THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June 1, 1904. 
MONS. OCTAVE COLLET ON CEYLON 
EUBBER, 
CEYLON KIjBBER PRAISED AND 
PLANTERS CONGRATULATED. 
We feel sure that Ceylon'3 new product— Injdia 
rubber — needs no higher praise than that bestowed 
on it by the present visitor to the island, M. 
Octave Collet, and certainly no more worthy or 
able critic. JM. Collet had returned from a 
trip upcountry in the Kandy district where he has 
been visiting several of the rubber-growing estates 
and Peradeniya Gardens when a representative of 
the Tropical Agriculturist saw him. 
THE BOYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, 
greatly charmed M Collet, and he was much pleased 
with the splendid, healthy condition of the Para 
trees there, some of the finestspecimens he has seen 
n Ceylon. Of course, he said, these trees are not 
grown in great number in the gardens and are 
cultivated as botanical specimens and not com- 
mercially. One thing at Peradeniya was of special 
interest to him, a collection of rubber fungi and 
canker which Mr Carruthers showed him. It was 
the first time he had seen these rubber diseases 
and fungoids, and he would pay great attention 
during his forthcoming visit to the Straits, to 
notice if there was any canker therie and if there 
was danger of its spreading much. 
ON KEPITIOALLA ESTATE 
the growth of the rubber trees was excellent. Trees 
were growing there at elevations from 500 ft, to 
1600 ft, above sea^level, and he was convinced 
that the Hevea tree will grow in Ceylon at 
very varied altitudes. The tapping methods on 
Kepitigalla were different from those seen on 
Culloden, which estate M Collet previously visited. 
The principal mode of tapping was the V-shaped 
incision on a large scale, the cub at each succes> 
sive tapping being some 10 inches in length. This 
system is an excellent one, though on the whole 
M. Collet recommends a series of 4 cuts, 4 to 6 
inches In length at an angle of 45 degrees. These 
series can be continued each day, round and down 
the tapping surface of the trunk until the entire 
surface is tapped or the tree is dry. In this 
system, and also in the large V system, the wound 
heals up well. 
FINE STRAIGHT TRUNKS IN CEYLON. 
Commenting on the general appearance ol Para 
rubber trees in Ceylon, M Collet said, " I find 
the Ceylon trees have more the appearance of the 
trees in the Amazon region— the home of the 
Hevea braziliensis— than the Straits trees have. 
Here the trunks grow tall and straight, and 
in the Straits, it seems to me, the trees have a 
tendency to branch out from the main trunk. In 
Ceylon I notice about 90 per cent are straight 
trees." This is, of course, a great consideration, 
the unbranched trees giving better and larger 
tapping surfaces. 
NATIVE GROWERS AND CEYLON'S GOOD NAME. 
Our visitor expresses the opinion that na- 
tives will before long take up rubber-planting, 
and in this he is afraid there will be some 
danger to the industry, in that the good name of 
Ceylon rubber may be harmed. The natives will 
not take the same trouble in producing a clean 
good rubber that Europeans, backed wiih capital, 
ao, If this eventually happens, the inferior native 
produced rubber should not be allowed to go on 
the market as " Ceylon Rubber." It should be 
distinctively marked. " Like your tea," said M 
Collet, " so your Ceylon Rubber must be the best 
on the market. It is very hard to make a good 
name, but very easy to lose it. Yon have got a 
good name on the liiarket for Ceylon rubber, but 
don't let it be spoilt." 
" Ceylon has certainly the 
BEST RUBBER IN THE WORLD 
but don't lose that; keep up the best rubber and 
the highest standard." A great point, added the 
expert, was to prepare the rubber carefully and 
well so that ic should not lose its elasticity. That 
the Straits trees are ahead of Ceylon Heveas in 
growth, age for age, is also M Collet's opinion. 
He thinks it is due to a relatively poorer soil in 
Ceylon and more prolonged periods of drought 
than are experienced in the Straits. At the same 
time the Hevea does not like a too rich soil. It 
seems to like a granite, sandy soil, and does not 
appear to do so well in the rich alluvial soil of 
Deli in Sumatra. 
RUBBER ONLY A SUBORDINATE CROP. 
The great difference between Ceylon and the 
Straits, he remarked, was that in Ceylon rubber 
has been grown as a secondary, subordinate crop 
amongst tea or cacao ; in the Straits rubber is the 
crop, and the land is planted with Hevea and 
nothing else. This, of course, tells against 
Ceylon, although M Collet is pleased to see that 
new clearings are being opened in rubber only. 
CEYLON RUBBER AND HIGH PRICES. 
M Collet is in every way very satisfied with 
what he has seen in Oeylon, both upcountry 
and at Culloden, and he said the Culloden 
rubber factory was a splendid one. Ceylon 
planters cannot do better than they are at present 
doing, and— provided they keep up the standard 
of their produce— it will be all right. A fall in price 
must come ; and the present very high prices are 
not perhaps altogether for the best, but Para 
rubber will be the least to fall and will feel the drop 
least. That is one reason why M Collet advises 
the planting of Hevea braziliensis in preference 
to Ficus elastisa, the gutta rambong, and other 
species. 
In conclusion M Collet asked us to express his 
sincere thanks to all who had so cordially assisted 
him in his work in Ceylon ; everywhere he had 
been welcomed and helped in every possible way ; 
and we assured our visitor that he would always 
find Ceylon men, both planters and officials etc., 
thus hospitable and ready with advice and help. 
We may add that within about six months M 
Collet hopes to publish his second work on the 
Hevea in the East when Ceylon will receive her 
fair share of notice. 
Khea Cultivation in Tieuoot.— Dulsing 
Serai is increasing its rhea cultivation and is 
putting down some five hundred bigahs more this 
year, A separate factory is being built by the 
Syndicate at an expense of some R30,000, Messrs 
Arthur Butler & Co, being the contractors. Mr 
Whitehead is in charge of it.—Indian Planters' 
Gazette, 
