Feb. 1, 1900.] THE TROPICAL AGEICULTUEIST. 
533 
RUBBER CULTIVATION IN SOUTH INDIA. 
(By a Planter,) 
In view of the existing depression in the coffee 
industry, and the uncertainty attending the future 
of the staple, as weil as of tea, it would be wise policy 
for the planting commuQity iu Southern India^ to 
study the potential attractions of rubber cultivation. 
Twenty years ago, considerable attention was aroused 
in South India as to the possibilities of the Ceara, 
or Manicoba rubber [Manihot glaziovii) proving pro- 
litabie, and this tree was grown, mainly from cuttings, 
on many properties in the planting districts, \vhi!e 
it was even tried in the vicinity of Mettapollium, 
at the foot of the Niigiris. But from circumstances, 
which it seems unnecessary to recapitulate, interest 
in Ceara, despite its robust and rapid growth, gra- 
dually languished, and the trees have been generally 
uprooted, while the venture never tra,velled beyond 
the experimental stage. Some, if not the majority, 
of the planting localities in Southern India are re- 
puted to possess a more fertile and productive soil • 
than Ceylon, though the climate of various Provinces 
in the island has a greater degree of continuous 
humidity than the general average of the Hill plateau 
in the Madras Presidency, Cocrg, Mysore and other 
notable tracts; but as Para and Oastilloa are said to 
thrive in comparatively moist and dry climates, res- 
pectively, it follows that if conditions in Ceylon have 
been shown to bs suited to the successful growth of 
the Hevea (or Para) and the Mexican (or Castilloa), 
that South India offers a varied field for kindred 
enterprise. 
The whole question of Edbber Cultivation has 
recently assumed a new aspect in consequence of 
the discoveries of Mr. Biffen, of Cambridge Univer- 
sity, a qualified botanist, who investigated the method 
of preparation iu Tropical America with much care, 
and su'ch success that the loss of rubber from the 
latex in the manufacture has been reduced from 10, 
15 and even 40, to 1 per cent. The milky fluid, or 
latex, which exudes from various plants where abraded, 
is altogether distinct from the sap, as it is stored 
in special receptacles, which run longitudinally within 
the other tissues and generally form a connected 
and closed system. This lactiferou<? tissue, though 
not altogether absent in the vegetation of temperate 
regions, is specially characteristic of tropical flora, and 
the latest and most approved methods of collection 
and treatment of the latex is a powerful factor in re- 
volutionising the result heretofore obtained in this 
profitable industry. By the aid of Mr. Biffen'a 
machine, which is on the principle of the cream 
separator, he can, in a few minutes, extract the pure 
caoutchouc from the milk of any species of rubber 
tree, and the product thus obtained is practically 
identical whether evolved from the Para, Ceara, or 
Castilloa species, though the most satisfactory results 
accrue from the latex of the Castilloa elastica, which 
can be grown in the drier parts of hill tracts, whereas 
Para, in its native habitat, revels iu moist lands, 
the borders of rivers, and inundated areas, thriving 
rapidly from the sea level up to 3,000 feet and over 
in any such soil. The rubber-extracting machine is 
something on the principle of a churn, composed of 
calvanised iron, and standing between 18" and 24" 
in height. A quart of the rubber milk is poured 
into the upper compartment and diluted with 
I -water. These form a species of cream, and by 
i revolving a handle ' at the side the composition is 
driven through an extremely fine gauze sieve, which 
effectively isolates the rubber from all impurities. 
The rubber then descends into the lower and 
larger partition in the vessel, (where it is further 
! diluted with water, introduced through an orifice in 
i this lower receptacle) washing it free of what was 
I mingled with it, and gradually rising as the com- 
' partment is filled, when the rubber, which has risen 
to the surface, is easily extracted through another 
: aperture for the purpose. The water is then drawn 
off by a tap, and the procedure repeated indefinitely. 
! The rubber extract is perfectly flat and thin, totally 
' ^iBsimilaj; io the rough )5alls prcxJuced by the native 
fl 
processes, while it is practically capable of any degree 
of distention. The sieve in the machine is moveable, 
and is retained in situ by a firra boss of metal, so 
that the whole apparatus can be easily taken to 
pieces and cleaned. The only farther treatment of 
the rubber consists in spreading it out for a time 
to dry, when any slight moisture that may be retained 
is dissipated. 
Ceaka Tbess may be propagated either by seed or 
through the medium of cuttings. The seed coat being 
of remarkable thickness, its natural germination may 
be prolonged for months; but this result can be more 
speedily insured by sowing the seed in a shallow box, 
or brandy case, into which about three inches of 
fresh stable manure has been smoothly spread, the 
straws having been carefully removed. The seed 
should be thickly laid on the smoothed surface of 
the manure, and then covered with a similar coating 
to the same depth. The whole should be kept damp, 
and nothing more is requisite till the germination 
takes place, in from seven to ten days, shortly after 
which the plant shows above the manure, when trans- 
planting into a nursery or seed baskets must be 
effected. Para seeds, which are as large as nut- 
megs, can be put dov^n in a nursery, shaded and 
watered, and here they germinate within eight 
weeks. The seeds can also be planted at stake 
in showery weather. For inundated tracts, old 
plants of two years and upward are stumped and 
planted out two feet deep, as seed or small plants 
are liable to be scoured away. V/hen planted out, 
they should be suitably shaded until established in 
the soil. Under favourable conditions, new roots are 
developed within a fortnight. Castilloa seed should 
be grown in an ordinary shaded nursery, laid out 
on rich soil, the seeds being put in six inches apart 
and one inch deep. A watering in the evening once 
a week suffices, under which system the seed ger- 
minates in five weeks. When the plants are half a 
foot high they should be removed to seed baskets, 
filled with the richest soil available. Subsequently, 
and when thoroughly established in the baskets, the 
the latter should be placed in pita two feet square and 
three feet deep, cut 14 feet apart. 
In considering how far the Districts in Southern 
India are likely to lend themselves to the profitable 
cultivation of Para and Castilloa rubber trees, the 
circumstance should be noted that the yield of the 
latex, or rubber, extracted from supplies grown in 
Ceylon is considerably below that accniiug from the 
same varieties in their natural habitat. But Ceylon 
contains no indigenous rubber-producing trees of any 
value, and even the milk of the jak, breadfruit and 
other introduced trees, which elsewhere contain 
caoutchouc, when grown there have none. Whether 
Southern India shares this peculiarity can only be 
determined by special tests ; but, so far as experi- 
ments in the yield of the latex from these speciea 
have proceeded in Ceylon, the results should prove 
interesting and instructive to South Indian planters. 
Mr. J Willis, Director of the Royal Botanical Gar- 
dens, Ceylon, reports of the Para : — 
" It succeeds best on flat, wet, alluvial soil; at 
very low elevations, but in sheltered positions will 
thrive at elevations of over 3,000 feet though the growth 
is of course slower. Best results have been obtained 
by planting eight or ten feet apart each way ; the 
trees thus form their own shade, and keep down the 
weeds, a process of natural selection goes on, and 
the more weakly and dwarfed trees may be thinned 
out in subsequent years. Another advantage of close 
planting is that the trees grow up straight without 
forming many branches low down, and this greatly 
facilitates tapping. Para is a surface-feeding tree ; 
probably the best thing would be to plant out the 
tree among tea or other products, at considerable 
distances apart, the tree will then grow to a large 
size in less time than if kept in plantations of rub- 
ber only, and their rubber will form a useful minor 
product." 
After being grown for several years amongst tea 
fields in Ceylon, the Managers of various properties 
reporlj that Para rubber, appsosjmately two years olcl| 
