194 



[September, 1910, 



When we turn to a consideration of 

 the use of tools in the East we are met 

 by an entirely different problem from 

 that which faces the American. Here 

 labour is cheap, and at the same time it 

 is so inefficient that it can hardly be 

 trusted with anything at all complex. 

 Not only so, but in the planting dis- 

 tricts of this island the land is generally 

 steep, rocky, and unsuited to machinery. 

 The only planting districts we have 

 seen that lend themselves to machinery 

 are parts of the low country of Ceylon, 

 India, 01 Java, and the low lands of the 

 Malay States. 



When we opened the Experiment 

 Station at Maha-iluppalama. in the dry 

 northern part of Ceylon, the land was 

 for three years full of stumps, and weed- 

 ing had to be done by aid of the 

 mamoty. This was enormously expen- 

 sive, and gave but little real tillage to 

 the soil. As soon as the stumps decayed 

 sufficiently, we introduced machinery 

 of the best American types, light and 

 strong. With this machinery we can 

 now weed and cultivate (to 8 inches 

 deep) at a cost of about half that of 

 scratching off the weeds with the 

 mamoty in the planting districts. The 

 words italicised give the real value of 

 this work. Real cultivation or tillage 

 of the soil is rare in Ceylon, but it is as 

 necessary to success here as anywhere. 

 By means of it we have been able to 

 grow in the North, with a rainfall of 

 38-70 inches, mostly in heavy showers, 

 and with much sun and wind, practi- 

 cally all the crops cultivated in the 



south with its high rainfall. We are 

 now almost independent of the irriga- 

 tion water there, except for. tobacco, 

 and for cotton grown under irrigation 

 only (it can be grown without any). 



With the greater scarcity and in- 

 creasing cost of labour the use of such 

 machinery as wo have introduced is 

 bound to spread among the capitalist 

 group of agriculturists in the Island, 

 and we may now go on to consider the 

 peasantry. 



It would lead too far to consider the 

 ways in which they might gain by the 

 use of machinery, but we may just indi- 

 cate the possibility of a great reduction 

 in the number of cattle required, a great 

 desideratum in a land where there is no 

 pasture ; or the possibility of cultivation 

 Of the rice fields in the dry state, as we 

 are doing at Maha-iluppalama. 



On the other hand the peasantry can- 

 not afford to buy or repair good and 

 expensive tools, and this can only be 

 done by co-operation among them. A 

 local co-operative society could well 

 afford a disc-harrow, a cultivator, a rice 

 thrashing machine, or what not. 



Unless, and until, co-operation comes 

 in, we cannot expect to see any really 

 new machinery among the peasantry. 

 It is possible by long and careful 

 study, to slowly improve their own 

 machinery in the direction of the modern 

 forms, but the improvement must be 

 almost indefinitely slow, and very ex- 

 pensive to Government. 



GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS 



EXPERIMENTAL TAPPING OF 

 HEVEA AT SINGAPORE. 



By T. Petch, b.a., b.sc. 



The results of experiments on rubber 

 tapping which have been carried out 

 at the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, have 

 been published in the Agricultural 

 Bulletin of the Straits and F.M.S. for 

 July, 1910. The tables include the results 

 of the experiments in 1904-06, previously 

 published, together with the results for 

 1909. The chief interest of the series lies 

 in Table 5, which summarises the results 

 of the last six years to show the differ- 

 ence between daily tapping and 

 alternate day tapping. It is deduced 

 (p, 238) that tapping on alternate days 



shows an advantage of nearly 4 per cent, 

 over tapping daily. 



What is, however, really shown by, 

 or rather, calculated from, the tables 

 is that alternate day tapping gives an 

 advantage of nearly 4 per cent, over 

 daily tapping, provided that both are 

 carried on to the same number of tap- 

 pings. Or in other words, if the trees are 

 tapped on alternate days for twelve 

 weeks, the yield is 4 per cent, greater 

 than if they are tapped every day for 

 six weeks and then "rested" for six 

 weeks. There was scarcely any doubt 

 about this point ; indeed, surprise will 

 be felt that the difference was not 

 greater. But what is really required is 

 a knowledge of the relative yields obtain- 

 ed by daily and alternate day tapping 

 when both are carried on for the same 

 period, say for six months. Tapping on 



