82 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



working days as a basis for calculations, 

 — 100 trees tapped every alternate day for 

 86 days give a daily average of 18'49 oz. 

 wet rubber. Therefore 100 trees tapped 

 every alternate day for 1 year of 1C5 days 

 give in the year 2,884'44 oz. wet rubber. 

 2,884*44 oz. of wet rubber for 100 trees = 28-84 

 for one tree. Therefore if the land is planted 

 up with 1 ,000 trees to the acre (6J x 6£) which 

 is about the most suitable number, this means 



that 1 acre of land should when the trees average 

 the same girth as those now being tapped, 

 yield 1,803 lb. wet rubber or say 90H lb. dry 

 rubber, value at 2s 6d per lb. = £112 ~13s 9d. 



It would probably take the trees about 6 years 

 to attain an average size equal to those now 

 being tapped, though they would be yielding a 

 certain amount of rubber from the time they 

 were 3 years old if properly cultivated and 

 cared for. 



STATISTICS OF 18 CEARA RUBBER TREES TAPPED 62 TIMES. 

 Dating from 21st November, 1906, to 6th September, 1907. 



















2 









ite 



tapped. 





Date 

 when tapped, 



. of 



tapped 





o §; 



. of 



tappet 



Total daily yie 

 Wet Rubber 



Date 

 when tapped. 



i. of 

 capped 



Total daily yie 

 Wet Rubber 



ite 



tapped 



. of 

 tapped 



Total daily yie 

 Wet Rubber 



No. of 

 times tapped 



No 

 times 



Total d; 

 Weti 



D; 



when t 



No 

 times 



Nc 

 times 1 



n § 



J5 

 Si 



s 







X! 



Ss 







Oz. 







Oz. 







Oz. 







Oz. 







21 Nov. 



1 



5| 



30 Jan. 



13 



2 



3 Apl. 



26 



34 



11 June. 



40 



73 



9 Aug. 



50 



26 „ 



2 



« 



1 Feb. 



14 



2 a 



5 „ 



27 



3| 



13 „ 



41 







12 „ 



51 



28 „ 



3 





4 >, 



15 



94. 



8 „ 



28 



54 



15 „ 



42 



4| 



14 „ 



52 



30 ,, 

 3 Dec. 



4 



64 



6 



16 



2* 



10 „ 



29 



5 



18 „ 



43 



74 



16 „ 



53 



5 



64 



8 3J 



17 



3§ 



12 „ 



30 



5h 



20 „ 



44 



6 



19 „ 



54 



6 „ 







3i 



11 3 3 



18 



34 



15 „ 



31 



7§ 



22 ,, 



45 



54 



21 „ 



55 



10 „ 



7 



35 



13 „ 



19 



3S 



17 „ 



32 



w 



25 „ 



46 



5| 



23 „ 



56 



12 „ 



8 



34 



15 ,, 



20 



3 



19 „ 



33 



5i 



27 ,. 



47 



5 



26 „ 



57 



14 ,, 



9 



34 



18 ,, 



21 



34 



22 



34 



63 



29 „ 



48 



H 



28 ,, 



58 



17 „ 



10 



3J 



20 „ 



22 



3* 



24 „ 



35 



6£ 



4 July. 



49 



4 



30 ,, 

 1 Sept. 



59 



20 „ 



11 



31 



22 



23 



4 



26 „ 



36 



6£ 







60 



99 



12 



44 



25 " 



24 



4 



29 „ 

 1 May 



3 ,:, 



37 



74 









4 „ 



61 









28 ,, 



25 



3f 



38 

 39 



7 



84 









6 „ 



62 







56i 







40| 







83| 







554 





Total 



Oz. 



6 



7* 



54 



34 



2* 



3 



9 



34 

 24 



2 



44J 



RUBBER-PLANTERS' METHODS IN 

 THE MALAY STATES. 



MR. BOWLE EVANS' VIEWS. 



An important interview with the latest 

 Ceylon planting visitor to the Malay States, 

 who has kept his eyes and ears open and 

 visited no less than 17 properties, appears in this 

 issue and doubtless will be carefully read by many 

 investors in, as well as growers of, the elastic 

 product. Mr Bowie-Evans first of all gives 

 a nasty knock to rupee scrip, but we do not 

 think it will make this class of share any 

 less popular ; and if there is uncertainty 

 about labour, it will affect sterling companies 

 just as much as the dollar or rupee ones ! Of 

 course we admit that the home country pro- 

 vides a much larger^number of investors, and so 

 far Mr Bowie-Evans makes his point. He com- 

 pliments planters further east on their excellent 

 work under much more difficult circumstances 

 generally than in Ceylon ; on this account the 

 schooling here has been an excellent preparation 

 for the all round work required in Malaya. 

 On the Northway tapping system the point 

 emphasized in condemnation is the quantity of 



additional transport required ; and this, of 

 course, is against it on rough or hilly country. 

 The view that Sumatra's indenture system is 

 better than free cooly labour is a novel one for a 

 .Ceylon man ; but, other things being equal and 

 tree cooly labour having caused increasing trou- 

 ble in the past, it is not surprising that a 

 more dependable force becomes praised at this 

 date. The remarks on the cessation of Tamil 

 emigration will be noticed, especially as the idea 

 of a Government-fixed limit to coast advances is 

 mooted. Mr Bowie-Evans speaks with much 

 common sense on the nervousness prevalent with 

 regard to increasing the cost of rubber per lb. 

 when necessity demands — at the same time 

 as strenuous efforts are being made to reduce it 

 all round. This, however, depends on directors 

 and proprietors ; no doubt there will be more 

 leniency when the crop is big, even if cost of 

 production has risen slightly. We cannot com- 

 ment in detail on the highly important para- 

 graphs with reference to disease in the Malay 

 States; but while every other prospect is glowing, 

 these sections of this valuable contribution to 

 present-day knowledge should be read and re- 

 read and applied individually. Though optimistic 

 as to prices Mr Bowie Evans has his fears of the 

 facilities for the spread of disease ; and we call 

 special attention to his concluding remarks. 



