382 
THE TBOPICAL AGRICTTLTURIST. 
[Dec. 1, 1903. 
ehaded, and watered when the surface of the ground is 
dry. They germinate in about ihree weeks. In ten 
or twelve months the young plants are 2 feet high and 
ready for planting out. 
Cuttings (at least 3 inches long, with a basal 
portion of old wood) may also betaken; those from 
lateral branches have a tendency to grow more or 
less horizontally, so that main shoots must be used. 
The tree in its native country inhabits a warm, 
steamy climate, like tbat of the low-country of 
South-West Ceylon, and is rarely found above 1,500 
feet. The most common situations are in alluvial 
Boil at the sides of valleys or on low ridges, It 
needs deep, warm, loamy soil, with plenty of water, but 
does not thrive where the soil is swampy, nor in places 
where there is not good drainage at the roots. It 
grows best where the temperature never falls below 
60°, and in a district with a well distributed rain- 
fall of at least 70 inches. The most promising 
localities in Oeylon are the lov/er mountain district?, 
such as MatalSj Rambakkana, Balangoda, Passara. 
PLANTING OUT. 
The young plants are planted out during rainy 
weather in holes filled' with well prepared sandy, 
loamy soil. If the plantation is of CaxtiUoa only, 
they are usually put at about 12-15 feet apart. The 
young trees are shaded for a time ; possibly it would 
be best if they were always lightly shaded like 
cacao, Castilloa being a forest tree. It is sometimes 
itself used as a shade for cacao or for other crops. 
The ground is kept clear of weeds and the trees 
watered in dry weather until they reach sufficient 
size to take care of themselves. The tree grows 
fairly rapidly at first, and soon reaches a height 
of 10 or more feet. The largest of the original trees 
at Henaratgoda at six years old was 46 feet high 
and 26 inches in girth at a yard above the soil ; at 
ten years old its girth was 36 inches, but afterwards 
it grew more slowly, 
TAPPING. 
The tree may be tapped when it reaches a girth 
of at least 2 feet or 2 feet 6 inches. After the 
eighth year there will probably be a number of trees 
in the plantation ready for tapping. 
The milk flows much more freely than that of Hevea, 
60 that one cut seems to drain a much larger area 
of the stem. 1 he native American methods of tapping 
are wasteful, and often cause the death of the trees. 
The method described under Para rubber, by cutting 
V incisions at frequent intervals, seems to be the 
only one used in Ceylon. The milk here runs so 
freely that a simple sloping cut is sufficient, and 
there is no need to make the V. A sharp knife 
should be used, as the milk flows more readily and 
the wound is less ragged. The cuts need not be 
so close together as in Hevea; they may be 3 or 
4 feet apart instead of 1. A large quantity of milk 
flows from an incision, so that tins holding 150 cc, 
or 4 ounces must be used. The incisions are about 
an inch long, and should be confined to one side of 
the tree, or to not more than three-fourths of its 
oircnmfereHce at a time. The milk is placed in a 
glass churn or other receptacle (machines for the 
purpose are occasionally used) in which it can be 
shaken. On standing, the caoutchouc floats to the 
top as a cream. The beery fluid below is run off 
by the tap. The cream is mixed with water, churned, 
left to stand, and the process repeated. The rubber 
is thus obtained almost pure in three creamings 
and the cream is poured out to dry on a porous 
surface, when a thin sheet of perfectly dry and almost 
pure caoutchouc is obtained iu a short time. Good 
resultsj are obtained with lees trouble by the use 
of the centrifugal machine, first applied to rubber 
separation by Biffen. 
Samples of Ceylon Castilloa rubber, prepared by 
Mr. Parkin by the creaming method, were sub- 
mitted to MM. Miohelin et Cie, who reported that 
they were "rubber in very clean sheets, unusually 
fine for Castilloa." On washing and drying the rubber 
lost nothing in weight. The film contained 9178 
per cent, of pure cantchouc, 7'54 percent, of resins. 
Till further experience has been gained we do not 
know how much tapping is advisable in Castilloa, 
nor how much it will stand, A tew trees of about 
3 feet girth gave an average of 5 ounces of rubber 
each from one day's tapping. Probably three or 
four tappings might be done every year without 
serious injury, but this remains to be investigated. 
The tree is not very resistant, and in some cases 
at Henaratgoda has died back completely, apparently 
as the result of a number of tappings carried on 
four years ago. Trees in the Matale District, about 
twelve years old, have yielded If to 2 pounds of 
rubber a year. It is sometimes stated that rubber 
may be obtained from saplings or from the young 
twigs, thus saving many years in obtaining a return, 
but Parkin's experiments showed that in Ceylon at 
any rate the latex in young stems contains no 
caoutchouc, but a sticky substance like bird-lime, 
which he tertos viscin. 
The best Castilloa rubbers appear on the market 
as sheets, and are valued next to fine Para, Ceylon 
samples have obtained 3s. ejrf. per lb. at a time 
when fine Para was valued at 4s. 2c?. 
CBAEA RUBBER. 
Manthot is a genus of the family Etiphorhiacece 
to which belong also several other rubber yielding 
plants. It comprises about eighty species, natives 
of S. America ; among others is the manioca, tapioca, 
or cassava (71/. ntihssima, Pohl.), so largely grown in 
Ceylon (see chapter Vi.), Glaziovii, Miill.-Arg., 
the Ceara rubber, is a native tf Brazil, and is 
especially common in the Province of Oeara. Plants 
and seeds were collected there by Cross, and arrived 
at Kew in the end of 1876. On 15th September, 
1877, 50 plants were sent to Peradeniya, and put 
out there and at Henaratgoda. These came on 
rapidly, so that in the following year seeds from 
them were sent to Burma, Calcutta, and Madras. 
In 1879 a few seeds were distributed to planters 
in Ceylor, and in 18S0 24,550 seeds and 1,879 plants 
were thus disposed of. By the end of the following 
year the demand for seed from the gardens had 
almost ceased, planters having large supplies of their 
own. Some seeds were also imported privately direct 
from Brazil. In 1888 about 1,000 acres were said 
to be occupied by this product. Early results as 
to yield were, however, disappointing, nnd with 
the rush into tea robber was soon neglected in 
favour of this more profitable cultivation. The 
export in 1S92 was 7,280 lb., in 1895 1,753 lb., 
and in 1896 17,591 lb., decreasing Eubsequently 
to 2,792 lb. in 1898. After this date the export 
figures do not distinguish between this product and 
the newly commencing export of Para rubber, but 
there is no reason to suppose that any increase has 
occurred. At the present tfme probably not more 
than 500 acres are cultivated in Ceara robber, though 
it is everywhere common as a hedge in native 
compounds. 
The tree grows rapidly, often reaching a height 
of 30 Iset and a girth of 20 inches within two 
years. It has a smooth silvery bark, not unlike 
that cf the birch, which readily peels off. The 
leaves are palmately lobed^ with 6-7 points. The 
flowers are produced at the age of eighteen months 
or later. They are of separate sexes, but both male 
ard female occur on the same tree. The fruit is 
a capsule containing three seeds, and splits open 
explosively, scattering the seed to some little distance. 
The seed, like those of many other plants of this 
family, is not unlike a beetle in appearance, and 
has a little wart or caruncle at the end from which 
the root emerges in germination. The shell of the 
seed is extremely hard, and in consequence seeds 
may lie dormant in the soil for some time, springing 
up when the conditions are favourable. About 700 
seuds weigh a pound. 
