* 



and Magazine of the I 

 RUBBER PLANTING IN CEYLON. 



PLANTERS' EXPERIENCE IN 

 "TAPPING" WITH SOME OF THE 

 OLDEST TREES IN THE ISLAND. 



We recently reproduced an interesting 

 short contribution from the London Times 

 entitled " Some impressions of Rubber Planting 

 in Ceylon," evidently from the pen of a visitor. 

 The following was the portion relating to 

 rubber-tapping :— 



"Having had no previous experience— most 

 of their knowledge has been attained from 

 text books— tapping has been wrongly and 

 often badly carried out, with the result that 

 the trees have been damaged at a time when 

 they are extremely susceptible to rough 

 usage. In the great planting fever of two and 

 three years ago many rushed in and planted 

 without any regard to the quality of seed. 

 And just as the owners of some tea gardens 

 are now regretting having planted a bad jat 

 or variety of seed, so in the future planters 

 of poor rubber will repent their haste. As far 

 as one can judge, the effect of continual tap- 

 ping over a long period of time is not fully 

 known. It does not follow that, because 

 during the first four or five years of tapping 

 no apparent injury is done to the trees, the 

 same will be the casein 12 or 15 years' time. 



Much rubber has been tapped badly and too 

 soon by the origiral owners of estates in order 

 that a large yield per acre may be obtained 

 before selling to a Company, and the trees 

 have been hacked to pieces regardless of after- 

 effects. One cannot too strongly deprecate the 

 action of tapping before the trees are ready. 

 In one or two cases which have come under 

 the writer's notice and there must be many 

 more) this has been carefully guarded against, 

 the trees having been given an extra year after 

 the tappable age has been reached. Such ac- 

 tion as this can have but one effect, that of 

 increasing the yield in the future." 

 We have thought it well to endeavour to collect 

 the experience of practical planters dealing 

 with some of the oldest Rubber trees in the 

 island. We, accordingly, issued the following 

 circular letter to eight plantations which ap- 

 peared to us to represent the longest experience 

 in tapping : — 



Dear Sir,— Referring to the contribution in the London 

 Times (.see Observer, June 16th) on some impressions of 

 rubber planting in Ceylon, we should be glad if you would 

 inform us : 



1. What is the age of the oldest rubber trees on your 

 charge. 



2. Whether any of these trees— regularly tapped since 

 they first yielded latex — have ceased to yield any ?— if so, 

 for how h>ng and frequently they have been tapped. 



3. Whether any other rubber trees under your observa- 

 tion have been tapped up to a point when they ceased to 

 bearat all :— (a) Age of these: (b) Frequency of tapping. 



i. Were there any apparent or evident reasons why 

 the trees in (2) or 0) ceased to give latex ? 



Thanking you very much if yon can spare the time to 

 answer these brief questions of general interest to the 

 investor and grower, &c: 



From six of the Managers so addressed we 

 have been favoured with replies and although 

 only one makes it a condition to omit his name 

 and that of estate in publishing his information; 

 yet to prevent invidious or unpleasant feeling, 



Ion Agricultural Society. 01 



we number the replies and'givt, thorn vitb. no 

 other indication than location ,T-ho firs'. ' ti : 

 come to hand was from a plantation scnio 10 

 miles South of Colombo and the Manager 

 wrote ; — 

 In answer to your letter of 16th :— 



(1) Age: — 13 or 15 years. 



(2) No trees have ceased to yield latex. They 

 have been tapped for over 5 years regularly, and 



(3) No trees have been so tapped. 



(4) 1 have found the flow of latex to increase 

 with age of trees. 



Then we have experience from the heart of 

 the Kalutara district : — 



The oldest rubber trees on this estate are 28 

 years and others at 15 years, they have been re- 

 gularly tapped for the past 8 years, and none 

 have to date shown any signs of ceasing to yield, 

 though a large number of trees were damaged 

 by the early primitive methods of tapping. 



From another plantation in the neighbour- 

 hood, we have the following : — 



With reference to your letter of 17th i nst. re 

 yield and age of rubber on this estate, I annex 

 replies : — 



(1) Age of oldest trees, 18 to 19 years, 



(2) Regularly tapped since 1900. None have 

 ceased to yield. Tapped regularly 10 months 

 every year. 



(3) None. 



YTet another and specially interesting report 



from a gentleman who writes : — 



In reference to your letter of 17th inst.: — 

 No. 1. Trees are from 2 to 10 years with the 



exception of one tree about 14 years. 



Nos. 2 & 3. The eld tree was tapped for 12 

 months and gave 14| lb. dry rubber; it was then 

 given 15 months' rest, and— tapped for a second 

 period of almost a year— it gave 14lb. dry rubber 

 again, but some of the cuts ceased to yield and 

 I stopped tapping. It has now had a short rest 

 of about 2 months, and I noticed this morning 

 that the cells are again filljng and a small 

 quantity flowed. I know of nc apparent reason 

 why it should have ceased to yield, except 

 perhaps over-tapping. 



I trust these particulars will be of interest. 

 On all trees the flow of latex is regulated by the 

 state of the weather; it flows much freer in cool, 

 damp weather, and in dry it is difficult to get 

 the thick latex to flow at all without the appli- 

 cation of plenty of water. 



Even fuller is the reply of a Manager who has 

 taken a special interest in the topic discussed: — 



Seeing that so few rubber estates are in 

 bearing there is little wonder that the majority 

 of rubber planters know very little about rub- 

 ber tapping or curing. Hence the advantage of 

 the inexperienced Superintendent with his 

 inexperienced labour starting as early as pos- 

 sible, with what trees are available, to pick up 

 the work himself and to train his labour. 



Seed should, of course, be good ; but the im- 

 portant point is the very best plants at any cost. 

 Good seed does not necessarily mean good plants. 



I have no experience of the results obtain- 

 able from trees that have been tapped conti- 

 nuously for 12—15 years. With the necessary 

 care, however, to prevent coming back to the 

 renewed bark too quickly there is nothing to 



