270 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



old trees growing round the churchyard at 

 Parit Buntar, iu the Krian District of Perak, 

 has given after one year's tapping every other 

 day an average of 28£ lb. of dry rubber 

 per tree. The average girth of the trees 

 was 54.87 inches at three feet from the ground, 

 and they had been growing in unweeded land 

 containing lalang and other grasses. 



Comparative Tables of Rubber Crops, 

 Malaya, 1907 and 1908. 



Number of trees Rubber Average yield 



tapped. yields. per tree. 



State. 1907 1908 1007 1908 1907 1908 



lb. lb. lb. ozs. lb. ozs 



Selangdret 772656 1172383 1131086 1846384 1 7| 191-5 



Peraka 132556 251613 272804 383073 2 1 1 8| 

 Negri Sem- 



bilana 240401 306376 586864 903253 2 7 3 2J 

 Pahanga .. . . 



Malaccas 12455 50816 23490 52980 1 14 

 Province 



Wollesleyft 48000 65100 82131 92600 1 11 



Johore 0)159 '01772 182495 201632 1 15 1 15| 

 Kelantan 



Total 1300227 1954C9J 2278870 3530922 



In Province Wellesley is included two estates iu Singa- 

 pore, eight estates in Penang, and rive estates in Kedah. 

 a ¥. M. S. ; b S. S. 



The Passing or Fiuus Elasxica. 



Four years ago the question of the relative 

 advantages of planting Uevea brasiliensis (Para 

 rubber), or Ficus elastica (Rambong), was con- 

 sidered an open one, and the fact that the latter 

 was a native tree and grew freely in Malaya 

 induced some to prefer it to the Brazilian plar.t. 

 There are various difficulties attending the 

 treatment of Ficus in regard to pruning it or 

 allowing it to form its aerial roots unchecked, 

 in relation to tapping and prevention of entrance 

 of boring insects and fucgi into the wounds ; 

 also the direction and shape of the branches 

 and stems make the collection of latex no easy 

 matter. The yields of dry rubber from rambong 

 are larger than from Para and market prices 

 excellent. The symmetrical stem of the Para, 

 the facilities for running the latex into a single 

 cup at the base of the tree, regularity of its 

 growth and its reaction to a wound, have 

 especially commended this tree to the rubber 

 grower, so that rambong is no longer con- 

 sidered as an alternative on equal terms, and 

 no further estates have been planted with 

 the native plant. From a practical planter's 

 point of view this choice must perhaps be consi- 

 dered wise; but it is to be regretted that a tree 

 yielding so well and suited to local conditions 

 should have been entirely abandoned. I have 

 been carrying on experiments for some two years 

 past in regard to the proper methods and in- 

 struments for tapping Ficus elastica (Rambong), 

 and consider that a rotary pricker in which the 

 pins are at such a distance apart that the latex 

 which runs from the puncture joins that from 

 those adjoining is a more practical way of extrac- 

 ting the latex than the making of a cut with a 

 knife. If the rubber which flows from the various 

 punctures made with the roller pricker all over 

 the surface of the stem and branches is pulled 

 off directly it has coagulated, it will be found 

 that the flow will occur again and a second 

 crepe-like him of coagulated latex can be pulled 



off. The absence of wound prevents the attacks 

 of borers and the tree can be again pricked after 

 a short time has elapsed. When the flow from 

 the puncture is too great to allow it coagulate 

 and it runs down, it can be caught at the base 

 of the tree by means of rubber band or a metal 

 ledge round the tree to lead the latex into a cup 

 or other receptacle. If a flow of latex is pre- 

 ferred to the crepe-like scrap I have described, 

 then an application of water by a brush or spray 

 will run the latex down to the base of the tree 

 where it can be caught. 



These questions are, however, becoming of 

 minor importance iu the Federated Malay 

 States, as the passing of Ficus elastica has 

 begun, and each year sees less of this inter- 

 esting and profitable tree cultivated. On some 

 estates the trees are being actually cut out to 

 make way for its more desired rival, Para. 



Market Prices. 

 The market price of rubber during 1908 

 showed an extraordinary variation, dropping 

 in the beginning of the year to the lowest 

 price previously paid for good plantation 

 Para— viz., 3s per lb. From that point the 

 price steadily recovered, until before the end 

 of the year it had reached 5s 9d per lb., an 

 increase of almost 100 per cent in nine mouths. 

 This recovery showed that that the drop iu 

 the price of rubber, as was stated in my last 

 year's report, was not due to any alteration in 

 the ordinary " supply and demand," but was 

 an effect of the financial depression which ex- 

 isted at that time, chiefly in America, and 

 which led to a cessation of purchases by 

 manufacturers of rubber in that country. The 

 average price per lb. of rubber sold from the 

 Malay Peninsula during 1908 was about 4s 3d, 

 while the cost of production was between Is 

 and Is 6d, so that the industry in passing 

 through the worst year it has experienced, 

 was at the same time exceedingly fortunate 

 in a very large margin of profit. 



Rubber Tapping. 

 The Rubber Curing House was completed 

 during the year, and machinery for curing 

 rubber, consisting of an oil engine, a roller and 

 a hydraulic press, have been obtained. There 

 are 900 trees of over nine years old, on which a 

 series of experiments will be made and all data 

 recorded. Many problems of great economic 

 importance await solution. The climate of 

 Malaya differs so greatly from that of Ceylon 

 and other rubber-growing countries that the 

 results of experiments carried on there cannot 

 with safety be used as giving reliable informa- 

 tion for treatment of trees in this country. The 

 whole question of tapping requires careful in- 

 vestigation. The results given by thin paring 

 of cuts at an angle to the axis of the tree are so 

 good that planters are apt to consider the matter 

 solved, but it is not improbable that punctures 

 instead of cuts may yet be found to give as good 

 or better yields and involve less skilled labour. 

 All the "prickers" which have up to the present 

 been exploited are instruments not for making 

 a puncture but a short deep cut, and conse- 

 quently damaging relatively more cells of the 

 tree than a cylindrical or sharply conical 

 pricker. There is a large field for ingenuity and 



