730 
THE TROPICAL 
AGEICULTURIST. [April 1, IStf. 
kive demand must lorm tbe keystone of tb« iadustrial 
arch of this oolony— a suggestive arob, pcegaant with 
pathetic meaniag ; aa arch whose atones have beea 
cemented together by the life blood of Eu^lifihweu 
who have sweated in tht world's vallev of Death 
pursaing variouf careers in trade and in Gorerument 
service. It is to be hoped lhat this colony in parti- 
cular will b» successful and avail itself of tbe hopeful 
prospect of inducing bushmen to sow the seed of the 
Kickxia, which fiouriahes in the interior. The pro- 
cess ia simplicity itself, as it involves only cletu-iug 
the bed of leaves, loosening the soil for a foot in cir- 
cumference to the depth of a couple of inches, and 
dropping two or thieo seeds on the loosened bed. 
The seed will germinate rapidly, the seedling grow 
quickly, and take care of itself in the bush. 
The sseds, if carefully kept, preserve their vitality 
for a considerable time, thus possessing an incalcalablo 
advantage over the short-lived seed of other good 
rubbers, particularly for plantation purposes. Being 
only six to seven inches long and delicately spindled, 
they pack into a conveniently small compass, render- 
ing it possible to send tens of thoudauda by parcel 
post ridiculously cheap. I know for a fact lhat tbe 
soil and climatic conditions are eminently favourabLe 
in the Straits Settlements and over vast areas in 
Qeylon, Lower Burmah, Assam, and other places in 
India, it is pof^sible to utilise the services of splendid- 
ly-trained, efhciently-squipped, and thoroughly-or- 
ganised forest departments. 
SOIL, 
The Kickxia thrives best in a sandy clay, with a 
subsoil of clay. I have seen it flourishing in sti£[ clay, 
but with feeders only partially buried. Of course, 
tender the latter condition the damp, dark shade of the 
bush is necessity. In quite a number of cleariuga in 
V^est Africa I have seen it growing luxuriantly as. a 
aapling in louse, friable, sandy loam, although I must 
admit it had a tendency to be rather branchy, re- 
mediable, however, by judicious pruning. I should 
say the ideal soil for a plantation would be a. loose 
sandy clay, with more sand th m clay, and a subsoil of 
play, so that during the warm dry season the hitter 
lyould act as a reservoir, supply iug rsquisite moisture 
by capillary attraction. 
PRUNING. 
In the bush, the growing sapling sheds its 
primaries till it practically overtops the 
closely surrounding forest growth, 70 and of ten 80 feet 
from its base. At this elevation I have seen quite a, 
anmber of trees throw, cut their gigantic ai'ms. Nature, 
more by surroundings tlian by heredity, it I may say 
ao, seerns to prune it in the bush in her own incom- 
pfwable way to ensure a, sple«,did trunk surface for 
tapping. Whoa it grows in the open, artiticial pruniug 
becomes necessary. As the desideratum is to have a 
good trunk height or tapable surface, unnecessary pri- 
maries should be pruned away close to the stem, 
leaving a, sufhoient number with concomitajit leafage 
to form new wood. The Kickxia is also capable of 
being stumpsdi even when pretty old. Should the tree 
be hopelessly irregular, stumping should be resorted to 
but enly in the rainy season, when its roots, with the 
assistance of moisture, adequately help in the preser- 
vation of old and the formation of n«w wood. AH but 
the best suaker or shoot should be pruned away, care 
being taien to tar the exposed wood, to prevent the 
destructive incursion of the grub or maggot. 
TAPPING. 
