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Sap ft and Exudations. 



the rubber market is beyond human gauge. It is not fair to take the 

 present price of 0.s. 3d. as a normal one. The correct price of rubber is the 

 average for the past three years, say, about 4.s. (hi. or 4s. Qd. During the next 

 six or eight years, however, until plantation rubber comes forward in very 

 big quantities, I would prefer backing a Is. rise than a Is. fall in rubber. 



THE GOVERNMENT LAND POLICY. 



Mr. Hoffman would not criticise our Government's land policy, as he 

 thought that Ceylon men had better opportunities than outsiders of getting 

 land. The difficulties and delays are infinitely more easy to surmount by the 

 local man than by the London financier. Questioned as to how Ceylon could 

 preserve its good name at home, Mr. Hoffman said, "The only thing that can 

 be done is to educate the public to discriminate for themselves."— Times of Ceylon. 



The Cultivation of the Castilloa Rubber Tree. 



THE METHODS EMPLOYED ON A NICARAGUA PLANTATION. 



The Castilloa elastica rubber tree shares with Hevea Brasiliensis honours 

 for first place in the estimation of growers ; for in certain conditions where the latter 

 tree will not do so well, the Castilloa tree is found to thrive. In Southern India it 

 is being fairly extensively planted, and in America, Hawaii, and other parts, the 

 Central American rubber tree is largely cultivated ; indeed, the largest individual 

 rubber plantations in the world are probably to be found under Castilloa— those in 

 various parts of South or Central America. 



In Ceylon the tree thrives well at medium elevation, and really remarkable 

 growth is to be found in the Matale district — Ambanganga estate showing probably 

 the best results with Castilloa elastica in the East, with growth for age which Ave 

 have not heard to have been equalled even on American plantations. Information on 

 the cultivation, tapping, and manipulation of the latex and raw rubber as practised 

 in other countries is always of interest and generally proves instructive to the 

 Ceylon planter ; and the following, taken from an article in the " Quarterly Journal" 

 of the Liverpool Institute of Tropical Research, should receive attention at the 

 hands of planters. They may not agree with all the statements therein, and the 

 methods discussed may not be exactly suitable to the acclimatised tree in Ceylon ; 

 but at the same time fresh ideas may be obtained and improvements for the industry 

 locally suggested. At the end of the article (which will be continued in our columns) 

 the writer compares Castilloa and Hevea (Para) rubbers, and plumps heavily in 

 favour of Castilloa. His notes regarding the labour required and the reason he 

 prefers Castilloa to Hevea we do not ourselves find sound, but he says " Castilloa 

 will yield as much with four operations a year as Hevea will with ten or twenty 

 when the trees are the same age." He thinks, from the planters' point of view, that 

 Hevea latex is superior to Castilloa, but that Castilloa rubber is the better and 

 stronger. We commend this article to all Ceylon and South Indian planters. 



CULTIVATION OF THE CASTILLOA TREE. 



In cultivating the Castilloa certain facts must be borne in mind. Trees with 

 a large leaf surface grow fastest. Trees with the best roots have the most latex. 

 The quantity of latex is proportional to the size of the tree rather than to the age. 

 It is possible for a tree to be perfectly healthy and yet bear no latex. Cultivation 

 must aim at making the trees grow as fast as possible and 5 r ield as much latex as 

 possible. The question of shade is still a debatable one. There is no doubt that 

 trees grow faster and to a larger size, the more light they get ; but some planters 

 believe that trees grown in at least partial shade yield more latex. If this is so I do 

 not think that they yield a sufficiently greater amount to pay for the loss in growth 

 for under ordinary conditions the largest tree yields the most. 



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