[Jan. 1908. 



has followed one of cockchafer grubs, consequently the appearance of the whole 

 plot is very discouraging. The seed from which these plants were raised came from 

 Ceylon, but have also been in close contact with a nursery of plants from the 

 Government plantation at Mergui. Any advice will oblige very much. 



Yours truly, 



J. G. P. MARSHALL. 



Tavoy, Burmah, 30th October, 1907. 



[The specimens have not been received, but in any case they should be sent 

 to the local department and not here. By the time they reach Ceylon they are 

 covered with many fungi, and it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to make 

 much of them.— Ed.] 



ENEMIES OP PARA RUBBER IN BURMA. 



Dear Sir, — Please allow me to make the following corrections in my last 

 letter in your November issue :— 



Line 5"origines male "should of course read " origines mali." For " male 

 rat " read " mole rat" wherever the words appear. For '' new rainy season," the 

 last line on p. 382 read " non rainy season." In 6th line on p. 383 for "in all 

 surprising reason" read " for the all sufficing: reason." In line 11 for " Tavoy Evez " 

 read " Tavoy every." 



Y~ours truly, 



J. G. F. MARSHALL. 



Tavoy, Burmah, 19th December, 1907. 



RUBBER TAPPING IN BOLIVIA. 



Sir, — I am sending you the enclosed, thinking that it will interest your 

 readers who are interested in the exploitation of rubber and planting of same. In 

 the article mentioned in the June number of your journal, I was surprised at the 

 small ratio of rubber to latex as set forth in the experiments. Truly, what we don't 

 know about rubber, its growth, yield and exploitation is marvellous. Nearly every- 

 one handling this industry has a different experience when tackling almost the same 

 questions in different localities. Yours truly, 



Boston and Bolivia Rubber Co., 

 F. J. DUNLEAVY. 



Sorata, Bolivia, Oct. 1, 1907. 



The Editor,— Your article on rubber picking in Ceylon in the June number 

 of the "Tropical Agriculturist" was most interesting to me, as it must be to all 

 interested in rubber planting and exploitation, and noting how these experiments 

 differed from some of those carried on by myself in the tapping of Hevea brasiliensis 

 in their natural habitat at the head waters of the Amazon, on the Mapiri, Kaka, and 

 Beni Rivers in Bolivia, I am sure that it will be of interest to rubber planters and 

 exploiters to give the details of this experiment. 



I may mention that while the Hevea of this section grows at as high an 

 altitude as 4,000 feet, it produces at this height very little latex of an inferior quality 

 and that my experiments were carried on at an altitude of 1,500 feet. 



I started out one morning in June at 5 a.m. with the quickest worker and 

 picker on the plantation of the property of the Boston and Bolivia Rubber Co. of 

 nearly one million acres. The picker carried a Machadine for tapping, a small tool 

 about two and half inches long, with a cutting face of three-quarter inches. This is 

 manufactured in the United States, and is the favourite tool for this purpose from 

 here to the Amazonian Flats. Before fifteen minutes the picker was tapping, and I 

 was measuring the trunks of the rubber trees so tapped six feet from the ground, 

 From this time to 10 a.m. the picker had tapped, and I had measured 345 Hevea trees. 



