June 1, 1904.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
827 
Planting rubber seeaiings in tho forks of other trees 
has also been abandoned, because such trees did not 
make more than a few leaves in a year and would take 
a century to grow large enough for tapping. On the 
other hand, it waa found that trees planted on small 
mounds of earth 3 to 4 feet high grew very much 
better than if planted on ordinary level ground. As 
regards 
THE AGE AT WHICH TAPPING SHOULD COMMENCE, 
Mr Mann, writing many years ago, seemed to think 
that trees should not be tapped until they had rea ched 
the age of 50 years. He says ; — " Assuming that a tree 
reaches its full size at 50 years without tap- 
ing, and wonld after that yield every year 
one maund of rubber which would be collected 
manufactured and delivered in Calcutta at R15 per 
maund, it would have a net profit of R20 every third 
year." If these statistics were considered attractive 
30 years ago, what is to be said of those of the 
present day, when Ficus elastica rubber fetches a price 
almost as good as that of Para, i.e., over 4s per lb. 
Moreover, nowadays a tree is considered ready to tap 
at 20 years of age or even a year or two earlier. 
The trees at Charduar are now being planted in 
lines 66 ft. apart or 10 to the acre, the early planlinga 
at 35 ft. being found to be too close. 
THE ALL IMPORTANT QUESTION OF YIELD 
has not yet been accurately determined, but experi" 
ments are being carried out by the Forest Department 
in Assam, Last year, for example, 298 acres were 
tapped between November and April, the dry 
season in Assam, this area containing 4,466 rubber 
trees. These yielded 6,462 lb. of clean rubber 
giving an average of 1"44 lb per tree, or 21'6 lb. 
per acre. The age of the trees was 22 years. The 
same area tapped in 1898-99 yielded 4,042 lb or an 
average of '97 lb. jer tree. On the .other hand, from 
one old tree, a veritable monarch of the forest, 80 
lb. of rubber were collected at one tapping. Enticing 
as these figures are, it will be readily understood that 
the planting of Ficus elastica becomes the province of 
Governments and their Forest Departments rather 
than of private individuals, unles?, of course, it can 
be grown as a bye product, for instance as a shade 
tree on ooffee estates or a wind-belt on exposed 
plantations. 
GAME SANCTUARY IN NORTH-CENTRAL 
PROVINCE CEYLON. 
A nolification has appeared in the Gazette 
making it unlawful for any person williin the 
limits of the reserved forest at Wilpattu in Nuwara- 
gampalata of the North Central Province boun- 
daries of which are specified.— (a) To shoot at or 
kill or to capture or to attempt to kill or 
capture or pursue any elepkanl, buffalo, sambur, 
spotted deer, red deer, pea-fowl, or other game. 
(6) To lay poison or to set or use any snare, trap, 
or pitfall or similar contrivance, (c) To collect 
shed horn.=, wax, honey, or any other forest 
produce. No person shall pasture or suffer any 
cattle or domesticated buffaloes to stray within the 
said reserved forest. The Governor n)ay at his 
discretion, from lime to time, appoint lit and pro- 
per persons to destroy leopards, bears, crocodiles, 
and pi}j;s within the Sanctuary. 
1 
A DiMBUL.v Fishing Club— see page 823 
—has been duly formed, and the gradual 
improvement of the streams in the district, 
for anglers, w iU no doubt be the satisfactory 
result, if the movement is taken up heartily. 
Mr. Payne Gallwey has heen suitably chosen 
the first Chairman and Secretary. 
THE TRADE OF BRITISH INDIA AND 
CEYLON. 
FOR THE 12 MONTHS, 1st APRIL, 1903 
TO 31ST MARCH, 1904. 
TEA EXPORTED AND IMPORTED ; RUB- 
BER ; BARK; COFFEE; SPICES; 
TEA SEED. 
We have received from the Government 
of India, its full Customs Accounts covering 
the whole Continent and Burma for the 
year ended March 31. This is very expedi- 
tious woris. 
The grand total for the Import 
trade in 19034 was ... RI, 139, 526,539 
and Export trade ... ... Rl,591,371,858 
Grand total ... R2, 730, 898, 397 
But the above includes gold and silver 
imported (over E291,443,702 ) and exported 
(over K59,798,447)— and, deducting these, the 
total of "Merchandise" was as follows:— 
Imports ... ... R 848,082,837 
Export ... .... Rl,498,317,939 
Total ... R2,346,400,776 
It is interesting to compare our Ceylon 
figures with the above : — 
Imports (without specie) 1903 ,..R102 277,852 
Exports „ ,, ..,R113,520,963 
Total ...R215,798,815 
So that our annual Ceylon trade is less 
than one-tenth that of India. 
This is a wondei'fully good comparison 
however, when the population and size of this 
little island are contrasted with that of the 
big continent. One curious point is the great 
preponderance of value in Exports in the case 
of India, while in Ceylon, too, the exports last 
year were considerably in excess of imports, 
though in years previous to 1902 they had 
often been much less, in the values given. 
We suspect the Customs valuations for Ex- 
ports are more liberal in India than here ; 
for, as a rule, the rates applied here are 
nominal and below real values. At the same 
time, Ceylon is still, to some extent, though 
slightly now, a distributor of imports, and 
therefore gets more than she consumes. 
Among interesting details is the fact that 
India imported over 16 millions Coconuts last 
"year" against 10^ in 1902-3. Of Betel-nuts 
she took over 12 million lb. in 1903-4 from 
Ceylon, valued at Rl, 501, 585. The Straits 
gave India nearly six times this quantity ; but 
the value is less than three times. Can the 
Ceylon Betel-nut be worth nearly twice that 
of the Straits, although the very name 
" Penang" means the home of the Betel-nut ? 
Who will clear up the mystery I-*— Of Cloves 
(nearly 7 million lb), Nutmegs (570,520 lb), 
Pepper (718,637 lb) and other Spices (nearly 
2,700,000 lb) India also imported in 1903-4, 
the grand total being over 95^ million lb. 
valued at 8J lakhs of rupees. But the imports 
of pepper and ginger are only as a fraction 
to her exports. Here is a grand show in this 
depaitmeut (as regards pepper, ginger and 
