266 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 1, 1902i 
,.Our returns here from Ficus Elastica are 
likely to be far in excess of those officially re- 
'corded by the Government Hantation in Assam, 
which, indeed, so far, do not olTer much iiiduce- 
ment for private enterprise in tliis direction. — 
I remain, dear Sir, yours faithfully, 
Francis Pears. 
Lanadron Estate, Mnar, Straits Settlements, 
June, 27ih 1902. 
RUBBER TREES AND WHITE ANTS, 
Replying to a correspondent of our contempor- 
ary, Mr EE Green p;ives some useful information : 
—"Your correspondent 'Rubber' does not say 
whether the 'white ants' are attacking the out- 
sides or insides of his trees. There are many differ- 
ent species of termites (white ants) in Ceylon. Most 
of them confine their r.ivages to dead wood; but 
others certainly do attack living plants, though it 
is usually the more functionless parts of the plant 
that attract them. For in&tance, one species eats 
away the heartwood of tea plants ; but leives the 
outer-growing parts (cambium layer, &c) untouched. 
I should be glad to receive specimens of the ter- 
mite^ that are damaging the rubher trees, together 
with exact particulars ot the nat ure of the injuiy. 
If the point of attnck is external, an application of 
•Gondal Fluid' (invented by Dr. Geo. Watt) 
might be tried. It should be painted on the base 
of the stems. A band of same sticky compound 
might prove useful. The ants would find great 
difficulty in crossing this. An Indian paper {Indian 
Gardening and Planting, September 20th, 1900, p. 
190) gives an account of successful experiments 
conducted by the Agricultural Society of India, 
with a compound called " Atlas Preservative A." 
This mixture was applied both to dead wood and 
living plants, with satisfactory results in every 
case. The termites refused to touch the plants 
that iiad been so treated. Unfortunately the 
paper does not give tiiename of the maker, or tell 
Us where the preservative can be procured. But, 
if these termites are internal feeders, nothing can 
be done beyond the destruction of theiir nests when 
found. The difficulty is to be sure that you have 
found the nest ot the actual species that is doing 
the damage. In the case of the species that hol- 
lows out the stems of tea plants in Ceylon, I have 
never been able to trace any definite nest." 
EUCALYPTUS COCCIFERA. 
"With reference to Mr Divers' letter on Eucalyptus 
at p. 140 of your issue of March 1, I desire to say 
that in rry opinion there is no doubt that Eucalyp- 
tus coccitera is a good species and quite distinct 
from E, aniygdalina. The for.ner is a shrub or 
small tree, chiefly found near the submit of Mount 
Wellington, Hobart, Tasmania; the latter is 
usually a fairly large tree, widely diffused in 
Tasmania and Australia, and known as Pepper- 
mint. E. coccifera does best in England, because 
it never grows naturally except in cold localities. 
E. resinifera is the " Forest Mahogany " of 
New South Wales and grows naturally in rather 
warm situations, i.e., at no great elevation above 
the sea-level. Of course, like many other species, 
it can be gradually acclimatised into somewhat 
colder places. E. ficifolia is a small Western 
Australian species with beautiful masses of flowers, 
varying from pink to scarlet. It grows well about 
Melbourue CSyJney is too wavui tov it, except if\ 
exceptional circumstances), and seed can be pvir- 
chased from any good Melbourne firm. It is apt 
to die off at the coMar if the situation be too moisC 
—J, H. Maiden, Sydney. 
RUBBER CULTURE IN THE 
CAMEROONS. 
According to private information to the Tro- 
penfflanzer the rubber culture in that province 
makes further progress. At the Molive plan- 
tation the growth of the Kickxia trees is very 
favourable and also this year's plants developed 
well. Dr. Preuss, the director of the botanical 
gardens at Victoria-Cameroons, writes, even in 
March, that the Kickxia is the only rubber tree 
that may have a future in the Cameroons, for 
already very young trees five good rubber. On 
one tree, which had three fruits one month ago, 
there are now blossoms and fruits of all sizes. This 
year he has difitributed 115,000 Kickxia seeds. The 
trees do not give much shade. One would therefore 
do best to plant them thickly between the cocoa 
trees, provided this does not damage the cocoa 
trees. Mr Preuss is now planting a big ground with 
Kickxias at various distances from .one another. 
Regarding Castilloa Elastica, the trees which have 
not been attaked by caterpillars are getting on 
all right at the Molive plantation and Mr 
Eigen thinks there is little to be feared 
during the rains. Mr Preuss is sure that, with 
some attention, the greater part of these cater- 
pillars can be removed. As a rule they do not 
sit in the bark itself, but just underneath the 
outer skin and can hardly be noticed from the 
outside, but can easily be found by passin" 
the fingers alcing the soft parts undermined 
by them. Tiie bark has then to be removed 
quickly and no time must le given to thelarvfe 
to retreat into the interior of the stem. Mr 
Eigen tried to protect the Castilloas against the 
beetles by putting lime and clay on the 
stem«, but this had no effect during the 
rainy season, as it was washed off by the rains. 
Sticky girdles are, of course, quite useless as the 
beetle flies into the trees. The only effective 
remedy during the rainy time seems to be the 
■ painting of the stems with tar. Dr. Preuss dis- 
covered the caterpillar also in the Kickxias, where 
it had made passages in the bark but could not 
enter the wood. It; has now disappeared — Gutttt' 
Percha Tirades' Journal, August 4, 
LIFE IN THE WILDS OF BRAZIL : 
A RUBBER INSPECTOR'S TRIALS. 
RuBBBu Estates or Paba v. F S Clakk. — Before 
Mr Justice Darling and a special jury an interesting 
case was heard on July 23rd, in which a vivid descrip- 
tion of life in the wilds of Brazil was given. tar 
Clark went out to Para in 1899 as an inspector in the 
employ of the Eubber Estates of Para, Limited. 
He fell ill, and in consequence his agreement was 
cancelled and he returned home. Subsequently pro- 
ceedings were instituted to recover from him the 
balance of an account for goods supplied from the 
Company's stores. Mr Clark coanter-olaimed for 
wrongful dismissal and breach of agreement '■ to 
provide properly furnished house and ascommodation" 
and "all necessary medical stores." His Lordship 
intimated that there was no wrongful dismissal and 
that the breach of agreemeut waa the only (nat(@l (hft| 
reijuirecl investigation. 
