June i, 1881.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
5 
(From 
to May 7. ) 
CEARA RUBBER CULTIVATION IN CEYLON. 
We give prominence to several interesting and 
thoroughly practical communications addressed to us 
on this subject in answer to our remark on the un- 
certainty of the yield of produce from the fast- 
growing Ceara rubber in Ceylon. In the first place 
we have a sceptical planter asking ; ' Will the plant- 
ing of rubber pay ? ' and he gives an estimate which, 
if correct, looks very much like a decision in the 
negative :— 
Ceara Rubber, Will It Pay ? 
To the Editor " Ceylon Observer," 
Western Province, 22nd April 1881. 
Dear Sir, — I should very much like to ask a question 
through the medium of your valuable columns, and 
if you will permit me the space I will put it, and 
a few calculations besides. The question is, that 
with which I head this letter, viz., Ceara Rubber, 
Will it pay ? 
I am quite open to believe that it will, if anybody 
will be able or good enough to prove statistically 
that it ha?, will, and does. I of course mean, as a 
product by itself. I have taken some little trouble 
to go into figures in the matter, and the conclusion 
I arrive at is far from satisfactory to my mind, 
and unless some other calculation can be shewn with 
a better result, I greatly fear Ceara rubber is not 
to be the Eldorado that some may fondly anticipate. 
We frequently see writers in the "Planting" 
column, speak of what a wonderful growth has been at- 
tained by Ceara, but what we want to see is an equally 
wonderful production of caoutchouc, but for this 
particular subject nobody will give us so much as 
a hint, even Dr. Trimeu in his "Notes on Some 
Trees Yielding India-rubber " only goes so far as to 
say that "in Ceylon it may be confidently expected 
that they [Ceara, &c] will become a valuable source 
of revenue," but there is not one word to shew how 
this confident expectation will be realized. No doubt, 
if we had thousands of acres of Ceara growing wild, 
and had only to pay an occasional visit with a gang 
of coolies, armed with Mr. Wm. Smith's cinchona 
scraper, then Ceara would " become a valuable source 
of revenue," but otherwise I don't quite see it. I 
estimate as follows for one acre based on the follow- 
ing facts : — 
109 trees planted 20 feet x 20 feet = one acre. 
Each tree we may expect to give ^ a lb. 
Vide Dr. Trimen's figures each IT) is worth RD25 
in England. 
Cost for the first three years will be as follows : — 
Estimate for one acre of Ceara Rubber. 
Purchase of one acre at upset price plus 
stamps, &c 12-00 
Felling and burning one acre of chena ... 12 - 00 
Lining and holing 3 - 75 
Weeding 1 acre for 12 months at 3s per 
month 18-00 
Management lO'OO 
Purchase of seed and filling the same, 2 
cents per seed 2*18 
Contingencies 20 7, on the above 5 - 78 
Total for the 1st year ... 63 71 
2nd year's expenditure 
Weeding at 2s per acre per month 
Management 
Contingenciea 10 7 0 °a above ... 
12-00 
10- 00 
2-20 
3rd year's expenditure 
The same as 2nd year 
Dr. Account 
To 1st year's expen- 
diture 63-71 
To 2nd year's expen- 
diture 24-20 
To 3rd year's expen- 
diture 24-20 
11211 
Current 
By 1st crop ^ tt> 
per tree = 54 i 2 
lb at R125 pe>- 
lb = 
Balance to Dr. of 
4th year 
24-20 
Cr. 
11211 
To balance due 43 -9S 
The above estimate gives nothing for cost of cur- 
ing, roading, assessment, transport home, duty (if 
any) and interest on outlay, so not considering this 
the estimate must be considered as a very low one. 
As to the yield per tree I don't think we can well 
expect much more, till the tree is very much older, 
and allowing for the contingencies above, I think 
the estimate I have given as to quantity reasonable. 
With regard to curing, Dr. Trimen speaks in his 
" Notes " of the purity of the prepared rubber being 
a matter of first importance," and goes on to say, 
that the milk should be passed thorough sieves, so 
that we may "confidently expect" that the pre- 
paration for the market will cost us something con- 
siderable. I hen last, but not least, we have a vastly 
superior market to contend against. 
If anybody " who knows " will be so good as to 
make his views public as to the paying question he 
will be granting a boon to them and also to yours 
faithfully, Sceptic . 
Very much to the point also is the series of pro- 
positions laid before us by Mr. Borron who has given 
considerable attention to this new product : — 
To the Editor, " Ceylon Observer." 
Dear Sir, — In its avidity for new products, it is 
evident that the public would like to do a big thing 
in Ceara India rubber, but that its aspirations are 
cheeked by a scarcity of seed. It would be well, 
however, if our knowledge of the article was a little 
more complete, and your late leading article was 
well timed in preparing would-be cultivators for a 
possible trifling yield per tree and very low returns 
per acre. There are several other points, however, de- 
serving of careful consideration : 
1. We have been told that the demand for rubber 
is general and almost unlimited. If so, it is remark- 
able that while the total supply is comparatively 
not by any means large, yet the price seems to keep 
pretty steady at very moderate limits, so that it is 
strange the supposed large demand does not either 
increase supplies or raise prices. Perhaps some explana- 
tion may be found in the indestrudibility of the 
substance enabling old used-up material to be again 
worked into new. 
2. It is most desirable that our Botanical Garden 
Department should as soon as possible, by actual ex- 
periment, ascertain not merely the best planting dis- 
tance for the trees, but also the probable average 
yield that may be reasonably expected, and the best 
mode of extraction. I note you adopt the distance 
suggested by Dr. Trimen, but I think general experi- 
ence inclines to much closer planting. You mention 
4 oz. per tree as the possible yield, but give no reason 
for saying so. The mode of extraction mentioned by 
Mr. Cross, the collector, as adopted by the natives, 
viz., that "the outer surface of the bark of the 
trunk is pared or sliced off to a height of 4 or 5 
feet," would, if it does not lead to the death of 
the tree, probably preclude the securing of a crop 
ofteuer than every second year. 
3. The facility of propagation and succea.-fnl 
growth in poor hard soils has evidently beeu much 
