514 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
I Feb. I, 1898. 
He leaves two sons here — the elder l\Ir. Frederick 
H. Grinlinton being Surveyor-General of the Island, 
and the younger, Mr. Edward Gordon Grinlinton 
who has been a successful Tea Planter and who 
resides at Yalta, Nuwara Eliya. His only surviving 
daughter, Mrs. Coventry, proceeded to England 
last December. 
Finis coronal opus ! — The finishing touch to Sir 
John Grinlinton’s career in Ceylon was put in the 
most cordial and successful and (in some respects) 
unique banquet accorded to him on the night of 
the 4th inst. by representatives of aU sections 
and classes of the community, and which was 
honoured with the presence of the Queen’ re- 
presentative. Surely no old colonist or hardworked 
public man could desire a more congenial or fitting 
“ send-off.” He has not lagged “ superfluous on 
the stage,” but leaves at a time when the whole 
community must feel that his absence creates a 
blank, and when “troops of friends” regret the 
decision which makes his departure necessary. 
Sir John Grinlinton, though close on the ordi_ 
nary limit of human life, is still hearty and vigorous, 
and his age is as “ a lusty winter, frosty but kindly.” 
No one can grirdge a time of rest and retire 
ment in his Hampshire home ; but we may be 
certain of learning that he has found means of 
being useful in his new surroundings, while we 
may all look forward to a visit some years hence 
both to India and Ceylon. And so we take fare- 
well of the worthy Knight — we have personally 
followed his career for over 36 years, always with 
interest, sometimes with criticism in words of 
praise or censure as the case might be, but more 
generally with feelings of admiration for the pluck, 
enterprise and indomitable industry which have 
marked his career. If w’e wished to sum up Sir John 
Grinlinton’s character in a couplet we could not 
find one more fitting than that of the poet Words- 
worth : — 
‘A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays 
And confident tomorrows.’’ 
RUBBER CULTURE. 
A POSSIBLE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY. 
An age of stone, of bronze, of iron, and also, 
say the scoffers, one of brass, has the world passed 
through in turn ; is it too much to claim that we 
are now in the rubber era, considering to-day the 
multitudinous articles in common use, the manufac- 
ture of which is impossible minus the indispensable 
inspissated juice known as caout‘ houc. ludiarubber 
comes from many countries, but the principal sup- 
plies have been seemed heretofore from tropical 
South America, West and East Africa, Burma!) , 
Assam, &c. Over extensive areas of these countries the 
different species of rubber trees are to be fcuud, 
Y t. Ithough nauiie in the p.ist has been so gene- 
,1 . uiiiiis vv 11 s ii. re 'he present pneumatic 
tVres- hO grmit is the demand and so wasieful 
the usual process of rubber collections — left "S it 
mostly 'S to either ignorant, savage, or semi-civitised 
savages, taking Utile heed for the to-morrow of manu- 
facturers — that specialists are casting around for 
fresh fields of exploitation; their prognostications 
being that nothing is more sure than a half res- 
P' nse, or less, to the future cry for raw material, 
And this is owing to the exhaustion of the known 
forests, thanks to ruthless destruction of trees and 
lack of forethought in the matter of replanting. 
Not so many years ago the Amazon valley with 
its Heveaj Braziliensis yielded more than enough 
rubber for the world’s use— and the real rubber 
trade may be said to have commenced less than 
thirty years ago— to-day this supply has been sup- 
plemented from the Hancornias of Pernambuco 
the Manihots of Cara, the Landolphias and Kiek- 
sias of West and East Africa, not to speak of the 
Ficus Elastica of the East and the celebrated 
Castilloa of Central America. And yet the prices are 
slowly rising! Needless to say the manufacturing out- 
look is viewed with some uneasiness. Accordingly in 
other climes certain far-seeing people have started 
plantations, more particularly of the Castilloa, the 
Hevea, and the Manihot, whilst the Germans, with 
their usual thoroughness, in their West African pos- 
sessions are making systematic attempts to propagate 
the Landolphias. And that the harvest to be reaped 
will be satisfactory is assured. The profits, based on 
present prices, at the expiration of the eighth year 
can be reckoned on at 300 per cent. 
The parts of the world above mentioned are tropical, 
with a minimum average temperature of 66 F., com- 
bined with a heavy rainfall (though the Manihots and 
Hancornias do not require too much moisture), and it 
has always been laid down as a botanical postulate 
that Rubber and Rain, Miasma and Monkeys, are 
an indivisible quartette. But the knowledge of the 
earth’s good things increases always. For example 
in 1893 the output of caoutchouc from Lagos, West 
Africa, was practically nil. Comes along one Kicks, 
who discovers a hitherto unknown tree. Its product 
is sent to Kew Gardens, London, for report, which 
being satisfactory, by 1895 nearly 4,000,0001b. of 
rubber had been exported from thatBritish Possession. 
But this by way of illustration only of what fresh 
discovery has done for the rubber market, for Lagos 
is an equatorial province. What is of far greater 
import to us is whether there is any possibility of 
the cultivation of any known tree in New South 
Wales. And considering what immense advantages 
' would accrue to the farmer and planter by so doing 
no research for such a valuable kind of tree could 
be too comprehensive ana no experiments too ex- 
haustive, for the successful introduction of rubber- 
growing into New South Wales would mean an ad- 
ditional £1,000,000 to our annual export schedule. 
Surely an attempt to acquire such an increase is 
worth more than academic scepticism. 
Twenty years ago that distinguished savant, the late 
Baron Von Mueller, stated emphatically that the 
Ficus elastica (E. Indies), being so closely allied to 
the Ficus species known here, would grow in the Gipp- 
s'and valleys and gullies. Nothing so far has been 
uone towards founding such an industry. However, 
opinions differ as to the speed of growth of this tree, 
for though experience elsewhere, in Ceylon, &c., 
quotes an average of eight years ere maturity is 
attained, it is at least likely in a fair cooler cli- 
mate that the wait would have to be at least 25 
per cent, longer. The deceased Baron spoke, too, 
of the well-known Port Jackson fig (F. Rubiginosa) 
which on analysis gives— Resinous sycoretiu, 73; 
Acetate sycoceryl, 14; Caoutchouce, 13—100. 
And the Apocynaceous “ bitter baik,” akin to the 
West African variety, is also reported to yield a 
fair percentage of commercial rubber when leaf 
and stalk crushing are resorted to. Beyond these 
Lactaria Calocarpa and Lactaria Moorei have been 
suggested by some writers as possible cautchonc givers. 
So much for the known Australian trees themselves. 
Remains now to be seen whether there are any 
quick glowing varieties obtainable from other count- 
ries which are suitable to the climate, say, of the 
Tweed, Richmond, and Clarence rivers. And, it appears, 
while the Castilloa might possibly meet the case, it is 
more than probable that the Sapium Biglandulosum 
would do so. 
