408 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



0. Accepting the amount realised on the home market 

 at 67/0 per cwt the proportion of this sum which goes to the 

 "rower at the local market is equal to 74 per cent ; the cost 

 of transport from the local market to the port of shipment, 

 freight, commission, and other charges is equal to 161 per 

 cent ; and the proportion due to the local merchant is equal 

 to 91 p^r cent. The figure of the percentage falling to the 

 producer appears higher than it is in reality, as the cost of 

 transport from the farm to the local market is such that 

 every average day's journey of 20 miles reduces it by a sum 

 equal to ih percent of the sale value of the raw product on 

 l he English market. 



7. The experiment proves that a well prepared cacao will 

 realise a higher price than one of an indifferent grade, and 

 it has disclosed figures representative of the normal propor- 

 tions of the profit falling to the hands of the various sec- 

 sions of those engaged in the trade.— (Signed) Francis 

 CROWTHER, Acting Secretary for Native Affairs. 



HOW TO OBTAIN PALE RUBBER. 



There being a difference in price of over 

 30 cents per lb. between pale and darker biscuits 

 and crepe, " Onlooker," in our contemporary, 

 descrilios a practical application of the principle 

 of destroying enzyme with slight modifications: — 



"W hen coagulating the many vossels containing 

 the latex were stood in another large vessel con- 

 taining hot water of about 160 3 Fahrenheit, and 

 kept at that temperature. The coagulation took 

 place much quicker than that coagulated in the 

 ordinary way. The rubber when manufactured 

 was of a very uniform pale colour. Result over 

 30 cents per lb. greater average price than the 

 other estate that coagulated cold. 



'* Assuming that by this method one's rubber 

 sells for only 3d per lb. more, is it not worth 

 doing ? The only extra cost, apparently, is the 

 value of the water and firewood and a thermo- 

 meter, and the labour in boiling the water. On 

 an out-turn of 50,000 lb. rubber it means a 

 difference in profit of R9,000, which is worth 

 looking for. On the 'hot water' estate all 

 collecting cups, carrying pails, and coagulating 

 pans were daily washed in this hot water, and 

 were always kept perfectly clean ; not so on 

 the others." 



PRECOCITY IN RUBBER TREE. 



{To the Editor, "Straits Bulletin.") 

 Dear Mr Ridley, — With reference to your 

 article in the August number of the Bulletin 

 on "Precocity of Rubber Trees" it may in- 

 terest you to learn that on 23rd Dec, 1908, we 

 successfully raised seedlings from seed obtained 

 from a Para tree planted as a stump in June, 

 1906 : the fruit set in 28 months, and the re- 

 sultant seedlings sprouted 30 months from date 

 of planting out the stump. Over fifty trees 

 flowered within 28 months of planting out the 

 stumps and four of these set fruit within 30 

 months. In all cases stumps were not more 

 than 12 months old when planted out.— Yours 

 faithfully, 



Frank E. Lease. 

 Note on. above. — Mr Lease's trees, though very 

 precocious, are not much more so than the ones 

 mentioned in the paper referred to, as their age 

 works out to 40 months from seed, i.e., 3 years 

 and 4 months. The objection to precocity is 

 not based on any supposed weakness of the off- 

 spring of the trees, about which, as Sir William 

 Thiselton-Dyer says, we have no evidence ; but 

 upon its action on the tree itself, i.e., whether or 

 no such trees are short-lived. In the case of 



Nutmegs fruiting in three years, instead of the 

 normal seven, it is strongly believed, and there 

 is some evidence for it, that such trees die out 

 more quickly than the normal ones. There is 

 no advantage to be gained by the rubber planter 

 in his trees fruiting early, but there is a great 

 advantage in their being large and stout trees 

 early. In the early fruiting trees I have seen 

 and mentioned the stems were very well deve 

 loped and as big as they would have been ordi- 

 narily at the usual time for fruiting four-and 

 a-half to five years. The original Singapore 

 trees fruited in the fifth year, but the bulk of 

 the trees descended from them were raised from 

 seed when the trees were much older.— Straits 

 Agricultural Bulletin for April. 



COCONUT BEE TLES IN THE STRAITS. 



In his annual report on the Singapore Bota- 

 nic Gardens for 1908 Mr H N Ridley writes of 

 Singapore: — 



The red beetle seems to have got quite scarce 

 among the estates and most of the harm is now 

 done by the black one. These, however, seem 

 quite to have disappeared from the vast 

 accumulations of sawdust at the sawmills in 

 Rochore, where they formerly bred in myriads 

 and gave some trouble as it was impossible to 

 destroy the immense amount of sawdust, in 

 which they bred. Much of this ground has now 

 been built over, and the beetles seem to have 

 entirely disappeared; another kind of beetle was 

 found in some trees with the black beetle ; a 

 large species of Elater. Only a few were found 

 and these had apparently entered the burrows 

 of the Oryctes to feed and are probably harm- 

 less.— 8. F. Press, April 6. 



COFFEE AS CATCHCROP WITH 

 RUBBER. 



(To the Editor, Straits Bulletin.) 

 Golden Hope State, Klang, Feb. 27th, 1909. 

 Dear Sir, — The following may be of some 

 interest to any of your readers, who may have 

 planted coffee as a catchcrop with rubber or 

 plantod rubber through old coffee in alluvial 

 soil. They are figures giving result of the 

 working for year 1908 on this estate : 



in,.'.. , t — .* 1 1. t -. . i . . — i . i. t.' : . i . i ,. 





Planted with 



Interplanted with 



Field of 



Acreage. 



Coffee 



Para Rubber 



Clean Coffee 



10* lu 



30X15 



Per Acre 









19U8 



30 



13 Years ago 



.April 1905 



5.'. piculs 



35 



do 



do 



3J do 



36 



do 



do 



5 6-7 do 



33 



do 



do 



6 2-5 do 



27 



\2i Years ago 



not interplanted 



10 do 



152 



11 ,, average 



interplanted 









Apr. 03 



1 4-5 do 



I have, &c, your obedient servant, 



Edmond B. Prior. 

 —Straits Agricultural Bulletin for April. 



HEVEA BRASILIENSIS OR PARA 

 RUBBER. 



The third edition (304 p.p. 92 illustrations)— of 

 this standard publication by Herbert Wright is 

 having a large sale. Copies can be procured 

 from our agents in the East, from Messrs Mac- 

 laren & Sons, Ltd. 37 & 38, Shoe Lane, London, 

 E.C. and from this office — A. M.& J. Ferguson, 

 Office of the Ceylon Observer and Tropical Agri- 

 culturist, Colombo. 



