400 



/'/<« Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



acclimatisation of rubber trees and such ex- 

 otics does not come properly within the scope 

 of their work. As Mr Cherry, Conservator of 

 Forests, Southern Circle, wrote to the Govern- 

 ment in this connection in 1898 : — 



" It is very difficult to get subordinates to take conti- 

 nuous action in these matters, and District Forest Officers 

 have had their hands so full of work (especially settlement 

 and survey of Reserves), that such experiments are apt 

 to be lost sight of." 



This admission points to the advisability of 

 appointing a special officer, as recommended by 

 Mr Proudlock, to deal solely with the direction 

 of the cultivation of exotics throughout the 

 Presidency. The result of the present policy is 

 well exemplified by the present position of 

 rubber-planting, in which, despite the fact that 

 the Government of India wore the first to appre- 

 ciate its possibilities, the planters of Southern 

 India are now far behind those of Ceylon, the 

 Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay 

 States. The Government of Madras have now 

 published Mi Proudlock's illuminating Report, 

 and it is to be hoped it will obtain an extensive 

 sale or circulation for it corrects a number of 

 erroneous impressions for the dissemination of 

 which the Government are entirely to blame. 

 —M. Mail, March 21. 



MANURING TEA, CLEAN WEEDING, &c 



A recent enquiry of Mr. Hughes as to his 

 "Basic Super-phosphate" has produced some 

 interesting information, dated March 8th. A lec- 

 ture noticed in an Inverness paper, he says, is one 

 of a series by the representative of the Basic 

 slag people who apparently consider its useful- 

 ness, as a manure on soils deficient in lime, has 

 not been j et fully realised. Unfortunately, Mr. 

 Cox does not recognise that in the selection of 

 slag, the composition of the sow ought to be 

 considered— the consequence being that it is 

 occasionally applied to soils quite unsuitable, to 

 the great loss of the farmer, who is naturally 

 disgusted and says that slag is no good for his 

 land, and thereby inlluences his neighbours 

 against its use. I refer to this poiut more fully in 

 the enclosed reprint from Farm and Home: — 



The now manure is intended to occupy an inter- 

 mediate position between acid superphosphate 

 and alkaline slag, and to be applied for inter- 

 mediate descriptions of soil. It is not intended to 

 supersede the use of superphosphate upon good 

 arable land containing plenty of lime, nor is it 

 intended to take the place of well-ground slag 

 upon sour grass land, clamp, heavy clay or rich 

 vegetable soils ; but it is specially intended for 

 soils deficient in lime, such as light clay, gravel, 

 granite and sandy soils, the united acreage of 

 which represent such a large proportion of the 

 cultivated area of the United Kingdom. 



For the reasons given in the article I am quite 

 sure that if used in equal quantities in Ceylon 

 soils Basic superphosphate (which consists of su- 

 perphosphate neutralised by quick-lime) would 

 prove far superior to the ordinary Basic slag, 

 which consists of a hard fused rock, however finely 

 it may be ground. I see in regard to slag in 

 Ceylon one authority only recommends 1 cwt. 



per acre for burying with the prunings: a quan- 

 tity totally inadequate to neutralise the acidity 

 attending the decay of green leaves buried in a 

 damp, stiff soil. I am not surprised that fresh 

 lime in a much larger quantity should have re- 

 placed the use of slag, which only contains 2 to 

 3 per cent of free lime. As regards clean wee- 

 ding I should think that on steep faces it is by 

 no means desirable ; indeed, I should prefer to 

 leave such steep faces unplanted ; but, being 

 planted, I should have gently sloping drains cut 

 at frequent intervals along the face filled or 

 partially filled with prunings for intercepting 

 the wash — the decomposed leaves being cleared 

 out from time to time and made into a com- 

 post, with lime and soil, for future application 

 in large holes between the trees and covered 

 over. On fairly fiat land, clean weeding for tea 

 and partial weeding for rubber would, I think, 

 be desirable. I am interested to notice how Mr. 

 Bambor insists upon forking the surface as a 

 beneficial operation. You remember how 1 

 pointed out this in 1878 : also recommended 

 ground coral being used in preference to caustic 

 lime, because I said that Ceylon soils wanted 

 lime, but being deficient also in organic matter, 

 the neutral coi - al lime would be more suitable 

 than the strongly caustic lime which would be 

 calculated to burn up the organic matter. I am 

 surprised any one should recommend the caustic 

 lime as a general means of supplying lime to the 

 soil, though, if used with prunings, the caustic 

 lime would naturally be the more suitable. 



CULTURE DU CAOUTCHOUC 

 DE PARA. 



" PARA RUBBER CULTIVATION." 

 A French Manual.— Rubber-Manuring : 

 Close Planting: Distance Between the Trees. 



We have received from Messrs. Williams 

 and Norgate, for Mons. Augustin Chal- 

 lamel, the Paris publisher, a copy of the 

 latest work on rubber cultivation in Malaya by 

 Mons. C. Mathieu, who has apparently had 

 lengthy and good planting experience in the 

 East. The book is well printed in large type on 

 good paper, and is in double parallel columns, 

 English and French. The Manual, we learn 

 from the preface, was first written in English, 

 the French text having been written afterwards, 

 with various additions and amplifications. The 

 author deals with his subject very fully and in 

 an interesting manner. Ho gives some advice 

 in his opening chapters to the young planter 

 coming out fresh to the East, and then plunges 

 into his subject, dealing with the selection of 

 land for a plantation and the laying of it out in 

 plantation and nurseries, with notes on the 

 selection of sites for bungalows, lines, hospital, 

 &c. In chapter V the Manager's bungalow is 

 discussed, with plans and details tor construc- 

 ting the same and estimates of probable cost. 

 The numerous diagrams make this an informing 

 and useful chapter. Mons. Mathieu is insistent 

 on good surroundings and sanitary conditions 

 for the Superintendent and his employees, and 

 gives numerous hints on how to secure such 

 conditions We quote the following ;— 



