28 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[June i, 1881. 
THE INDIA-RUBBER ENTERPRISE. 
Very great confidence is expressed in the future of 
the Ceylon Rubber enterprise. Not only does the 
growth of plants exceed all expectation, but the re- 
sulting produce is almost certain to be valuable if one 
may judge by what is said of rubber taken from other 
trees either indigenous or introduced years ago into 
Ceylon. We learn that a sample of rubber taken 
from a " Ficus " in the Matale district and sent to 
a London broker has been reported on most favour- 
ably as very suitable for commercial purposes, and 
worth 2s 3d per lb. All reports seem to agree that 
the demand is practically inexhaustible, provided rubber 
could be supplied a little more cheaply than at pre- 
sent, so many are the new as well as exisfing uses 
to which 1 his product can be applied in British art, 
manufacturing aud scientific departments. 
On the other hand, the profitable nature of the cul- 
tivation of rubber trees to the Ceylon planters has 
been challenged for the following reason. It has been 
«aid that Ceara rubber trees to do them justice ought 
to be planted about 20 feet apart. That would give 
no more than a hundred trees to the acre ; but it is 
felt that at least 175 trees can safely be planted. The 
yield of rubber per tree has been calculated at four 
ounces of marketable produce per tree per annum. 
This would amount to say 44 lb. of rubber per acre, 
which, at present prices, might be considered the 
equivalent of £5 gross. No great fortune to be made 
out of this amount certainly, even though, as is pointed 
out, the cost of cultivation and collection must be 
very small, a mere trifle. No new product, it may 
be said, leaves so small a margin as this one, if the 
yield of four ounces per tree is a fair estimate. It 
is on this point, however, that we require further 
information. 
CEYLON TEA IN AUSTRALIA. 
Our morning contemporary and a correspondent of 
his are rather sanguine in estimating the profit on the 
sale of Ceylon tea reported from Melbourne by last 
mail. Fault is found with us for speaking of it as 
"a poor sale," Of course we were contrasting the 
minimum 7d per lb. with the minimum of previous 
ales. Nevertheless, the average for nearly 4,400 lb. 
being Is 2£d per lb., we are free to confess the sale 
was not so poor as we supposed. But it is a mis- 
take to consider that all is profit between the rate 
at which the tea is delivered in Melbourne and the 
sale price. What about Melbourne charges ? We have 
heard complaints that the charges on tea by agents 
"clown South" are a caution and enough to run 
away with most of the profit on sales realizing no 
more than the one under notice. The rate of com- 
mission alone in Australian ports seems to be 1\ per 
cent against 2J in London. 
We most fully believe in the future of the Tea en- 
terprise in Ceylon. We have said already, and we 
repeat the statement with the utmost confidence, that 
we can beat both Northern and Southern India in 
cheapness of production, while the average quality 
:ifter further experience in preparation ought to be 
fully as goodi Mr. Hay, of Dolosbage, an old Dar- 
jeeling planter, looks on a steady return of 400 lb. 
per acre per annum of tea as almost certain, and he 
<h confident of placing the produce "f. o. b." in Col- 
ombo harbour at a rate nearer to 40 than to 50 cents 
per lb. There can be no doubt, therefore, that if 
care is taken to prepare tea suited to the Australian 
market, Ceylon should secure a full share of the busi- 
ness, and realize an average price for its tea nearer 
Is Od than Js 2d per lb. ihe former rate after the 
deduction of all charges would leave a very hand- 
iome profit. 
SIR SAMUEL BAKER ON BEES IN CEYLON. 
If he has not already seen the book — and we think 
not— Mr. Benton will be interested in what the great 
hunter and keen observer, Sir Samuel Baker, has to 
say, in his "Eight Years in Ceylon," on bees : — 
These people (in the eastern jungles,) lived upon sago 
cakes, pumpkins, wild fruits, and berries, river fish, 
and wild honey. The latter is very plentiful throughout 
Ceylon, and the natives are very expert in finding outthe 
nests, by watching the bees in their flight, aud following 
them up. A bee-hunter must be a most keen-sighted 
fellow, although there is not so much difficulty in 
the pursuit as may at first appear. No one can mis- 
take the flight of a bee en route home, if he has once 
observed him. He is no longer wandering from flower 
to flower, in an uncertain course, but he rushes 
through the air in a straight line for the nest. If 
the bee-hunter sees oue bee thus speeding homewards, 
he watches the vacant spot in the air, until assured 
of the direction by the successive appearance of these 
insects, one following tbe other nearly every second 
in their hurried race to the comb. Keeping his eye 
upon the passing bees, he follows them, until he 
reaches the tree in which the nest is found. 
There are five varieties of bees in Ceylon ; these 
are all honey-makers, except tbe carpenter bee. This 
species is entirely unlike a bee in all its habits. It 
is a bright tinsel-green colour, and the size of a large 
walnut, but shaped like the humble bees of England. 
The mouth is armed with a very powerful pair of 
mandibles, and the tail with a sting even larger and 
more venomous than that of the hornet. These car- 
penter bees are exceedingly destructive, as they bore 
holes in beams and posts, in which they lay their eggs, 
the larvae of which, when hatched, feed upon the timber. 
The honey bees are of four very distinct varieties, 
each of which torms its nest on a different principle. 
The largest and most extensive honey-maker is the 
'Bambera.' This is nearly as large as a hornet, and 
it forms its nest upon the bough of a tree, from which 
the comb hangs like a Cheshire cheese, being about 
the same thickness, but five or six inches greater in 
diameter. The honey of this bee is not so much es- 
teemed as that from the smaller varieties, as the flavour 
partakes too strongly of the particular flower which 
the bee has frequented ; thus in different seasons the 
honey varies in flavour, and is sometimes so highly aper- 
ient that it must be used with much caution. The wax 
of the comb is the purest and whitest of any kind pro- 
duced in Ceylon. So partial are these bees to particular 
blossoms, that they migrate from place to place at differ- 
ent periods, in quest of flowers which are then in bloom. 
This is a very wonderful and inexplicable arrange- 
ment of Nature, when it is considered that some flowers, 
which particularly attract these migrations, only blossom 
once in ' seven years." This is the case at N uwara 
Eliya, where the nillho induces such a general rush 
of this particular bee to the district, that the jungles 
are swarming with them in every direction, although 
dnring the six preceding years hardly a bee of the 
kind is to he met with. 
There are many varieties of the nillho. These 
vary from a tender dwarf plant to the tall and heavy 
stem of the common nillho, which is nearly as thick 
as a man's arm, and about twenty feet high. 
The next honey maker is very similar in size and 
appearance to our hive-bee in England. This variety 
forms its nest in hollow trees, and in holes in rocks. 
Another bee, similar in appearance, but not more than 
half the size, suspends a most delicate comb to the 
twigs of a tree. This nest is no larger than an orange, 
but the honey of the two latter varieties is of the 
finest quality, and quite equal in flavour to the famed 
' Miel vert ' of the Isle de Bourbon, although it has 
not the delicate green tint which is so much esteeemd 
in the latter. 
