890 



The Supplement to the 'I'ropical Agriculturist 



ut the Industry is remarkably healthy, and in- 

 dications point to the price remainingfor several 

 years to come at a level which will secure ex- 

 ceedingly handsome returns to well- managed 

 Plantation enterprises while in the more distant 

 future there can be little doubt but that culti- 

 vated Rubber will gradually displace the wild 

 product as a mere case of " survival of the 

 fittest." Whatever may lie ahead of wild Rabber- 

 producing concerns, therefore, the outlook for 

 Plantation Companies appears distinctly bright. 

 Altogether the manual is a most convenient one 

 for reference and should be on the office table 

 of every one interested in the industry. 



the minimum cost of rubber 

 production 



in Ceylon at the present time — next to that of 

 the Ceylon Tea Estates Co. (9£d.), muet surely be 

 that attained on Vogan and Iddagodde estates 

 in Kalutara, of the famous Company known by 

 tho former name. We are told that the cost of 

 tapping only was 38 94 cents per lb., while the 

 whole cost of production of the year's crop of 

 '28,246 lb. (5,746 lb above estimate) averaged 62 

 cents or just under lOJd per lb. This included 

 cost of tapping knives, upkeep, supervision, itc. 

 Even this will probably siiow an appreciable re- 

 duction in 1909, for the new system of tapping 

 is to be entered upon and the crop — estimated 

 at 60,000 lb. or more than double that of 1908 

 — it is anticipated may be very much larger. 

 b'ov the present it is cautiously stated that the 

 contract sale of biscuit and sheet at R:V10 will 

 give a profit of R2"50 per lb., making cost of pro- 

 duction 60 cents only. We shall not be surprised 

 if it is brought down to 55 cents or even below. 



THE PRUNING CF RUBBER. 



The question of pruning is still an unsettled 

 one, and the majority of planters regard top- 

 ping with disfavour. At any rate thumbnail 

 pruning is preferable to cutting of a top two or 

 three inches long. In the latter case a leader 

 never grows up; two or three branches come out 

 of the same level and at a wide angle. In a year 

 or two when their leaf spread is larger one or 

 more of these branches breaks off leaving a 

 gaping wound in the stem, and which offers an 

 entrance to wound-fungi. J think it is not wise 

 to assert that pruning should or should not bo 

 followed. Much depends on the situation, the 

 soil, and the rapidity of growth of the trees. 

 Certain trees branch naturally at a suitable 

 height ; others grow up to 15 feet and higher 

 without branching and these might certainly be 

 helped by judicious pruning. It is generally 

 recognised now that all branches should be cut 

 off when quite young up to a height of at least 

 10 feet, as tapping will ultimately be done to 

 this height at least; a good clean step is wanted, 

 and branches or big scars left where old strong 

 branches had been cut off will only interfere with 

 high tapping. Formerly when two branches 

 grew off near the ground both were allowed to 

 develop on the view that double the tapping 

 area would be available. Planters with old trees 

 find this is a mistake. Neither grows as thick 

 as either would have done if alone. The foli- 

 age of each is one side only and such trees being 

 lop-sided are very liable to suffer from wind. 



" Warts " and " Peas.'' 

 The growths, commonly called " warts " or 

 "peas, : ' are to be found on nearly all trees. Tap- 

 ping does not appear to induce them as they are 

 found on untapped trees of three years and 

 older. I believe they are dormant buds. They 

 should be taken out when quite young ; this is 

 easily done by a tap from a hammer or with a 

 strong knife. The wound 6oon heals over com- 

 pletely. The practice of many planters having 

 their old trees examined systematically at perio- 

 dical intervals for these excrescences is worthy 

 of wider application. The rough outgrowths, 

 often several square inches or even square feet 

 in area, which usually begin at the bottom on 

 trees where the early tapping has been bad, 

 seem to be a disease not due to any parasitic 

 organism but to some derangement in the inter- 

 nal economy oi the tree induced perhaps by 

 severe tapping. — W J Gallagher in the Strait s 

 Agricultural Bulletin for March. 



SCARCITY OF TAPPERS IN THE F.M.S. 



We hear that, although there is no lack of raw 

 or unskilled agricultural labour just at the pre- 

 sent moment, many estates which are now 

 coming into bearing are unable to give their full 

 possible output of rubber because of the scarcity 

 of competent tappers. This seems to be due to a 

 disinclination on the part of managers to train 

 "tree" coolies to tap, as it has been found that 

 when they have become more or less skillful in 

 the use of the knifo they frequently leave their 

 original employment and sell their services for a 

 higher wage elsewhere. However, if this scar- 

 city of tappers causes fewer young trees to be 

 tapped and so gives them longer to mature, we 

 are quite convinced that it will make for the 

 benefit of the local rubber industry in the long 

 run. — Penang Gazette, Feb. 24. 



THE CHIEF RUBBER PEST IN THE 

 MALAY STATES. 



We diroct attention to the following article 

 we reproduco from the Straits Agncuitiir'al 

 Bulletin, dealing with the Termes Gestroi, 

 the rubber equivalent of the shot-hole borer 

 in tea. It will be seen that the notes in ques- 

 tion refer to Hat alluvial land of which there is 

 comparatively little under rubber here, compared 

 with the abundance of it in the Malay States. 

 Whether on this account or for other reasous, 

 the pest is not so bad in Ceylon ; but it has been 

 found, especially in new clearings. It is well 

 that the drastic treatment of it should be under- 

 stood and the notes elsewhere ought to be per- 

 used by all planters, especially those ic charge 

 of new clearings or newly planted property. It 

 will be seen that thorough drainage is one of the 

 best methods of keeping the pest in check, the 

 termites seldom crossing a sub-soil drain except 

 by a log or wooden bridge. All such stray wood 

 should therefore be carefully watched in addi- 

 tion to other nieasuros being taken. 



