832 THE TROPICAL AGBICULTURI IS. [June i, 1898. 
grade tea, ■which may cause a fall in the price of fine 
Assams. It should he noted, moreover, that there 
have been, even in 1897, many notable excep- 
tions of gardens — where conditions were more 
favourable —sending very fine tea, notably the Assam 
Company, Doom Dooma, and Jhanzie in Assam, and 
the Lebong and other Darjeeling gardens. 
3. Low-lying Districts. — You appear to have fallen 
a little into error in regard to this point. It is true 
that in Ceylon — where the best tea is grown at an 
elevation of from 1,000 up to 4,000 or 5,000 ft. — the 
produce of the districts lying at sea level is mostly 
poor, and the same remark applies to the produce 
of the so-called bheels or marshes in Cachar and 
Sylhet. But as regards Assam — that is, the whole 
valley of the Brahmapootra — which produces the 
strongest teas, and also parts of Sylhet, and even 
the Dooars, virtually the whole tea-planted area is 
only a few feet above river level, with no deleterious 
effect on quality, but the reverse. 
4. Return of Chinese Competition. — You are quite 
correct, no doubt, in the view that any attempt to 
unduly raise the price of Indian and Ceylon tea, or 
to seriously diminish the supply of the less highly- 
priced grades, might possibly give a renewed ira- 
E etus to the cheap China-Congou import. This, 
owever, I believe is less to be feared, so far as home 
consumption is concerned, than by reason of its 
standing in the way of, or handicapping, the export 
trade to Colonial and foreign countries, in which 
direction, much more than to increase consumption 
in Great Britain itself, the expansion in consumption, 
and counteractive of over-production, of Indian and 
Ceylon tea is mainlv to be sought.— I am, &c., 
GEO. SETON. 
Indian Tea Share Exchange, 120, Bishopsgate Street 
Within, E.C., April 16, 1898. — E. and C. Mail, April 22. 
TARA RUBBER GROWING: 
THE COMING INDUSTRY FOR CEYLON. 
“Is it to be Bara Rubber or Ramie Fibre,” may 
well be a question asked by the puzzled planter 
anxious to have two strings to his bo'w ; and we 
suspect the information published now will 
send a good many more customers after Rubber 
seed. We were aware of the w'onderful progress 
made on Culloden estate when we took excep- 
tion to a statement about good seed being un- 
available save from our Government Gardens. The 
following report published in the Ceylon Govern- 
ment Gazette will shew what the Director of the 
Gardens has now to say on the subject : — 
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, April 14, 1898 
The Hon’ble the Colonial Secretary, 
Sib, — 1 have the honour to report that during the 
week ended April 2nd last, I visited the plantations 
of Para indiarubber at Edangoda and Yattipowa made 
in 1890-93 by the Forest Department, and also some 
of the estates near Neboda, on which a considerable 
amount of rubber has been planted. 
2. The plantations belonging to the Forest De- 
partment are in very good order, and in a year or 
two many of the trees will be in condition to allow 
of experiments in tapping being made on them, as 
is much to be desired. 
3. On Culloden estate near Neboda, which I have 
examined iu moat detail, thanks to the courtesy of 
the visiting agent, Mr. Grigson, there are about 
30,000 or more trees in very fine order. The older 
trees were grown from seed or cuttings obtained 
from llenaratgoda garden. Of recent years the estate 
has had much seed of its own, and this year their 
crop is expected to greatly exceed that at the dis- 
posal of Government. 
4. A finer lot of trees than those on this estate and 
the neighbouring estates it would be difficult to find. 
The oldest trees are only fourteen years old, but 
rival the trees twenty-one years old at Heparatgodai 
This is partly due to the fact that the Culloden trees 
are more widely separated than those at Henarat- 
goda, being planted among tea at distances of about 
30 feet, partly to the more favourable soil and con- 
ditions of the Kalutara district; 
6. A few expeiimental tappings have been made 
on the older trees on this estate and have shown 
very good results, better than those obtained at 
Henaratgoda, on which the data of profit and loss 
given in the circular recently issued by this De- 
partment were based. As at present the demand 
for seed makes it more profitable to keep the trees 
for seed, these experiments are not being continued 
just now. 
6. From what I saw of the condition of the trees 
and the results of these tappings, I am strongly 
confirmed in my previous opinion that the cultiva- 
tion of rubber bids fair to prove a profitable in- 
dustry in Ceylon and a useful adjunct to the larger 
industry of tea and coconut cultivation. — I am, &o., 
John C. Willis, Director. 
Simultaneously we receive from the Resident- 
General ot the Federated Malay States, a copy 
of the very interesting and practical Report fur- 
nished by Mr. Derry, the main portion of which 
we published some time ago, but which we re- 
produce as follows, so that planters may at once 
be able to refer to it in full : — 
Government Plantations Office. 
Taiping, 24th Nov., 1897. 
To the Secretary to Government, Perak, 
Sir, — In reply to S.G. 61 64-97, 1 have the honour 
to forward the following report on the work doue 
in connection with Para rubber trees at Kuala 
Kangsar. 
2. Some months ago the Director of Kew wrote to 
me. He had heard from Sir Hugh Low that the Kuala 
Kangsar trees did not exude when tapped, and asked, 
with a view to information, for the reason. 
3. It will be seen from this report that the work 
for the year is not yet completed, and I would par- 
ticularly point out that the experiments have not 
been conducted to test how much each tree will yield, 
for the reason that these trees are of much greater 
value to the Government at the present time as seed- 
bearers than rubber-producers : as an instance of 
this, I would mention that applications for 70,000 
seeds have been received for the current year (of 
which 25,000 have been supplied) and an application 
filed for 100,0009 seeds next year. 
4. The Para rubber trees {Hevea Braziliensis) at 
Kuala Kangsar were first tapped during the month 
of August, and the work has been proceeding up to 
the present time. The frequent wet days have de- 
layed the work considerably. At the end of October, 
60 trees had been tapped and 88, of dry marketable 
rubber prepared. Most of the trees tapped were six 
years old, and from these trees an average of 10 ozs, 
of dry rubber has been obtained. A few trees, 12 
years old, produced 3 lb. each, but in no instance 
were the tappings exhaustive. Two samples have 
been sent to Mincing Lane for opinion and valuation. 
5. Tapping. — The trees were tapped with almost V 
shaped cuts, a few inches apart, with a channel 
down the centre from the lower branchas to the base/ 
An ordinary pruning knife was used to make thfe 
first outs, and about a quarter of the outer bark 
removed, care being taken not to cut too deeply. So' 
soon as this commenced to callous — which varies- 
from two to several days— the edges of the cuts were 
lightly shaved with a very sharp chisel every day 
with an occasional Interval until tne decided quantity 
has been exuded. The rubber was collected in 
locally-made tin boxes, 6" x 4" x 2", nailed at the base 
of the tree, with the lid partially opened so as to 
prevent wet or dirt from falling in. When full, this 
was allowed to dry and the water pressed out (a 
pinch of salt appears to expedite the coagulation) 
and then kept in smoke for about a week to prevent 
WiWew. 
