October i, 1887.! THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
221 
With Java kapok it is quite the contrary. Kapok 
evidently has a brilliant future before it. Plantation 
enterprise directed to its cultivation has every chance 
of proving remunerative. — Straits Times. 
THE EAST INDIA ASSOCIATION: THE 
COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OP SIAM. 
BY O. WEYNTON. 
Iu a paper on " The Commercial Products of Siam," 
read bofore the East India Association ou the 7th of 
April, the following information was given respecting 
articles of more or less interest to pharmacists : — 
To most people the province of Assam is an utter 
terra incognita. Those tolerably well up in Indian 
geography may possibly be able to point out its position 
on the map, describing it, generally, as the north- 
eastern frontier district of India, separated from our 
most recent acquisition of Upper Burmah by the semi- 
independent state of Manipiir and the wild hill-tracts 
lying north and south of that country. Of course 
the general public have heard of Assam tea, but 
beyond that commodity, few have the faintest idea 
of the vast and varied indigenous wealth lying un- 
developed within Assam's political boundaries. 
India-rubber (Ficus elastica). — Por this plant such por- 
tions of an estate should be selected where the soil 
or nature of the ground indicates to be unfitted for 
bringing under cultivation with prospect of immediate 
return, cutting small paths thirty feet apart, intersect- 
ing one another at right angles; the lower such portion 
lies without partaking of a swampy character the 
better, and dense shade is desirable though not actu- 
ally necessary ; the nature of the soil is a small matter. 
The portion should be carefully mapped, the paths 
cut quite straight, and where they intersect one 
another, slips of this vine (Ficus elastica) should be 
planted. The vine is abundant in the ravines, and 
although the main stems will be found to have been 
blazed most unmercifully, the new shoots are always 
vigorous, strong, and strike easily ; each should be 
some three to four feet long, placed upright, if possible 
agaiust a jungle-tree, and about one foot inserted in 
the ground ; a notch cut some four inches from the 
inserted end will facilitate striking, and although the 
slips may be planted at anv time during the year, 
the most suitable season is March, just after the usual 
hail-storms have moistened the ground. The slips may 
be left to nature, but as time goes on, pretty constant 
supervision will be requisite during the cold weather, 
especially if the land is near the hills or iu the vicinity 
of the villages iu the plains, for in either case 
poaching may be expected, and the jungle-roaming 
nomads, I. >th Aryan and non-Aryan, will most cer- 
tainly tap the shoots if they get the chance ; but as 
the gum exudes only in the cold weather, and cannot 
be removed under twelve hours after incision, it is 
not an arduous undertaking to capture pilferers. In 
five or six years the vino will have attained sufficient 
mz<- to be independent of shade other than that 
afforded by its owu foliage, and the surrounding forest 
may be utilized, if need be, for other plants or purposes. 
In twenty-five years it may be tapped in moderation 
not by mercilessly blazing the branches, but bv 
scooping the earth from beneath the stoutest lateral 
roots— the parts subjected to incision being washed 
eutirely tree from soil, and a common earthen gvrrah 
placed beneath to receive the gum, care being taken 
that sufficient space is left between the incision and 
mouth of the receptacle to admit of the free circul- 
ation of air, but at the same time, so as to prevent 
the admixture of aaud, twigs aud leaves. These details 
may seem over elaborate; but the purer the gum 
the higher the price. Vines of the age mentioned 
may ci.ely b ■ tapped to the amount of one inauud 
the first yeur ; that is «2 pounds avoirdupois clear 
gam 'luring the three months ot December, Januury 
•ad February, Bauh cuocesaive year an additional 
ten pounds may be tnk-n. but they will require watch- 
lli(,'. and should Mi;ns of exhaustion become appareut, 
such ai sluggish exudation and drooping leaves, the 
mi llion should be eloso.l itud the ro >ts earth«dup; but 
thuso unit ten must bo loft to the judgment of the cultiv- 
ator, and unless incising the trunk and branches is 
resorted to, there need belittle fear of having to stop 
collecting during the season. The yield given is ouly 
approximate. I once took eight maunds from a vine 
that had escaped the attentions of the Meekers, in a 
remote ravine near the Kopoli river, which I estimated 
as near as I could to be about sixty years old, and as a 
plantation of Wicus would enjoy all the advantages that 
this plant had, being allowed to attain full vigour and 
maturity, there is no reason to doubt that similar re- 
sults, in proportion to age would be obtained. ltoughly 
estimated, an aero would contain forty-seven trees ; 
hence, if the reader cares to work out the calculation, 
at the present price per pound 2s. t he will find, allowing a 
wide enough margin for freight, collecting, etc., that 
an acre, only thus partially occupied, would return 
something over £300 per annum in the twenty-fifth 
year. A quarter of a century seems a long time to 
look forward to, but presuming that a hundred acres 
had been put under Ficus when the rush to Assam for 
tea investment took place, just twenty-five years back, 
many private proprietors would be in a vastly different 
positiou from that they now occupy. The Italians have 
a proverb that " He who would grow rich should 
plant an olive." The Assam settler may substitute 
for the olive — Ficus slips. 
