194 
Federated Malay States were commenced about four years ago, 
and tapping on a large scale is anticipated by the time the trees 
are eight years old. New plantations are being formed as fast as 
seeds are obtainable, but the supply is not equal to the demand. 
The tree from which the rubber I am sending you was taken is 
sixteen years old, but in good soil such as most of the planters are 
using, the trees will be quite as large in eight or ten years. Ours 
is growing on a dry gravelly bank, conditions quite the opposite of 
those under which it naturally grows, so far as one can judge from 
the reports of those who have seen it growing in Brazil. Here it 
will grow anywhere, though of course not equally well in all places, 
and there is no doubt that in the future this country will have to be 
reckoned with as regards rubber. As a field for investment in this 
particular cultivation it would be hard to beat. Land is abundant 
and cheap and roads, railways and rivers afford easy access to all 
parts of the Malay Peninsula. 
September 24th , igoi. 
C. CURTIS, F.L.S. 
Superintendent of Forests Section 
Botanic Gardens, Penang, 
Straits Settlements. 
Comment by the Editor 
The tree from which was obtained the sample of rubber referred 
to above was stated, in the annual report of the botanic gardens 
for 1900, to be 55 feet high, with a circumference, at 3 feet from 
the ground, of 66 inches. The record of yield of this tree, as stated 
in the annual reports, is as follows, the tree having been tapped for 
14 alternate day as in each of the seasons mentioned. 
lbs. oz. 
November-December, 1898... ... 3 o 
April-May, 1899 ... ... ... 2 8 
November-December, 1899... ... 3 4 
October-November, 1900 ... ... 3 12 
August-September, 1901 ... ... 2 o 
Total ... 14 8 
From the same reports it is to be inferred that the rubber pro- 
duced has been smoked with coconut husks after first having been 
allowed to coagulate and then rolled into thin sheets. Where the 
rubber milk has happened to contain rainwater, alum or spirits of 
wine has been used to hasten coagulation. The method of coagu- 
lating rubber on the Amazon is by submitting the fresh latex to 
the hot smoke of palm nuts, quite a different method from that 
employed by our Penang correspondent. 
The Penang rubber has been examined quite carefully, and is 
worth about 60 cents a pouu J, w'ith fine Para at 80 cants a pound. 
In fact it does not resemble fine Para very strongly, but is much 
more like Pernambuco. The rubber is much softer than fine Para, 
or even than coarse Para, and has nowhere near as strong fiber. In 
