198 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



RUBBER PLANTING IN INDIA COM- 

 PARED WITH CEYLON. 



If prospects are hopeful in Ceylon, how much 

 more rosy are they on the West Coast of India, 

 where the climate seems to be equally suitable 

 to the growth of Para rubber, and the soil 

 is admittedly far superior to that of Ceylon ? 

 In this connection I observed a short time ago 

 that that usually well-informed person, Mr 

 Herbert Wright, expressed the following opi- 

 nion on the labour question to an interviewer 

 in Colombo, when on his way Home after his 

 Eastern tour : — " From a labour standpoint I 

 think Java stands in a much more favourable 

 position with regard to its native labour 

 than any other country I have ever visited. 

 Ceylon and South India would come second.' 1 

 I do not believe Mr. Wright was ever in the 

 rubber-planting districts of Southern India. At 

 any rate, to include Southern India and Ceylon 

 in the same category from the point of view of 

 labour is obviously unfair. I have also read 

 an opinion expressed recently in the Colombo 

 papers by Mr. C E Welldon, a Ceylon planter, 

 that on account of the soil and the absence of 

 droughts the yield of rubber in Java (especially) 

 and the Straits should exceed that of Ceylon 

 and South India. Certainly in India we have 

 our droughts, but it has yet to be proved to 

 what extent they are a disadvantage to Para 

 rubber trees. Mr. Welldon also implies that 

 as far as soil is concerned, Ceylon and South 

 India are in the same class ; but any one with 

 experience of both countries knows that, gener- 

 ally speaking, the soil on the rubber estates in 

 Southern India is infinitely better than that of 

 those in Ceylon. Allowing, however, that the 

 yield of rubber in India will not exceed that 

 obtainable in Ceylon, rubber planters in India 

 are bound to score heavily as regards labour. 

 It is, indeed, doubtful, as Sir Henry Blake 

 points out, if Ceylon planters will ever get the 

 150,000 extra hands they will require when all 

 their trees reach the tapping stage. If they do, 

 they will be lucky, and especially sd if they can 

 get them to work for 35 cents a man per diem. 

 This, however, is 30 per cent more than what is 

 paid on most rubber estates in Southern India, 

 and the rates are more likely to rise in Ceylon, 

 where the necessity will be greater than in India. 



Georgos. 



—M. Mail, July 13. 



RUBBER PLANTING IN SOUTH 

 COORG. 



The last pre- monsoon rain in these parts fell 

 on the 23rd May last, since when up to the 

 11th June, when the S.-W. monsoon became 

 established, there was no precipitation what- 

 ever, and the soil became quite hard and un- 

 workable. The monsoon current appeared to 

 increase in strength on the 1st instant when 

 over an inch was gauged, and on the follow- 

 ing date we received the heaviest fall so far. 

 over 6 inches in the 24 hours having been re- 

 corded in parts. The following day, however, 

 there was a drop to little over an inch, and 

 the current ihas appreciably weakened since. 

 But, it has been, on the whole, mo6t excellent 



planting weather, of which full advantage has 

 been taken to push on with the supplying up 

 of Ceara clearings and the planting out of Para 

 plants. The latter has mostly been quincunxed 

 with the Ceara, as there has been but little 

 land available for planting them in separate 

 blocks. The object is to 



TAP OUT THE CEARA EVENTUALLY IF THE PARA 

 COMES ON WELL. 



It could not be otherwise as the ground would 

 be overcrowded. On the other hand, if, owing 

 to unsuitable climatic conditions, the Para does 

 poorly, the Ceara can be retained permanently ; 

 and with the tapping difficulty solved, this does 

 not present an unfavourable prospect. 



THE CEARA CLEARINGS, 



it is gratifying to note, have proved a grand 

 success ; the proportion of vacancies that it 

 has been necessary to supply up have been 

 small, despite the destructiveness of wild pigs, 

 porcupines, &c. Many of the plants, which 

 looked like dry sticks in the hot weather, have 

 thrown out shoots which have made surprising 

 growth since. We can only hope that the Para 

 will do equally as well. The growth, of course, 

 is bound to be slower, but if they are ready 

 for tapping at 7 years old it is all that can be 

 desired. In the meantime the Cearas will prob- 

 ably be yielding rubber. The fact that on 

 '' Hawthorne " Estate on the Shevaroy Hills at 

 an elevation of 3,500 feet and in a climate having 

 an annual average rainfall of 50 inches, tree, 

 from 5 to 7 years old yielded an average of J lbs 

 of dry clean rubber per tree per month is full 

 of encouragement. The altitude in these parts 

 perhaps in no case exceeds 3,000 feet, and the 

 average annual rainfall is about 60 — 65 inches. 

 There is, however, one factor that militates 

 against the decreased altitude, and that is the 

 greater proximity of these parts to the sea. 

 For this reason it has been maintained that an 

 elevation of nearly 4,000 feet in places far inland 

 like the Nilgiris is equivalent to an elevation of 

 3,000 feet near the sea ... Perhaps down below 

 the ghauts would be an ideal place for growing 

 Para in Coorg. Labour is, unfortunately, not 

 adequate for the needs of both coffee and rubber; 

 and, in consequence, some of the seasonable 

 works in coffee are in arrears. Every effort is 

 being made to get the weeds down and to fill up 

 vacancies ; but it is slow work with the require- 

 ments of rubber being attended to. Even with 

 the employment of contract labour the work 

 is not making any great headway. After the 

 rubber clearings have been filled up and planted, 

 the weeds have got to be cut down and they 

 have got to be dug. The latter will have to be 

 done entirely by contract labour. Once the plan- 

 ting of the Para has been completed, the estate 

 hands will be free to be turned on to the coffee. 

 — Madras Times, July 15. 



A BRITISH GUIANA RUBBER TRUST. 



Colonel Link proposes shortly to organise the 

 entire rubber and balata industry in the colony 

 so as to run it economically under one manage- 

 ment. He is purchasing the balata grants of 

 Messrs. Thorn & Cameron and Messrs. Bugle & 

 Co., and is negotiating for those of Messrs. 

 Garnett & Co. and Mr, Downer, — Demerara 

 Argosy, April 25. 



