7§4 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [May i, 1888 
(ii.) If grown as a special crop, (he seeds should 
be planted, I believe, at a distance not exceeding 15 
feet from one another, should be left for a year or 
two in uncleaned ground so as to allow the under- 
bush to shade them and stimulate their growth, — 
a small area of about a foot in diameter being kept 
olear round each plant, — and only when sufficiently 
large to shade one another to a certain extent should 
the plantation be thoroughly brushed with a machete. 
On the plantation of M. Lefebvre (No. 7, Rue des 
Petits Hotels, Paris), in the western district of Bri- 
tish Honduras, several trees planted and treated as 
just described reached a diameter of nine inches at 
a height of four feet from the ground, and flowered 
and fruited in less than four years. Others in well- 
cleaned land did not make half this progress. 
Stakes, if set in the ground, make more apparent 
progress than seeds (seedlings should Dot, I think, be 
planted, on iccount of the extreme length and deli- 
cacy of their tap roots), but two or three years 
suffice to show that the seeds make more certain and 
rapid progren. 
I have reason to believe that the Castilloa elastica 
affects the ueighbourhood of rivers chiefly, because 
the bush in such places is aiways stunted by the 
floods so as to allow the rubber trees to have full 
growth, and is yet sufficient to give the ground and 
stems full shade. Under these circumstances the trees 
will reach a great size, while in identical soil in 
the open savannah they make no apparent progress. 
Preparation. — A great difficulty has hitherto been 
found in extracting the milk from the tree in a satis- 
factory manner. The method now employed is waste- 
ful both of time and of the quantity and quality of 
the milk extracted. I append a rough sketch of a 
machine* invented by Mr. Blancaneaux, of the Cayo, 
British Honduras, which avoids all these disadvantages. 
Coagulation. — The methods which at present prevail 
for coagulating the milk are well described by Mr. 
Morris. I cannot but think, however, that a plan 
suggested to M. Lefebvre by a series of experiments 
iu the spring of this year (sample of the result of 
which I possess, and will forward at a later date,) 
offers decided advantages over cny other. 
M Lefebvre' s method. — The milk is put into a barrel 
with a tap at the bottom, and three parts of pure 
limeless water are added to every part of milk. After 
standing for twenty-four hours the water is drawn off 
through the tap and the process repeated twice more. 
The well washed milk is then pressed slowly in a 
finely perforated vessel and yields a quality of rubber 
free alike from undue viscosity and brittleness. A 
sample of rubber thus prepared is difficult to distin- 
guish from the smoke-coagulated Para rubber which 
at present leads the market. 
The above account, given by Mr. Millson, is printed 
without my expression of opinion as regards the value 
of the suggestions made. Experience alone can decide 
the circumstances best suited to the cultivation of 
this tree in different tropical colonies. There is also 
much more to be learnt and worked out as regards 
the best means to be adopted for tapping rubber trees, 
and for preparing the milk so as to yield the largest 
available amount of marketable rubber. 
The preparation of Oastilloa rubber is described by 
Morris (Colony of British Honduras, p. 76), as 
follows : — 
" At the close of the day the rubber-gatherer collects 
all the milk, washes it by means of water, and leaves 
it standing till the next morning* He now procures 
a quantity of the stem of the moon-plant {Calo- 
nictyon upecioxum), pounds it into a mass, and throws 
it into a bucket of water. After this decoction has 
been ("trained, it is added to the rubber-milk, in the 
proportion of one pint to a gallon, or until, after brisk 
stirring, the whole of the milk is coagulated. The 
masses of rubber floating on the surface are now strain- 
ed from the liquid, kneaded into cakes, and placed 
under heavy weigh t,R to get rid of all watery particles. 
When perfectly drained and dry, the rubber cakes are 
fit for the market, and exported generallyin casks." 
* Not reproduced. 