The Lac Insect ; Coccus Lacca. — The curious little 
insect that produces the lac and lac dye of commerce 
abounds in all the terai jungle, being more abundant 
and of the best quality in the neighbourhood of the 
Khassia Hills, and that, mountain chain. It is also 
found on the north side of the Assam Valley proper, as 
likewise under the Tipperah Hill south of Sylhet and 
Oachar, but from the last-named locality is inferior in 
size, being also in other respects less desirable. Iu its 
native state it is found encrusting the branches of a 
variety of shrubs about four feet from the ground, and 
in the densest underwood, so that, for successful pro- 
pagation dampness and shade are requisite ; these cou- 
ditions may easily be had, and the profits of the cultiva- 
tion, if such a term is permissible, are so handsome n 
fully to warrant sufficient outlay to attain them. I shall 
confine myself to oue acre iu dealing with each item, but 
of course the operator causuit himself as to area, though 
it is as well to caution enthusiasts as to the proverb of 
" putting all the eggs into one basket." Though the 
insect seems to have no predilection for any particular 
bush, the Meekers, who have, so to speak, domesticated 
it, have ascertained that the urhur dhal shrub rears it 
in the best manner, and though experiments may here- 
after demonstrate that other trees are as suitable, we 
may take the urhur as our propagating means. It is 
quite unnecessary to enter upon a description of this 
shrub as it is known, and the pulse it produces eaten all 
over India. In fact the plant will grow almost any- 
where, and could the lac insect accommodate itself to 
every clime iu which the dhal thrives the enormous 
amount produced would soon overstock the market, but 
it cannot exist in dry arid parts, hence the advantage 
Assam, and similar humid countries, has and is likely to 
maintain. Seedlings of the urhur, though abundant, are 
difficult to collect, each vustee or homestead raising just 
sufficient for its own necessities, so it must be raised iu 
your vegetable garden for the purpose, and as to attain 
the biggest tree in the shortest possible time is your ob- 
ject, high cultivation must be resorted to. If sown and 
well watered in November the young plants will be fit 
to plant out at the close of the following raius— the eud 
of October, and should then be good stout saplings, 
averaging four feet in height. When plauted in rows 
four feet by eight ap->rt, about 1,360 will go to the 
acre, and if well oul li/ated will be found quite ready 
to receive the insect exactly two years from the date 
o! first sowing. To cover an acre of ground with 
wire netting may seem a <• istly proceeding, so those 
who do not care to incur that expense may sub- 
stitute bamboo trellis-work, but I recommend starting 
with wire at the outset. Birds, especially the bulbub, 
are p\rtieularly destructive, so some protection is 
absolutely nee- ssn ry. There is another enemy t» be 
guarded against, the tint . the big red and black ouu*. 
as also the smaller species; hence the stem of each 
tree a little way from the ground ihould be furnished 
