THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE 



Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of the 0. A. 8. 



Compiled and Edited by A. M. & J. FERGUSON. 

 No. 4,] OCTOBEK, 1910. [Vol. VII. 



MR. SHERIDAN PATTERSON'S NEW 

 SYSTEM OF RUBBER-TAPPING. 



FULbY PRESERVING THE TREE. 

 It is the opinion of several leading men in 

 the Ceylon Rubber-growing world — including, 

 we believe, Mr. Joseph Fraser— that though the 

 Straits are far ahead of Ceylon in the mature 

 acreage of rubber, and therefore in output 

 and rate of increase of output, they have 

 not by any means learnt everything yet as 

 to the best systems of tapping. Though Ceylon 

 will come on slowly, the work done on its 

 rubber properties may prove better in the 

 end. One of the commonly accepted systems 

 has been to tap one side of the tree one 

 year, and the other half the next ; and then 

 to return to the first half the third year, but 

 it has been laid down in a German scientist's 

 (Hans Fittings') important pamphlet (named 

 by Mr. Sheridan Patterson elsewhere) that it 

 takes three years properly to renew the bark 

 which has been thoroughly pared down in course 

 of tapping, so that the functions of the tree in 

 the passing of sap, &c , from crown to roots may 

 be properly carried on. Mr. Patterson thinks 

 that many of the Straits places where half the 

 tree, year about, has been tapped and where 

 they are now having to rest some of their treee. 

 are doing so owing to the lately proved neces- 

 sity of obtaining this full renewal of the bark. 

 Th ose places most probably have the best re- 

 sults in preservation in the tree, where the tap- 

 ping of one quarter of the tree one year has 

 been undertaken, and another quarter the next, 

 and so on— each quarter larger than the one 

 before, so to speak, by reason of the contin- 

 uous growth of the tree— some 5 to 6 inches 

 increased girth annually. This allows the full 

 three years' interval before commencing again 

 on any one section that has been previously 

 tapped. But Mr. Patterson's system is much 

 46 



more scientific. He takes a tree that is 16 in- 

 ches in girth at 3 feet from the ground and taps 

 with two diagonal cuts, say 12 inches long and 

 15 inches long, stretching across half the cylin- 

 drical surface of the tree between the ground 

 level and three feet therefrom. By tapping 

 every other day, 15 cuts to the inch, and having 

 a space of 12 inches between the two initial 

 diagonal cuts, the whole surface to be tapped 

 the first year will duly be covered in that time. 

 On the same side of the tree the tapping pro- 

 ceeds in the next year in the space above that 

 already tapped — only with three diagonal cuts 

 to start with, this time. The following year two- 

 thirds of the half-surface corresponding to the 

 first two years' tapped surfaces is taken in hand 

 and the following year the remaining third ; 

 then by the fourth yearthefirst half of the other 

 side is ready again with renewed bark. Planters 

 are much indebted to Mr. Patterson for thus 

 making public this original method of his ; 

 while he has not kept it to himself and demanded 

 a RlOO or R500 fee, for information which must 

 prove more valuable than what has bean pre- 

 viously sold — and some of which has been quite 

 exploded by now !— no doubt many planters will 

 be anxious to avail themselves further of his ex- 

 perience in this connection and perhaps request 

 a special Visit (with a capital V.) Mr. Patter- 

 sou has seen (in the course of his extensive work) 

 a good many well-grown 4J-year-old rubber 

 trees answering to the description — girth 16 

 inches at 3 feet from the ground ; it is essential 

 they should be of this circumference, at least. 



THE SYSTEM. 



Halwatura, Ingiriya, Sept. 18th, 1910. 

 Sik,— In a letter to the New York Herald 

 Mr Joseph Fraser refers to some 30,000 to 40,000 

 acres of rubber in Ceylon as unlikely to prove 

 remunerative, should a big drop take place 

 in the price of rubber. No doubt he refers 

 to areas planted out in very poor land or 



