FICUS ELASTICA. 
The following papers on the cultivation of Ficus elastica will be 
read with some interest by planters. They were procured by Mr. 
A. B. Lake, Honorary Secretary of the Negri Sembilan Planters’ 
Association, and forwarded by the Resident-General of the Feder- 
ated Malay States : 
Land Records and Agriculture, Assam. 
Form No. ri8. 
It is requested that any reply, or future reference, to this communication may 
quote its number and date. 
No. 1552. 
From 
B. 0. Allen, Esq., b. a., i, c. s., 
Officiating Director , Deportment of 
Land Records and Agriculture, Assam. 
To 
The Secretary to the Resident-General, F. M. S., 
Selangor, Malay Peninsula 
Dated Shillong, the 7th June, 1902. 
Sir: — With reference to your letter No. N.Sem, 2086/02, dated 
the 23rd April, 1902, with which you forwarded a copy of a letter 
dated the Iith March, 1902, from the Honorary Secretary of the 
Negri Sembilan Planters’ Association, asking for information as 
to the growth and cultivation of the Ficus Elastica. 1 have the 
honour to forward copies of the papers noted in the margin ; des- 
(xj„N,'otes by Messrs. Mann & Copeland containing a J Cribing the method 
brief account of how rubber trees are grown in Assam : j of tapping and the 
(2) — Letter No. 164A' dated the 22nd August, 1900, from J avera o- e yield of 
the Conservator of Forests, Assam, to the Inspector-General J 1 ° ' 
of Forests to the Government of India containing a report cnc luuuei tree, 
on the tapping operations conducted in the Charduar plant- j The best time for 
ation in 1899-1900. tapping is imme- 
diately after the rains, and the best instruments to use arc V 
shaped gouges which remove the bark without injuring the wood- 
The trees are allowed to throw out aerial roots at discretion and 
the branches are not lopped. The age at which tapping operations 
can most profitably be commenced is a matter which still requires 
determination, but most of the trees in the Government plantations 
are now between twenty and thirty years old. 
1 have the honour to be, 
Sir, 
Your most obedient servant, 
B. C. ALLEN, 
Officiating Director, 
Department of Land Records and Agriculture, Assam. 