Assuming that the tree has reached maturity, syste- 
matic tapping is necessary or rather essential to get a 
reliable annual supply of rubber ; the best way to do 
this is to make a longitudinal conducting channel up 
the trunk from the base. It must be recollected that 
this is only a conducting channel to capture the 
milk from oblique, transyerse scorings in the 
bark. Th i s-x wrings into tlie bark resemlile theleUer 
V, forming angles where they meet the conductiiig 
channel of approximately 45°. Rectangular scorings 
would facilitate the milk flowing down the trunk 
irregularly instead of all into the conducting channel 
and straight down the trunk into the receptacle placed 
at the base of the tree to collect the milk for co- 
B^gulation. It stands to reason that the obliqM 
transverse scorings and conducting chauntl should l>« 
respectively cootinaons, otherwise thexe would b« 
a diversion and r.ouaequeul wakta ot milk flowuiC 
away at the points where they are disjointed. For 
this reason a mnchett. even in tl,- fa skilful 
European craftsman, would be al: -i. KuJing 
to independent cuts and not .. acoiiujjs, 
oonsideriiig that the oper«.U>r mu.t be iu an mk 
stabU, wobbly position, like "Uahomed'a niythio«4 
oollin. Anyway, he must be above d, i ■ 'la 
bis machete or knife i-trokea cannot pro 
and cont«rmiuous .coringa, but inuti 
disjointed and flaky. The luuer bark MuuiJ ucmk, 
be cut deeper thana quarter o' an inch, aatfalb is amfS 
•ufJicitut to drain away enough mill( fjom the ties^U 
facilitate tbe hauling of the uark which may be aafqlt 
acc6leia4.ed by the apphcation of wiiai J may caj^ 
with every apology to the medical prcfe^tion, «a 
antiseptic plaster, composed of one part of iju:t klin>e^ 
two paxta wood-ashes, and five parU liay. Tbi* i¥>t 
only excludes the oxygenic, deteriorative action ol tJb^^ 
atmosphere, but, what is more important, prccU^ML 
the depredatory entry of the- dreaded grab or ii.aggoi^ 
If this sy^^i^in be adopt«d an annual supply i- i trtitU^ 
and tlkC couiiervatiou of the tree ensorcii. 
tlie oblique sooringi could ht made less ti 
apart, without in any way retarding the 
covery of tbe bark or hindering / .i. 
would be so rapid as to enable t.. , } 
a{{ain the following year. It is t. ...^ ..j.'.l.aj^ 
that the scorings should be fully a foot apart, tapj^nc 
being done a mouth or eu after the commeucemctt 
of the rainy reason. This would leave a good w^j^ 
period for r^pid, healthy convalescence, and compl«|A 
recovery before the advent of the eubuirg dry ^e^i^Stk 
The Kickxia, when treated judiciously, yields 
tween three-quarters and a pound of rubber for «>-4rr 
year of its age— that ia, a tiee twelve yeajs old coMp 
be safely depended upon to yit-lJ nine poundtT^ 
rubber. 
VALUE. 
A pound of Kickxia rubber, pripjrly ooagal»t«d^ 
should realise at least 2s 9d. auction«;d i'nopen iaad((|fc 
in London. The milk, wlien procured clean ^3 
allowed to coagulate itself, realises 2*. a ponnd. 
Trade rubber, adulterated by the bushmen to r&tftf. 
dacioualy increase its weight, and soaked in n-of-^ 
hy traders for the same reason^ fluctuitea in vaJt;^ 
from Is. (id. to Is. 9d. a pound. When the prog^ 
coagulating fluid is used condensation more hioma-. 
genous, so to say, that the result a compactly w«idi^ 
mass of rubber, with no air chambers and holes fqjl 
of uncoagulated milk. By soaking the bales orcai^p 
aa they are brouglit to his factory in water the tcadi^ 
generally converts the uncoagulated milk into a putt^ 
smelling liquid. 
I am positive it is well worth the while of aii, 
West African Governments to interest themsel«iak 
in the easy bush cilture of the Kickxia, as ti^ 
are being destroyed very rapidly by ncavoidaWe, 
deplorable, primitive tapping, which cannot possibly 
be avoided, as 1 have shown, but can be remedied 
as indicated by providing growing substitutes to re- 
place fast dying trees. Moreover, the manner o| 
replacement is simplicity itself. I strongly advise 
sticking to the Kickxia in West Africa. It niuatbw 
borne in mind tha; seven eighths of the rubber exported 
comes from the Kickxia, the growth of which it is 
imperative to encourege a^ a means of reviving a 
remunerative and, consequently, revenue yielding- 
branch of tx&Ae.— Commercial Intelligence, Feb. 25. 
^ 
FOK Headac;:s.— At the last n-.cetin^^ of tlye 
Pans Theiapeuiical Society, M Gallois uientionfisi 
that he had obtained good re.«uits bv treating 
headache by bicarbonate of soda, taken at nie»] 
times in water, the proportion being' a tea-spooniW 
of bicarbonate to a quart of water,— CAe»i/«< and 
Druggist, March 11, 
