upon full-grown trees and tearing 

 oft the bark at the base. 



The processes involved in opening an estate 

 are matters which, not being a practical planter, 

 the present writer may pass over somewhat 

 rapidly. The forest is cut down and when dry 

 is burned, these operations being generally 

 carried out on contract. Roads and drains are 

 then cut, the number of the latter and the dis- 

 tance between them depending upon the lay of 

 the land. Drains in Ceylon are mainly used for 

 preventing the rush of water down sloping land 

 and so conserving the surface soil. The drains 

 are therefore carried across the slopes with as 

 little fall as possible, and the steeper the slope, 

 the closer together must the drains be placed in 

 order to prevent soil wash, which leads to very 

 serious losses where tropical rainfall is exper- 

 ienced. Swampy land under rubber is found 

 in comparatively few districts of Ceylon, but 



a Not including considerable areas partly 

 planted with Hevea among other products, 

 b Estimated, 



