323 
the same if there be too little. For this purpose a large drain has 
been made round each plot surrounded by a bund. Cross drains 
have been placed at one chain apart. 
Parts of the land have been changkolled and over a good deal 
lime has been spread h varying quantities. 
The soil was drained and changkolled about two months before 
the water was on the land ; in the forthcoming years a longer period 
will be available as the drains are now made. 
For future reference it will be of interest to describe roughly the 
nature of the soil on the plots which are now being used for experi- 
ment. The 13 ac^es at Simpang Tiga are covered with a surface 
layer of peat varying from I inch to I foot in depth. There is a clay 
subsoil. On the 2 Y 2 acres between Simpang Tiga and Simpang Lima 
there is a surface layer of peat in parts several feet deep. In other 
places there are out crops of clay. There is a clay subsoil. 
At Sungei Bogak the land is wholly peat and it is unlikely that 
any success will attend the experiments there. 
The largest stretch of this poor land that I know of in the irriga- 
tion area lies between Simpang Tiga and Bagan Serai. It is a stretch 
of about 8 miles and averages at least x / 2 in width. How much of 
this land can be brought into proper cultivation and how much will 
have to be excluded from the irrigation area is one of the points which 
the experiments will help to decide. 
Dept : of Agricul : F. M. S. 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMAZONS AND 
PLANTATION RUBBER. 
In the Bulletin Mensuel de la Chambre d’Agriculture de la 
Cochin-Chine, July 1911, p.479, M. Yernet commences a series of 
articles on the preparation and commercial value of the different sorts 
of Crude Rubber, that is the crude rubber of Hevea braziliensis . After 
a general introduction he proceeds to point out that wild Para rubber 
is actually valued more highly than Plantation Para. This he shows 
to be the case by giving the values of the two forms at the date 
March, 1911, as being 17 francs 50 for wild smoked Para and 10 francs 
25 for very pale crepe, and, as the wild Para when treated gives 82 
per cent, of commercial washed rubber and the pale crepes 99 per 
cent., the value of the Wild Para when washed gives 21 francs 34, as 
against 1 8 francs 43 of crepe. 
The reasons for this difference in value he attempts to in- 
vestigate. 
The principal factors which are of importance to manufacturers 
in dealing with rubbers of different kinds are (l) their output in com- 
mercial rubber washed and dried, and (2) the actual value of this 
washed rubber. 
