Feb. 2, 1903.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUEIST. 
543- 
€aiT£0j}onbena. 
To the Editor. 
"PINEHURST" TEA IN AMERICA. 
Toronto, Dec. 9Lh, 1902. 
Dear Sir,— I read "'ith interest the edi- 
torial in your issue of October 22iid, was 
highly amused by it, and think it is the 
proper spirit in which to take any state- 
ments that appear in the Press about the 
" Pinehnrst Fea Plantation " in America, for 
it is a huge jr.ke ; but when your article 
went on to state that "The Pinehnrst Planta- 
tion" accomplished the publicity th.it it Rot 
in " Ihe Boston Herald," for the mere writ- 
ing of the said article, then you evidently 
do not ui\derstand newspaper methods here. 
If you think "The Boston Herald" woiild 
allow any institution or person to boom 
itself at the expense of the proprietors of 
the " Herald," then you are mistaken. Every 
line of the article you allude to was paid for, 
and paid roundly lor, and iu f;ict it is 
articles like this that bring around the 
donations from the Crovernment of $10,000 
to $20 000 to help on the "experiments" of 
the " Pinehnrst Plantation." Therefoi^e when 
you reflect on your Commissioner for not 
getting similar articles inserted free, you are 
doing him an injustice. I will venture to say 
that Ceylon tea has had more tree reading 
articles in the Press of the United States 
twenty times over than the " Pinehurst 
Plantation," but this has been done not only 
by making the articles interesting, but also 
by buying much space in their advertising 
columns.— Yours truly, 
P, B. LARKIN. 
PARA RUBBER IN THE MALAYAN 
PENINSULA. 
Resident General's Office, Selangor, Malay 
Peninsula, 24th Dec, 1902. 
Sir,— I am directed by tlie Resident- 
General to enclose for your information one 
copy cf a report on Hevea Brasilicnsis in 
the Malay Peninsula, by Mr. St.'inley Arden, 
Suneriutendeiit, Experimental Plantations, 
Federated Malay States — I have the honour 
to be, Sir, your obedient servant. 
C. W. H. COCHRANE, 
for Secretary to the Resident-Genei'al' 
Federated Malay States. 
[We are much obliged to the Resident- 
General for his attention. The importance 
of Mr. Arden's Report can be judged from 
his covering letter :— 
Secretory to the Eesident-General, Federated 
Miilay States. 
Batu Tiga, Selangor, 27th September, 1902, 
Sir, — I have the honour to forward a report on 
Ifevea hmsihenis, the tree furnishing the 'Para" 
rubber of commerce. 
2, The report deals with :— (a) A Short History of 
ita IntroductioLi into the East. Cultivation, 
(c) Extraction of the Latex, (d) Yield, (c) Prepa- 
ration of Marketable Rubber. (/) Cost of Opening 
Rud Maiatftiaing a FlaQtatiou, fa) frgbable Keturus, 
69 
Many of the.se qneations need much further investi- 
gation, work which is gre.itly handicapped owing to 
the very few trees at any disposal and the disparity in 
yield of tree^ growing under .similar conditions, which 
ueceKsitHtes the conduction of experiments over a largo 
nnniber of trees if reliable information is to be 
obtained, 
a. The age at which tapping might profitably 
commence is still a matter of conjecture, but I have 
ventured the opinion that prdbably CO per cent of five 
year old trees will give an average yield of eight 
ounces per tree, and that from 75 per cent of six y.ear 
old trees an average yield of 12 ounces m<y be expect- 
ed. Experimi-ntal tapping of young trees will be 
continued and the matter .should be definitely 
settled wi hin another eighteen months or two yeare. 
4. The report on the rubber prepared by various 
methods will bemide as snoa hs possible. — I have the 
honour to be. Sir, Your obedient servant, 
Stanley Arden, Superintendent, Experimental 
Plantations, Federated Malay States. 
—Ed. T.A.] 
RUBBER AT 1,600 FEET ELEVATION. 
Kepitigalla, Matale, Jan. 7. 
Dear Sir,— In reply to "Cha's"'s enquiry 
whether Para rubber would be profitable 
if grown at an elevation of 1 600 to 1,8(J0 feet? 
1 am now tapping some trees at about l.GnO 
feet on a hill side, and am very pleased 
with the excellent results obtained. Trees 
•at this elevation, although a good deal 
smaller than the ones of the same age at a 
lower elevation, are now being proved to 
yield lieiter than those lower down. They 
only require one incision in the morning 
and the cups are emptied at 11 a.m. and 
replaced under the same cut immediately, 
and are again emptied at 3 p.m., thus giving 
the same yield from one cut as would be 
obtained from two cuts on trees at the 
lower elevation. I have never been able 
to do this at the low elevation, as the latex 
does not flow after 10 a.m. This is proof 
positive that Para rubber yields better at 
1,600 than at 6 )0 feet. 
I think this a very important fact, and 
one that will no doubt be noted by all 
concernetl in Para. It is probalily due to 
the cooler atmosphere at the higher elevation, 
which does not tend to coagulate the pure 
latex as it exudes from the wtnind. Whereas 
at the lower elevation the temperature 
being much higher, the latex scarcely has 
time to run into the cups before it coagulates 
on the way, owing to the heat. — Yours, &c., 
FRANCIS J. HOLLO WAY, 
RAINFALL NEAR NAWALAPITIYA. 
Donside, Nawalapitiya, Jan. S. 
Sir,— The following rainfjill may be of 
interest to you, as also some of your readers, 
as there seems to be no register kept in this 
district by any of the Government officials :— 
1891, 191-88 inches ; 1892, 130-61 ; 189:^, 124-95 ; 
1894, 100-.54; 189.5, 13019; 1896, 13;J-61 ; 1897, 
131-51 ; 1898, 107-19 ; 1899 132-83 ; 1910, 149-26 ; 
1901, 118-33; 1902, 126-3;- Total 1,580-21 
for the 12 years: tin average of 131-68 inches, 
-Yours, &c., R. B. HECTOR. 
[So that, strange to say, 1-ist year's i-ainfall 
—at Donside, close to Nawalapitiya— was 
below the average,— Ed. T.A.} 
