Sept. 1906.] 



225 



Saps and EKudationsi 



at Peradeniya next month, and to show, if possible, the proportion of substitutes 

 which are being used in the manufacture of different goods. So long as the price of 

 pure rubber is high, people will use paper, &c, in preference if they can make a 

 good article. Tobacco pouches and similar goods have a high percentage of 

 caoutchouc, but even then there are fatty and other substitutes used. There is 

 hardly a single article made of pure rubber. There is a large percentage— 25 to 50 

 per cent or even more — of fatty and other substitutes used in most things. 



ROOT DISEASE: THE REMOVAL OP STUMPS. 



Mr. Thornhill :— We should like to hear something about root disease, Avhich 

 is supposed to spread along forest trees. We should like to know if all stumps 

 should be removed in clearings. 



Mr. Wright: -Mr. Orabbe tried to draw me out on that point. It is, of 

 course, really a question for the Mycologist to answer. I have nothing to do with 

 diseases. The particular subject mentioned has been studied by Mr. Petch, and a 

 circular has been issued by him, giving the results. You should certainly all get it 

 at once from the Director. Several planters are, I believe, going to the expense of 

 up-rooting stumps. It is for that reason, we tried to draw on your inventive facul- 

 ties in connection with the Rubber Exhibition. We put down a prize for the best 

 method of destroying— or implement for extracting— stumps in rubber clearings. I 

 have heard of people up-rooting stumps and getting a part return in root firewood. 

 They make out a fairly good case. 



SUITABILITY OP RATNAPURA AND SABARAG AMUWA FOR PARA RUBBER. 

 RAINFALL AT HIGH ELEVATIONS IN CEYLON. 



Mr. Wright's labours did not end with the proceedings at the lecture and 

 the number of questions put and answered after the formal proceedings had 

 closed was probably far greater than those asked at the lecture itself. Much 

 valuable information was imparted in this way. For instance one planter asked : 



What do you think about our district for Para Rubber ? 



Mr. Wright replied— We know that Para rubber does very well indeed 

 in this district, and that its cultivation has long ago passed the experimental 

 stage. Nevertheless, this is not a district to come to without a raincoat and 

 umbrella, is it ? I have had a fair experience in this and the districts close by, and 

 shall never forget how, in searching for ebony and guttapercha trees around Hewesse, 

 Bratna, Hiniduma and the Peak Wilderness, I had frequently to be carried on coolies' 

 backs over large tracts of flooded low land. There is no questioning the point that 

 you have, in some parts of this district, more than the required quantity of rain for 

 Para rubber ; the effect of a heavy rainfall can to some extent be mitigated, of course. 



Will a very heavy rainfall do much harm to the rubber. 



Mr. Wright :— The evil effects of a too abundant rainfall, as far as the soil is 

 concerned, can to some extent be probably overcome by deep draining. Deep drains 

 would allow anyone, on land with a slight slope, to more quickly dry the superficial 

 layers of soil ; it would prevent water-logging and would ensure a better -circulation 

 of air through the soil and the temperature of the latter would certainly not be 

 lowered by such work. A swampy water-logged soil contains the equivalent of a 

 rainfall much heavier than has ever been recorded in Ceylon, but, nevertheless, when 

 properly drained it grows excellent rubber. It is surprising to see what has been 

 accomplished in the Udugama, Bentota, Ambalangoda and other districts, where 

 waste swampy patches have, by means of very deep and wide drains, been converted 

 into decent rubber 



