560 
a small idea of what is being done now, but there are a great many 
swindles in connection with it, labour on the whole is scarce. In 
some districts it is better than others, at my own places I pay fo.50 
Mexican per day but we try and do all the work by task which is 
much more satisfactory, transport is another question that prom bits 
men starting plantations far away from the main roads and navig- 
able rivers. 
[ am going down to tie hot country soon,- to the Northern end of 
- ve State of Chiapas close to San Juan Baptista and if you care tor 
’ . : nf r . r mat ion I shall be pleased to gom it you. the au- 
d^s^at^head of ft* vvill allways find me and my letters are 
forwarded from the Chy to wkr.fver 1 am at the moment ; we tamk 
that Mexico will show up very well in a tew } car - ’ n 1 ' ^ 
market but naturally we are prejudiced, we tap after che uee ■ 0 
years old and every tree should give I A pounds of diiey rubb - 
in the season, not milk, and. we plant as much as possible m the 
open and not under shade having found by experience tear the soade 
brings up the sapling very quickly, but very thin and with no la- 
ches at all, while in the open the tree begins to put ou branch » 
from the beginning and is a nice healthy moKing tree a ei u 
passed the first year in its definite place in the plantation. 
Yours truly, 
J. V. Brknchlev. 
RAINFALL IN SINGAPORE * 
ay A. Knight. 
Dear SIR.— 1 understood you to say that you arrived here in 
1888, and that this was the driest year since. It so happens that 
1 888 was Itself one of the driest years on record. 1 his is a list of 
the 7 dry years — i.e. in which the rainfall was under So inches— since 
f first kept a complete record :~ - 
1868. 
1872. 
* 877 - 
1883. 
75-55 
75-30 
5*®-37 
70.14 
1885. 
1888. 
1896. 
67.32 
65-56 
7407 
The first is my own record at Mount Pleasant. I he others are 
from the official returns, which commenced to be published, though 
not in their present complete form, for 1871. T hese hgures repre- 
sent the average for each year of the returns from the various sta- 
tions in Singapore, but these are taken as correct without exanmna- 
j ; n ( n T s 77 there is clear evidence that some of them were in- 
complete, and the true average would probably be about 65 inches. . 
