94 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Aug, 1, 1899. 
BUBBER CULTIVATION IN CEYLON: 
PARA versus CASTILLOA; 
CEYLON versus THE STRAITS. 
Dear Sib, — In reply to your enquiry as to 
the relative merits of Castilloa and Para Rubber • 
cultivation in Ceylon, I think, and always 
have thought, that the former is adapted to 
a wider stretch of country than Para, and it 
will moreover grow and flourish at a much 
higher elevation ; but the tree (in Ceylon at 
all events) is slow in developing-, requires a 
good soil, and seed is very difficult to get : 
in fact unless a quantity can be imported 
into the country, it will be a long time be- 
fore we have any appreciable acreage of this 
class of rubber growing here. I doubt, if 
there are more than 50 or 60 full-grown trees 
in the island_ at the present time, and it is 
only some of these that bear fruit. Those 
in the Peradeniya Gardens, for instance, 
though well matured, I am informed, give 
no seed. What Mr. Willis says abovit Para 
rubber growing in Ceylon may be briefly 
summarized thus : — 
(1) . That there is only a limited area 
available for its successful cultivation, pro- 
bably about 10,000 acres in all ; the land being 
situated between Kalutara and Ratnapura. 
(2) . If planted outside this zone, the trees, 
although they may grow well and develope 
a good girth, are not likely to yield a suffi- 
cient quantity of rubber to make the industry 
a remimerative one by itself. 
(3) . That the tree will do very much 
better in the Straits than in Ceylon, both as 
regards growth and productiveness. 
As regards the area available for Para cul- 
tivation in Ceylon, I am inclined to agree 
with Mr. Willis that it is not very exten- 
sive if the best results are expected, and there 
is no doubt that well-grown trees in the 
locality he speaks of v/ill px'oduce very much 
better returns than in less f avovired districts 
where the rainfall is deficient and the soil 
inferior. Experiments I have made fully 
' bear this out : the yield from trees of vary- 
ing ages in the Kalutara district being largely 
in excess of what would be expected in a 
drier climate. But when Mr. Willis implies that 
we must not look for a satisfactory yield out- 
side this zone, I join issue with him at once 
and inquire how about Heneratgoda and the 
trees that have been tapped there ? 
Here we have a dry, hard, cabooky soil 
with a scanty rainfall,— conditions altogether 
unfavourable for such cultivation,— and yet 
the trees are well grown for their- age and 
according to the published returns the tap- 
r)ings have, been successful, both a" regards 
the quantity and quality of the produce. 
The ijrospects ©f Para cultivation in Ceylon 
have been based exclusively on data supplied 
from Heneratgoda Gardens, and it says a good 
deal for the future of the enterprise that the 
returns should have been so satisfactory, see- 
ing that according to Mr. Willis the trees 
are growing in a neighbourhood which may 
. be described as wholly misuited to their 
requirements. I have always myself thought 
it a great pity that the Heneratgoda Gar- 
dens were chosen as a home for the Para 
trees, for the reason that amidst such siir- 
roundings it seemed almost impossible that 
results could be otherwise than unsatisfac- 
tory. The published records of the yield, 
hoAvever, shew to the surprise of everybody, 
a very goc^d margin for prolit, even if the price 
of rubber were to fall considerably below 
present quotations ; and in more favoured 
localities, there is every reason to he well 
satisfied with the prospects of the enterprise. 
I agree witli Mr. Willis that the tree 
might be plajited with advantage thi'ough 
fields of tea, und I am of opinion also that 
if placed at wide distances apart, the shade 
would be beneficial rather than otherwise 
to the tea underneath, but the trees would 
have to be kept well lopped up. 
The statement made by Mr. Willis that 
Para rubber can l)e grown to better advan- 
tage in the Straits than in Ceylon applies 
to many other Products besides Rubber, and 
if we are to wait until we find something 
that will produce better results iu Ceylon 
than anywhere else we shall have to wait 
for a very long time. 
Take Rice, for instance. Is this cultivation 
to be discouraged because it grows better in 
India and Burma than it does here ? 
Are we to cease growing Cacao because 
the trees give better returns in the West 
Indies ? 
Is the cultivation of Tea to be discontinued 
because we cannot get the flavour of Darjeel- 
iug or the strength of Assam ? 
In Ceylon we have labour and transport 
facilities which counterbalance to a great 
extent the drawl)acks associated with an in- 
ferior soil and, what we are chiefly concerned 
in knowing, is not whether tropical products 
can be cultivated to gi-eater advantage in 
other countries, but whether there is a fair 
prospect of making them remunerative here. 
In the case of Para rubber the only figures 
that have as yet been made public in Ceylon 
go to shew that satisfactory returns can be 
obtained from trees gi"owing under all the 
disadvantages of soil and climate, and such 
being the case the presumption is that very 
much better results may be expected when 
the trees that have been planted in other 
parts of the country have reached full 
maturity. 
I have figures at my disposal which point 
to excellent returns fi*om this cultivation ; 
but in view of the fact that more extensive 
tappings are now in progress it may be well 
to withhold these statistics in the mean- 
time, though in due course the information 
may be imparted to those interested in the 
cultivation of Rubber in Ceylon. 
The yield from Rubber trees in the Straits is 
considerably in excess of the best returns in 
Ceylon ; but as a set-ofl: against this, labour 
is twice as expensive there as it is here ; 
and there are other disadvantages to con- 
tend with, though none that are very serious 
so far as I am aware. — Youi's faithfully, 
E. S. G. 
<s> 
Australian Produce for the Rand.— The 
Leader announces tlie airivpJ of a refrigerator 
car from Durban with the first consignment of 
Australian and rasmanian apples. They arrived 
in first-class condition, as also a quantity of pas- 
teurised Australian butter, rolled hams and 
rolled bacon, sujjar cured, cheeses, cakes from 
Swallow and Ariel, and preserved rabbits from the 
Flemington work?. 
