362 
This bleeding has been going on for a whole year, and yet the 
crown of the tree looks perfectly healthy and has put out fine new 
shoots. There is not a dead branch on the tree nor an unhealthy 
looking leaf. He remarks that at the rate of rubber production in 
this way, it would be satisfactory to have a number of such trees as 
it only took him two minutes to dig out 2 pounds of wet rubber, and 
a cooly could collect 150 pounds a day at a cost of 50 cents, i.e., aAhird 
of a cent a pound, and even cheaper on contract rates. 
I have not seen the tree and can give no suggestion as to the 
cause ir this case, but the amount of latex produced by so small a tree 
is rather remarkable, as it seems to be a good deal more than 
one could obtain from so small and young a tree by ordinary 
tapping. — E d. 
MANURING FOR RUBBER. 
The Department of Agriculture has recently been asked by a 
number of planters to advise as to what manures to apply to rubber 
trees and in what quantities they should be used. 
On the majority of plantations it is doubtful whether any 
manuring is required. There are a number of places, however, 
where the growth or the general vigour of the trees is not equal to 
that on others. In these places, provided it is not the cultivation or 
the drainage that is at fault, manuring may prove of advantage. 
Cultivation in most places will be found of greater advantage 
than manuring. If every rubber field could be changkolled twice a 
year or receive an equivalent cultivation with ploughs, disc harrows, 
etc., it is certain that both the immediate and permanent benefits 
would be great. Of course with old trees which have formed a 
interlacing root system near the surface of the soil such cultivation 
would be dangerous, but with young plantings cultivation is strongly 
recommended. On fairly fiat lands which have been thoroughly 
cleared of timber and stumps, probably mechanical cultivation by 
ploughs or disc harrows will be found more economical and more 
effective. 
The following recommendations for manurial treatment have 
been drawn up by Mr. B. J. Eaton, Agricultural Chemist, Federated * 
Malay States. It must be borne in mind that they are based on 
general principles and are not the result of experiments. Manurial 
experiments have been started by the Department of Agriculture, 
but reliable results will not be obtainable from them for some years. 
It is proposed to publish similar notes for other types of soils. 
