222 
trees of a given age is almost entirely wanting. Large trees old 
enough to produce seeds are exceeding difficult to find, and the 
largest I know of are those in Penang which fruited last year. 
The largest of these is 56 in. in circumference at five feet from the 
ground, but there are several others that measure between forty 
and fifty inches; and are 50-70 feet high. Compared to most 
other trees Palaquiums are slow growers and of r,ooo young plants, 
two years old from seeds, the tallest is not more than two feet 
high ; and at Kwala Kangsar there is a tree which is known to 
have been planted eighteen years ago the height of which is 
twenty-live feet and the circumference at three feet from the 
ground 24 in. In the Encyclopaedia Britannica it is stated that the 
yield of a tree 30 years old and 30-40 feet, high is from 2 3 lbs., 
and that a full grown tree sometimes measures 100 - 140 feet, to its 
first branch with a circumference of 20 feet at fourteen feet from 
the ground and may yield 50-60 lbs. of gutta. In order to obtain 
some definite information on this point a tree measuring 39 inches 
in circumference at 5 feet, from the ground and 55 feet" high with 
a clean stem to a height of 35 feet , at which point it had a circum- 
ference of 28 in. was cut down in Penang in November 1900 and 
the gutta collected under my personal supervision, and the result 
was i\ lbs., of gutta percha. The annual rings showed that 
this tree was over 50 years old. What the age of a tree 20 
feet in circumference at 14 feet from the ground Would be 
can be inferred from this, but it is doubtful whether any 
such tree at present exsists. A second experiment made in 
1901 on a tree that was blown down in the Forest reserve 
Penang which was 52 feet high and 42 inches in circumference at 
the same height from the ground yielded one and one third of a 
pound only. Palaquium trees are found growing from sea level up 
to close on 3,000 feet, generally in damp ravines and not far from 
streams ; often among masses of boulders in places where there is 
little soil but abundant moisture. Attempts at cultivation were 
made in Singapore as early as 1848, when no less than seven 
plantations were started there, but one by one they were abandoned 
and it is doubtful whether a single tree" now remains to mark the 
spot. Quite recently attempts "have again been made by private 
owners in Sumatra and Johore, both of which I have seen. The 
former was commenced about four years ago and a good number 
of trees are growing, but in the latter which started later practically 
none remain. There is little doubt that in the earlier stages of 
growth partial shade is necessary, and that failure in the past was 
largely due to the attempt to form plantations in the open with full 
exposure to the sun ; but in any case, and under the most favour- 
able conditions, the rate of growth is too slo w to make the cultiva- 
tion, a profitable business for private individuals. The extraction 
of gutta from the leaves is now practicable, but it has yet to be 
proved to what extent the trees will stand plucking and the qu* n- 
tity to be obtained. From information received I believe that most 
if not all of the leaves that have been brought into the market from 
Borneo and Sumatra are from trees that have been cut down in the 
