May 2, 1904.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
749 
to (?onge the cuts in the bark and ag;un to strip off 
the rubber that had exuded therefroii). 
Collecting. — After an incision is made in the 
bark two or three days elnpse before the {jum dries 
and can be pulled clF. In addition to Ihe rubber 
that actually tills up the cut seme trickles over 
the edge and more again falls on the (ground where 
bamboo mats are spread to receive the drippins;?. 
Curiously enough considerable importance attaches 
to these apparently minor details inasmuch as the 
rubber taken from the cuts fetches on the market a 
higher price than that which has dried on Ihe trunk 
or fallen on to the ground. Tiiat which fills up the 
cut made by the tappers takes on a reddish tint 
while the rubber that Hows over the edges is 
either white or discoloured. I do not pose as an 
expert and there may be more in it than meets the 
eye, but it seems to me that the test of colour has 
no real bearing on tiie question of quality. The 
bark after it is cut by the gouge turns red and 
bits immersed in water give ofT an iniusion. It 
seems pretty clear, therefore, that the reddish 
rubber regarded as of a superior quali(y is simply 
stained by coming in contact wiili the exposed 
wound in the baik and has nothing more to com- 
mend itself over the ^portion that goes over the 
edge. The mat rubber, of course, being subject to 
admixture with dirt arid leaves is to some extent 
inferior but when freed from foreign matter its 
quality ought to be cqunl to that collected direct 
froni the trees. In the Chandpur plantation some 
2,730 acres are under rubber, and extensions of 
400 or 500 acres are in progress. It must not be 
imagined that rubber is a crop that can be 
collected like jute, sugar or indigo, in a season. 
' Yield. — A rubber tree takes years to mature. 
Twenty years is none too long a time to leave 
a tree before commencing to tap. Some, of course, 
have been tapped a few years earlier but 16 to 18 
years seems to have been the earliest age on which 
it has been thought expedient to start tapping 
operations. A tree having been once tapped is 
given a respite for a year or two. It has not 
yet been accurately determined what degree of 
tapping gives the best results. Care, of course, 
has to be exercised not to injure the tree by too 
frequent tappings and on the other hand, it is 
desirable to know the maximum yield that can be 
obtained without irreparably damaging the source 
of supply. Experiments designed to provide data 
on this and other important points are being 
carried out by the Forest Department. Last year 
for example 298 acres were tapped between Novem- 
ber and April, the dry season in Assam, this area 
containing , 4,466 rubber trees. These yielded 
6,4621b of clean rubber giving an average of 1 "44 
lb per tree or 21-G lb per acre. The age of the 
trees was 22 years. The same area tapped in 
1898-99 yielded 1,042 lb or an average of 97 lb 
per tree. This yield does not of course represent 
the maximum possibilities of the rubber plantation 
in its prime. As time goes on the results should 
be even more satisfactory. 
A MOMAECH OF THE FOREST.— The Govern- 
ment department have done well to preserve a 
magnificent specimen of the natural rubber tree, 
a veritable monarch of the forest which towers to 
a height of some 120 feet or more above the nur- 
sery of seedlings that has been located around it at 
the entrance to the plantation. One tapping of this 
tree gave some SO U) of rubber but it has since en- 
joyeda deservedlylongrest. The plantation Ireesare 
healthy and vigorous but the survivor of the days of 
95 
old is double the height of the best of them. I wca 
glad to observe that the small rubber tree wtiieh 
LordCuizon planted a few ycais ago during his 
tour in Assam is doing excellently aud gives every 
promise of becoming a worthy memorial of the 
Viceregal visit. 
Packing.— Ihe tapping and collecting of the 
rubber has to be done during the dry season a.n 
riin discolours and depreciates its value. I had 
an opportunity of seeing a quantity being packed 
for export. When it comes from the lorest it 
is sorted by hand into the three descriptions 
before alluded to, namely, ' A ' that taken tlirect 
from the cuts in the trees ; ' U ' that which 
runs out and dries on the trunk, and 'C' the 
droppings that fall on to mats and form thin 
sheets, A considerable quantity of rubber had 
come in from the plantation and a lot of it was 
lying on racks around the room looking like heaps 
of butcher's scraps. Some of the rubber was 
being packed in acme tea boxes, 168 lb in each 
chest, weights on top compressing the pieces into 
a solid mass, 
Prick.S.— At the outset the Government planta- 
tion had a great difficulty to contend with in ob- 
taining a fair price for their rubber. For a great 
many years "Assam rubber" has been known 
on the market and has not enjoyed a very 
enviable reputation. It was generally collected 
by the native hill men, the Akas and Dufflas, 
who made the rubber up into balls, and the Bhutias 
who shaped it into a' sort of pancake. Far from 
being pure rubber it usually contained a big 
proportion of dirt, stones, . leaves, twigs bulI other 
rubbish. Carelessness and cupidity combined to 
bring about this result and it is also said that 
tlie tappers resorted to these practices of mixing 
the rubber with bark, sand, stones, etc., to get even 
with the buyers who cheated them in the matter 
of weight. However, that may be, when the 
Forest Department put the produce of their 
plantation on Ihe market they had to convince 
intending purchasers that there was Assam rubber 
and Assam rubber. It is gratifying to know that 
the efforts of the Department, headed by the 
energetic conservator Mr Carr, are having the 
desired elFect and the mark "Assam Government 
Plantation Kubber is now being accepted as a 
guarantee of purity and good quality. Last year 
packages of the rubber fetched as high as Ss 7d alb, 
and I hear that an offer from Antwerp this season 
has advanced tl'.e price to 43 2d a lb. This is 
approaching the market qr.otations for Para rubber 
and there seems little reason to doubt that as the 
plantation yields larger and more regular supplies 
there will be no difficulty in disposing of the output 
at extremely remunerative prices, ii. N. G. 
— Englishman, March .31. 
■» 
CEYLOJ^ govern'me:s-t bubbee 
PLANTATIOIS'S AT YATIPAUWA AND 
IDANGODA. 
The following letter was laid on the Press 
table at the Colombo Secretariat recently : — 
Koyal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Mar. 28. 
The Hon, the Colonial Secretary, Colombo. 
Sir,— In reference to statements which 
have appeared in the Press relating to the 
Government Para Rubber Plantations at 
Yatipauwa and Idangoda, I have the 
honour to si:ate that during October last 
year I made an official tour of Kalutara, 
