752 
THE THOPICAL AGiaCULTURIST. 
!May 1, 1899. 
flowers which are pfllinated through the agpnry of 
itisects, Buch as small bees, niuiges. bietles, biiiall 
moths, and weevils, etc. Dull cloiiuy days with a 
lowering of temperature are uufdvouruLile to fertilisa- 
tioM, hence- a blight warm day la tiei^irable wlien the 
blossom is out. 
IIEVEK ION OF HYIiKIJJS. 
This is a matter which tioubles th<> pl uiter a good 
deil, and possibly causes him to pauee before na Kr- 
t.ikinga series of piecanoiio >..\peiiaii;ij wliioli invul\e 
much lime and may leal to iioi,liii:g in the eiiu. J.C 
may, inerefore, be said at once that established 
hybrids of similar stiaiii (sllghc viriai,iuii8 being of 
little account) do not levert to the parent stock 
if they are not pollinated by the latter To niaia- 
tain purity of strain in a I ybria is simply a matter 
of protection. Tiivial c. oaon g between imnibeisifa 
select group of hybrids — all Uiiugvery ui'aily related 
— is perhaps beneficial on the w.iole and cauiiol easily 
be prevented. 
Then, when a really suitable hybrid h vs been 
produced, the proper couise is ioolation from all 
other varieties of coffee, with a view to inbreeding 
and seed production. I hupe I hive ma e this 
sufficiently clear, as on ihe-e final precaatioLS must 
rest the success of the whole operations of crossing. 
INARCHING. 
This form of grafting, like the other, retards 
vegetative growth and promotes the development 
of fruit. 
The coffee-grafts at Bangalore behave in exactly 
the same way as mango-grafts; c. (j., pUnt stunted 
and spreading, fruit large, and not bo plentiful as in 
the seedling, C. arabica on C. Libcrica is the only 
combination of any value at head-quarters. Seedlings 
from the latter have been distributed for trial, and 
are being cultivated under my own observation. It 
is possible that some constitutional vigour may be 
gained from a mechanical connection of this kind, 
especially where the grafts are interbred. In other 
respects I do not think that grafted coffee is of much 
practical value. Some beans exhibited from the 
inarched bushes here were admi.-ed for their size and 
colour. The operation is chiefly useful in dwarfing 
vegetative growth, causing early fruiting, and repro- 
ducing the true qualities of parcticular kinds of 
plants. 
('Jo be concluded. ) 
RUBBER IN INDIA. 
That the exploitation of the rubber vines in Africa 
will lead to serious denudation, once the cupidity 
of the tribes dwelling in and around the forests 
in which they are found is excited, seems a fore- 
gone conclusion ; and unless measures are taken to 
plant and strictly conserve laige areas, this valuable 
gum promises to become extinct, or procurable 
only at well-nigh prohibitive prices. We know that 
fciforts are being made to provide supplies for the 
luture, but as erroneous ideas prevail as to the age 
at which the plant can be tapped, no appreciable 
quantities are likely to be forthcoming for at least 
IB or 20 years, unless in the meantime the received 
impressions we allude to, are dissipated. On the 
subject of yearly extraction of rubber, proof of its feasi- 
bility has been adduced several limes within the 
last few years ; but yet the time is not far distant 
when the dearth of indispensable material will force 
attention to this matter. We wish to discuss at 
present whether our frontier officers, (such as Mr. 
Needham and others) having influence with hill 
tribes like the Dufflas, Akas, Abors and Mishmies, 
in whose countries large reserves of Jicus elasiica 
are known to exist, could not persuade these people, 
to adapt a more sensible and less destructive method 
of collecting the gum than they have hitherto prac- 
tised, Immense damage has been done by Marwaris 
ftud general traders in inciting the tribes to bleed 
the vinos to death ; bat savage and uurefiectiog 
as the lull men are, the cbiets at least are optn 
to conviction ; and were it pointed out to them that 
tliey were sacreticing the luture to the preeent, it 
IS pofibiLile the turesis high up tlie Boreili, Hubau- 
MM, DcUiiig and similar stieams might be taved 
fiom (icBiruc.iuu, while furnishing moderate supplies 
of ihe gum, and slips fur propagation, until at least 
our own planting was deemed ot mature enough eige 
to be lapped according to sensible methods. We are 
encouraged to make this proposition by calling to 
mind a confab we had with an intelligent i^ushai 
who accompanied Messrs. tiavage and lioraine on 
iheir visit to Calcutta some three years since. The 
attempt is worth making in the lutereeta of the 
people themselves, for luough, with the sole ex- 
u<.pbioii oi the Abore, the triues have been taught 
tiic fui'.lity ot raiding our territory, there is no saying 
wnai ihey may do when all nitaus of peaceful trading 
in their torest produce is exhausted and themselves 
reduced to something akin to dcsiitution. For Eome 
years previous to Itttil the men of tiookpilaU's clan, 
noiding the country round about our outposts at 
Aijai, were peaceably enough inclined, as they could 
swap tiieir lac and rubber to Beparis for the re- 
quirements the Bengali and Manipuri traders took 
up, and had these friendly relations been cultivated, 
as Lic-ult^narit li. Stewart then suggested, we should 
have secured at least the guou-wiU of tbia clan 
any rate. 
Unfortunately the Bengal Government decided to 
leave these people severely al ne, and the onscra- 
puious men of the plains, with their over reaching 
tricks and covert threats, roused suspicion, bring- 
ing about the raids of lUtil-b'i. But the mischief 
had been done, and the exhausted vines to tha 
south of the present site of Sookpilall's villages 
tessify to the eliorts of hounding on the people to 
" kill the goose, etc." Kot only this, but cupidity 
once aroused led to the practice of adulterating the 
true gum with the sap oi any tree or creeper trom 
whicli any milk like juice could be extracted \ a 
falliug-off in the quantity of L/ushai rabber took 
place, leading to disputes, and rejection of much that 
was brought down by the Bepaii traders. This was 
the real origin of the rows wuh the clan mentioned. 
The missionaries and officers of the scattered garri- 
sons ill the North Lushai hills have, we may Bay, 
civilised these men, and it is time now that every 
effort should be made to lead them on to make the 
most of the produce their mountains can yield. 
There is still a number of vines, though sadly hacked 
about, in the terai and ravines lying between the 
Luugai and Tipu, along the south of Sylhet and 
Cachar, that would furnish saplings enough to plant 
many hundreds of acres, and the country is opened 
out sufficiently for our forest officers to exercise the 
supervision requisite to prevent premature bleeding. 
The valleys ot the Upper Chiuwin and Hukong, aa 
also those extending across the basin of the irra- 
wadi up to the Chiaese border, are rich in n'ciw, if 
it is sought for in the densely-wooded terais ; and 
though any very strict conservation of the plant here 
presents some difficulty, while facilities tor smug- 
gling are abundant, saplings for planting can be 
tiad in such quantities that the Burma Government 
would be well advised to take the matter in hand 
in view of securing a handsome revenue a few years 
hence. With the prevalent ideas, tea planters, unless 
they contemplate handing their estates down to 
posterity, are not very likely to undertake the cui- 
tivation, but companies, who are not supposed to die 
or retire, should plant, and even young men opening 
tea or other plancatious on their own account would 
derive a much larger income from two hundred 
acres of Jicus laid down at the same time, on their 
retirement thirty years hence, than from the present 
staple of Assam according to European lights. 
Though we cannot now enter minutely into the 
proper method of rearing rubber from slips, we may 
mention that a good deal of misconception on tno 
subject exists, and the expense is trivial, being Out 
a tithe of what is supposed. — 'I'ha Planter. 
