216 
In the estimate for Australia with white labour, it is expected to 
pay off the cost of the estate and get a profit of f 11,128 in the end of 
the seventh year and of £45,000 in the eighth and following years from 
which must be deducted freight, cases and some contingencies, the 
rubber is valued at 5 shillings a pound which tor a permanent esti- 
mate price is perhaps high, and cost of collecting 1 shilling a pou , 
but if with native labour here the cost of collecting amounts to this 
price, with white labour at 8 times the cost it is hardly likely to be 
as low. As a set off against this, however, there is no assumption of 
profit for rubber taken before the sixth year, which if the trees grow 
well might easily be added. However, even with white labour only 
a good profit would probably be made, but of course nothing like 
what black labour would give. 
ANOTHER PARA-RUBBER FUNGUS. 
On two or three occasions we had observed that on dead trunks 
of Para rubber trees, after being untouched for some weeks the outer 
cork} layer of bark split off in flakes and beneath appeared large 
black patches of a fungus. 
This fungus was in the form of a crust, blacky hard and rather 
brittle, about * — f inch thick and looking like dried tar or 
asphate, Tt formed rather irregular patches of various sizes from 
one to ten inches across the edges of the patches being rounded 
and the mass usually longer than broad. In one tree about 25 years 
old and about two feet through, there were no previous signs ot any 
disease but the tree rather suddenly died and the fungus came out 
on the wood some weeks later. Since then the next tree to ‘t h 
died, much in the same way as if it had been killed by Femes , but 
it was not attacked by that. On removing the stump we found that 
just below the tree was an accumulation of toul smelling water. 
The roots of the tree were quite dead. Several other trees in thu 
part of the garden, but at some little distance, died 111 a somewhat 
similar manner. None of these, however, so far as I remember 
except the first mentioned one, showed any sign of the fun B us a 
death, and indeed on seeing the foul putrid mass of water and 
decayed sticks in which the trees’ roots had been living, * a 
surprised that they had lived so long than that they had died. 
About the end of last year, a smaller tree eight inches through in 
another part of the garden was overset with several others by a gale 
and its roots were badly broken. It was replaced in position but 
never recovered and remained erect, but dead for some time. 
It then developed the fungus in several parts of the stem from 
about 5 feet downwards. I then cut it down and sent a section of the 
tree with the fungus to Dr. Prain, of the Royal Gardens, Kew, who 
asked Mr. Massee to report upon the thing. I submit his repc. . 
