570 



2 he Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



are being tapped. Last year 26,000 lb. of rubber 

 were obtained from trees three years old, and 

 this year it is anticipated that 70,000 lb. of 

 rubber will be obtained from trees of this age. 

 Tapping is done on the pricking system, but the 

 coolies are now being taught to tap on the half 

 herring-bone system, three feet from the ground 

 and in foot sections. Tapping is conducted 

 every other day and in the dry weather, and the 

 average crop per tree is three-quarters of a lb. 



A New Coagulating Machine. 



OnhiE present visit Mr VVicherley has brought 

 out a new rubber coagulating machine of his 

 own invention. It is a very compact structure 

 measuring right feet by lour feet. It can easily 

 be conveyed to estates, and the latex carried 

 to it. By a imple rotary motion the rubber is 

 coagulated and smoked, and can be turned out 

 about eighteen pounds per hour. The blocks are 

 a quarter of an inch thick and nine inches 

 long. He made a number of experiments with it 

 in England, but at first the machine was a failure. 

 By continuous experiment the machine was got 

 to work successtully and now can be turned out 

 for a few pounds. The process is of course a 

 secret one. The patent was opposed by Mr Wick- 

 ham, but according to Mr Wicherley the latter 

 was defeated. He hopes to get to work with the 

 machine in a very few weeks. 



New Seeds foe Peradeniya. 



Mr VVicherley has also brought out a number 

 of varieties of seeds from Brazil which he is go- 

 ing to take to Peradeniya for experimental pur- 

 poses, some of the seeds are those of the oil nut 

 palm which he says grows very rapidly and 

 ought to do very well here. Another variety is 

 the Coquinto, which means small coconut, and 

 which he states is a very useful one. 



He will spend about four months in Ceylon 

 and then goes to Malaya, and afterwards 

 Burma, and then home. 



TEA AND RUBBER [IN HOLLAND. 



A Consular report for 1911 on the trade of 

 Amsterdam and the Netherlands points out 

 that the arrivals of Java tea at Amsterdam 

 were again less during 1911 as compared with 

 previous years, numbering 136,800 cases, as 

 against 157,60U and 174,400 cases in 1910 and 

 1909 respectively. The results obtained from 

 the rubber industry during 1911 show a consi- 

 derable advance on previous years, and it is ex- 

 pected that the arrivals on this market will in- 

 crease very rapidly during the next few years as 

 the plantations in the colonies attain full pro- 

 ductions. The total arrivals of rubber of all 

 kinds at Amsterdam amounted to 240 tons, of 

 which 146 tons were Hevea and Ficus from Java, 

 the remainder being miscellaneous kinds. Re- 

 ference is made to the use of coffee substitutes, 

 chiefly coffee adulterated with chicory and 

 roasted beans of various kinds, which is increas- 

 ing considerably in the Netherlands, probably 

 in consequence of the rise in the price of coffee. 

 —H. & 0. Mail, May 17. 



COCONUT PLANTING NOTES. 



Negorabo, 29th May, 1912. 

 All interested in coconuts, as planters or 

 manufacturers, are delighted with the splendid 

 weather we are having. If we had the direction 

 of it, we would not be able to ordain it better 

 than now. We have bright sunshine with oc- 

 casional show'ers of rain. This prevents the 

 soil becoming sodden on average lands. But 

 most of Negombo town is very Jow-lying, and 

 in some places must be below sea-level. Houses 

 in these places have all the walls damp and 

 the floors wet with moisture. There is very 

 little movement of the water, yet one does not 

 hear of mosquitoes aDd malaria. 



Mil. DUPONT, THE DIRECTOR OF THE BOTANICAL 

 GARDENS AT THE SEYCHELLES 



was in the Island a fow months ago. He is 

 an ardent Agriculturist and has qualified as 

 an Agricultural Chemist. Being interested in 

 coconuts, he paid me a visit at HorrekeJle. 

 I have just received a letter from him, dated 

 the 7th February. The only foreign post- 

 mark it bears is " Aden. May 14th." I 

 cannot account for the delay. What he writes 

 about coconuts is: " I shall always be inter- 

 ested in your work, and whenever any new sys- 

 tem is discovered in Ceylon for the treatment 

 of coconut trees, please drop me a word of in- 

 formation. I think you have much to do with 

 regard to manuring, but 



YOU MUST HAVE AN EXPERIMENTAL FIELD 

 WORKED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE, 



and a programme thoughtfully established with 

 the aid of planters of standing and scientists 

 like Bamber and Lock." 



I have made this suggestion before now, only 

 I did not suggest it being carried out at Gov- 

 ernment expense. I trust, Sir, that you will 

 back up the suggestion that Scientists, includ- 

 ing Mr. C Drieberg, should choose out plots on 

 representative estates in different districts, and 

 direct their cultivation, at the expense of the 

 proprietors, the cultivation to include ploughing, 

 harrowing, green manuring, &c, &c, &c. If re- 

 sults are carefully noted and published, they 

 would be of much use to all interested in coconuts. 



In this connection I may say that I was very 

 much interested in the 



TABLE PUBLISHED IN YOUR DIRECTORY, OF THE 

 ACREAGE UNDER COCONUTS 



in every part of the world. I find that Ceylon has 

 the largest acreage under coconuts in the world 

 — 770,000 acres, the next being S. America with 

 500,000 acres. The interest of the information 

 driven would have been intensified, if you could 

 have given a table of exports of all the products 

 of the palm in the different countries I have 

 enumerated, I have always heard it said that 

 our crops cannot affect prices, as they are a drop 

 in the bucket (not ocean). The acreage under 

 coconuts in Ceylon is about one-fourth of the 

 acreage under coconuts in the whole world. — B. 



