576 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



A BLEEDING RUBBER TREE. 



A. planter in Johore sent some time ago an 

 account of a rubber tree which continued for a 

 long time to exude latex without any apparent 

 reason. Possibly other of our readers have come 

 across similar instances. 



The tree is, he says, a well grown tree, orig- 

 inally a seed planted at stake in October, 1908, 

 growing on a very old grey clay flat on the edge 

 of a drain. The girth of the tree on August 17 

 was 12 inches at three feet from the base, on 

 three occasions I have dug out large lamps of 

 rubber trom the base of the tree. The first time 

 was a year previously and the last at the date 

 of his letter, when he obtained 2 pounds of rub- 

 ber. The roots of the tree are quite healthy and 

 the tree by no means top-heavy, the branches not 

 too large for the tree to support and there is no 

 reason to suppose that the tree has had a wrench 

 from a high wind. The latex oozes from the point 

 where the large roots proceed trom the collar of 

 the tree. The latex also gushes out at a point 

 where one of the branches joins the main trunk 

 and runs down the stem. 



This bleeding has been going on for a whole 

 year, and yet the crown of the tree looks per- 

 fectly healthy and has put out fine new shoots. 

 There is not a dead branch on the tree nor an 

 unhealthy looking leaf. He remarks that at the 

 rate of rubber production in this way, it would 

 be satisfactory to have a number of such trees 

 as it only took him two minutes to dig out 2 

 pounds of wet rubber, and acoolycould collect 

 150 pounds a day at a cost of 50 cents, i.e., a 

 third of a cent a pound, and even cheaper on 

 contract rates. 



I have not seen the tree and can give no sug- 

 gestion as to the cause in this case, but the 

 amount of latex produced by so small a tree is 

 rather remarkable, as it seems to be a good deal 

 more than one could obtain from so small and 

 young a tree by ordinary tapping. — Ed. — Agri- 

 cultural Bulletin, for Nov., 1911. 



CHINESE POMELOS, OR GRAPE- 

 FRUIT. 



Various kinds of pomelos are grown extensi- 

 vely in southern China, all of which vary more 

 or less widely from the American grape-fruit, 

 although belonging to the same family. Those 

 grown in Amoy are the largest, and are regarded 

 by foreigners as the best produced in China. A 

 smaller kind is grown in the Foochow district, 

 many of which are shipped to Amoy, there 

 given the Amoy "chop,'' and then returned to 

 Foochow as imported Amoy pomelos. The ob- 

 ject of this, of course, is to give an inferior 

 fruit the benefit of the Amoy reputetion. The 

 Amoy pomelos compare favourably with the 

 American fruit in point of size, are thick- 

 skinned, comparatively juicy, but decidedly 

 bitter. The Chinese themselves prefer the 

 Kwangsi pomelo, which is smaller but sweeter. 

 — Royal Society of Arts Journal, Nov. 3. [The 

 Agricultural Society should trv and get seed. — 

 A. M. & J. F.j 



RUBBER IN ANGOLA. 



For the following valuable notes on Angola 

 I am indebted to Mr. E H Heron, for several 

 years on the staff of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture in the Mozambique Province of Portuguese 

 East Africa. Having resigned his engagement 

 Mr. Heron (who is an Australian and a graduate 

 of the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, New 

 South Wales) was travelling to England on the 

 Grantully Castle, and was invited by Mr Robert 

 Williams to accompany his party on the trip up 

 the railway from Lobito Bay : M All the rubber 

 at present obtained in this part of Angola is 

 collected by the natives from the root of Land- 

 olphia Kirkii. This rubber, if collected pro- 

 perly, is always valuable ; clean consignments in 

 London realise only Is. 6d. per lb , less than the 

 best Para. With regard to plantation rubber, 

 two varieties of Manihot have been grown by 

 Dr. Bravo with good success. He has already 

 tapped some of these two-year-old trees (stand- 

 ing 10ft. high), and obtained as much as ljoz. 

 each tapping. 



'•Manihot rubber grows well at an altitude of 

 from 850 to 1,200 metres ; the soil of Angola is 

 also well adapted to it, being very friable, loose, 

 containing no clay and not too rich. The 

 rainfall is apparently ample.— London Times 

 Nov. 28. 



BLASTING TREE STUMPS. 



At Studley Horticultural and Agricultural 

 College yesterday some interesting experiments 

 in the Slatting of tree stumps were conducted 

 by Mr W Wheatcroft on behalf of Nobel's Explo- 

 sive Company. The method adopted was to bore 

 several holes, about 3ft. deep, into the stumps. 

 Into these dynamite cartridges were put and they 

 were exploded by electric current, the stump 

 being blown out of the ground. Experiments in 

 blowing up trees were also carried out ; in that 

 case the charge was laid at the roots. Altogether 

 about forty tree stumps and three standingtrees 

 were removed. An important element is the 

 saving in expense. Under the old method of 

 removing roots the cost in some cases was equal 

 to the value of the timber. Under the new 

 method it is estimated that each root will cost 

 not more than 2s. — M . Pott, Nov. 18. 



DESTRUCTION OF LANTANA. 



The Chamber of Commerce of New Caledonia 

 has just sent an expert to Hawaii to collect and 

 take back a quantity of the flies which have 

 been found to greatly assist in keeping that ter- 

 rible weed in check there. 



This shrub which caused so much damage in 

 Hawaii a few years ago is now generally scat- 

 tered throughout the Philippines and is spread- 

 ing, not rapidly perhaps, but surely, unless more 

 active measures are taken to eradicate it. So far 

 as we know the only efforts made to destroy this 

 plant on a large scale have beep made at and 

 near La Carlota experiment station, Occidental 

 Negros. — Philippine Agricultural Review for 

 October. 