The idea respecting the preparation of rubber, as 
suggested above by Mr. Milson, without the aid of the 
moon plant or of alum, which latter is also son. I u.--- 
used, would appear to be not entirely new. In the 
Report on the Caoutchouc of Commerce, by Collins, 
published iu 1872, it is stated that if the juice of 
plants is not procurable about two parts of water 
are added to one part of milk, and allowed to stand 
for 12 hours. The residue which separates from the 
water is poured into vats made in the grouud and left 
to dry. This drying takes from 12 to 14 days. Some- 
times the milk is simply poured on prepared ground, 
and the watery portion allowed to evaporate or other- 
wise disappear. The rubber, when dry, is subjected 
to pressure in order to get rid of the bolsas or packets 
of watery liquid." 
Tea in Japan. —Reports from trie tea-growing 
districts continue to give a good account of the plants, 
and the first pickings will probably arrive at the 
end of the present month. The plants in Kagos- 
hima and Kochi are said to be this season, as indeed 
they usually are, in advance of other districts. The 
Tea season is fairly closed, a few houses working off 
the last of the old leaf. A hand muster of new leaf 
has been shown, but it gives no clue to the quality of 
the crop. Reports from the interior are still good as 
to the quantity expected. — Japan Weekly Mail, 
March 24th. 
Fokesxry on the NiLGiBis. — From Mr 
Gamble's Report on the Northern circle, Madras, 
we quote the passage referring to operations on 
the Nilgiris as affording hints regarding the trees 
likely to do well in Nuwara Eliya and its neighbour- 
hood : — 
In the Nilgiris, in Aramby reserve, 40,550 Blue- 
gum, 700 shola trees and 7,000 Frenela were planted ; 
casualties 5 per cent. Increase during the year is 
10 acres. In Cairn Hill reserv* 3,270 Cryptomeria 
were planted and 14,400 Bluegum, 330 Pinaster, 1,970 
Cypress, 7,300 Acacia, 300 Grevillea. A large pro- 
portion of these were employed in filling up vacan- 
cies. The increase during the year was 7 acres. In 
Baikie 5,000 Bluegums were planted. In Governor's 
shola 1,000. In Lovedale during the year were 
planted : — Casualties. 
Grevillea ... 567 5 per cent 
Oedrus Deodara 20 none 
Melaleuca ... 100 all failed 
Tristania ... 20 none 
Cedrelatoona... 88 „ 
Acer oblongum 4 ' „ 
Pittosporum ... 137 „ 
In Coonoor sub-division 8,486 seedlings were planted 
in the Coonoor peak reserve consisting of teak and 
Meliosnia Amottiana in block I, Planchoniana and 
Bluegum in block II, Cryptomeria japonica, Frenela 
rhomboidea, Cypress and Pinaster in blocks III and IV, 
and Acacia decw-rens and Casuarina in block IV. Vacan- 
cies in compartments 1, 2, 33 and 39 were filled with 
4,099 basketted Bluegum. In Brooklands 919 sholft 
seedlings have been planted to fill casualties. In the 
Ghat reserve 130 shola plants were added. The 
growth altogether is good, except in the case of a few 
oak and indigenous plants. Eucalyptus planclwniana 
is exceptionally striking. In the Kullar reserve 7,209 
mahogany plants have been planted in gaps in 
compartments 5, 4, 3, 2 and part of 1 in block IV, 
700 Berry a Ammonilla were planted between the 
mahoghany in compartments 4 and 5. Casualties 
are nearly 20 per cent, but the rest are flourishing. 
In Nilgiris 4,098 mahogany seedlings are planted in 
the Kullar nursery. Seeds of five or six kinds of 
Eucalyptus are germinating in the Sim's Park nur- 
sery. All the seeds of Quercus Thomsoniana failed 
to germinate and very few of Acer Hookeri germin- 
ated. Not a single seed out of § oz. of Pteroxylon 
utile germinated. Of 1 lb. of dates sown in Sim's 
Park nursery on the 31st September 1886 not one has 
germinated up to the middle of July 1887. Seeds of 
ironwood, Acer Campbelli Cuprmm macrocarpa and 
tondoect grow well. 
