16 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[July L 190L 
appreciable harvestings and expors of rubber. 
But it is a fact, as Mr. Willis hints, that the 
fortunate owners of old trees have gone in 
for crops of seed ratlier than of rubber, and 
our exporh retiunis for the past tiiree years 
will show how freely Para seed has been Dur- 
chased from Ceylon for the Straits and 
other Frir East regiojis, as well as Burma. 
Here are the figures for two yetivs : 189S — 
exported Rubber seed to the (Customs) value 
of R10,363 and in 189.9 to the value of 
R40,714 ; while, we feel sure, there has 
been no falling oif in 1900. As regards the 
export of crude rubber', the returns .are very 
poor so far ; but there is no question tliat tlie 
time is rapidly approaching when there 
shr)uld begin to be an appreciable export of 
rubber fronr Ceylon, and we would urge all 
low-country proprietors, who have not done 
so, to begin to add rubber as a minor, but 
valuable, product to tlieir tea. Cannot some- 
thing be also done with the old Ceara trees 
and their crops of seed, in districts nob 
suitable for Para ? Even this kind is not to 
be despised as has been shown by experience 
gained inDumbara ; v/hile v/e append a recent 
report from an Uva district which shows 
that it" should not be di/iicult to establish a 
nursery .and to form clearings of Ceara, and, 
in spite of the drawbacks pointed out, a 
gathering of Jib., of rubber per cooly per 
day should surely leave a profit :— 
" There are a few large trees here now. 
When taking the bark off for tapping about 
six feet up the trunk white a.nts are 
attracted by the juice. They attack the trees 
most vigorously and kill them very quickly,* 
The trees seed very freely and <a lot of young 
plants come up, which grow rapidly; in fact 
they are rather a nuisance Avhere they get 
amongst the cultivated tea. A cooly will 
collect about J lb. wet rirbber per diem." 
But it is in respect of Para in our moist 
low districts that most planting has to be done 
and here is whcit one planter, of experience 
in rubber, writes : — 
" A vast number of young plants die oil! 
before they have tiine to develope, but once 
established they are very hardy. (I am 
speaking of the Para variety). There are 
besides ;i number of old Ceara trees scattered 
about the country representing a very uncertain 
area, and lately some Castilloa Elastica have 
been planted, but not manj-. 
" It has always been a surprise to me that 
more Par.a Rubber has not been planted 
through tlie tea on low-country estates. The 
shade they throw does the tea good rather 
than harm, and when they have reached a 
certain age (depending on soil and other 
conditions) they become a most valuable 
source of revenue. 
" I have heard that the old trees on Culloden 
which. I understand, liave been ■ crudely 
tajjped at intervals for some time past, must 
have averajied from 1.5 to 20 lb. of rubber 
apiece ; and they are still in excellent 
heart, though the bark has been dreadfidly 
lacerated by imperfect tapping. A cooly, 
after a little jiiMcl-icc. cm collect from 1 lb. 
to li lb. per diem ;i 11(1 present prices (.js fnl 
ThiH is -'oiiifUiiri'^ onti'-oly iifiw — we never licarrt 
Of it in Dumbara— anl it is surely dne to very rough 
handliDf; oi the Uco in lappinf^ /—Ed, T.A. 
per lb.) this leaves a very fine mai'gin of 
profit. Planters, however, are always im- 
patient for returns and it is difficult to get 
them to see the advantage of introducing a 
cultivation unless there is a prospect of a 
speedy turn-over ; hence the few rubbers that 
hav^e been introduced amongst the te;i, a 
source of regret now and it may become still 
more so before long !" 
We think the above ought to stir up 
low-country tea planters to lose no time in 
adding this rul)ber string to their bow. We 
should fain see not half-a-million but 
many millicnis of rubber trees growing in 
the island to adl to its agricultural wealth 
and increase the value of tea plantations. 
^» 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Fumigating Citrus Trees for Scale.— An 
orcliardi.st, writing to the Fruit Expert as to re- 
biilt.s acliieved by fumigating citrus trees for scale 
insects, says : — " I have fumigated about 900 trees 
witli the most happy results. Trees badly infested 
with scale lost a large portion of foliage. . but the 
after-trrowth was very luxuriant indeed ; and from 
nnliealtiiy, forlorn-looking things, they v.-ere trans- 
ferred into bri;:ht, crlossy, healtliy trees." — Agri- 
ciiUural Gazette of New South Wales. 
A Producl' for our Patanas.— Australian 
wattles (t.ha acacia denlbata or dccurrena) should 
grow readily on our patanas and the bark is 
\'aluable for tanning. We read that " the Wai- 
rangi wattle plantation in the iSoutli Is^land of New 
Zealand contains 1,900 acres. The output of bark 
annually reaches 159 tons, and this will shortly 
be increased to 200 tons. The variety grown is 
the Acacia decurrens." Why not Uva patana 
plantations covering thousands of acres?" 
A German Botanist is said to have discovered 
that, out of 4,300 species of flowers cultivated in 
Europe, only 420 possess an agreeable perfume. 
Flowers with white or cream-coloured petals are 
more frequently odoriferous than others. Next in 
order come ilie yellow flowers, then the red, 
after them the blue, and finally the violet, of which 
only tinrteen varieties out of 308 give olT a pleas- 
ing perfume. In the whole list 3,880 varieties .are 
offensive in odour, and 2,300 have no perceptible 
smell, either good or h3.d.— Indian Agriculturist, 
Junel. 
Flshing with a Steam Pump.— A pond on 
the farm of La Marlequette, bordered by rocky 
shores, had never been drained, owing to the ex- 
pense. Last year the proiirietor conceived the 
i'lea of making use of a powerful steam pump. 
Each stroke of the piston drew up a hectrolitre 
(25 gallons) of water, and the pond was there- 
fore emptied in a few hours, and not only was 
the water drawn off, but also all the fish that 
it contained. This was a revelation. All the 
owners of the ponds in the neighbourhood have 
followed suit, and the owner of the pump is 
making a speciality of this kind of work. He 
lets out one of his pumps, modilied tor this pur- 
pose. Eacii str ike of the piston brings up a 
torrent, with vvliich are uungled fish and cravv- 
fisii, together with dirt and debiis such as are 
contabied in every jKind — old sardine boxes and 
the like. A sorb of metal basket receives the 
whole. The waber and alime escape, while a boy 
collects the lish and sorts them according to species 
and weight. "-fi'ojHe paper, May 25. 
