153 
After eight days the plants were examined and found to be in a 
fresh and healthy condition. The plants placed in the potting shed 
had been badly gnawed by rats, but were otherwise healthy. The 
whole twelve were then planted out in the ordinary way, and no 
special attention or treatment given to them. The plants commenced 
to grow readily with one exception, and this was the plant that had 
almost been denuded of bark by rats. 
The results are very satisfactory, inasmuch as they prove that 
Para plants can be sent to any estate in the Island, packed in the 
way described, without fear of permanent injury, or loss, provided 
that they receive proper attention upon arrival at their destination. 
{ Report on the Botanic Station and Experiment Plots, St. Lucia, 1910-II > 
RUBBER IN THE SEYCHELLES. 
ris'.L*. 
The following extracts are taken from the Report of the Gurator 
(M. Dupont) on the Botanic Station, Seychelles, for 1911. 
The total number of treess now in Seychelles is estimated at 
70,585, of which 4,511 have reached tappable size. The tapping 
experiments on Hevea trees were continued. Several kinds of 
tapping knives were tried, but it was found that successful tapping 
depended more on the skill of the operator than on the instrument 
employed. The Barrydo knife proved a less dangerous implement in- 
the hands of inexperienced tappers than either the Bowman — North- 
way or the Eagle knife, both of which produce deep wounds. The 
“half-herring-bone” method of tapping was used in most cases 
on the “opposite quarters ” system, i. e., one-quarter of the surface 
of the bark of the tree is tapped during one year, and it takes four 
years to tap the whole tree before beginning on renewed bark. The 
full spiral system was adopted in one set of experiments where 
trees were overcrowded, and although the death of few trees may 
follow this drastic method, the Curator considers that the greater 
yield obtained when prices are high fully compensates for this loss. 
He also suggests that in Seychelles it may be better to tap by this 
method for three months during the rainy season, when young 
trees can withstand the effects of serious wounds, than to employ any 
other method which would necessitate extending the tapping period 
into the dry season to obtain the same quantity of rubber. 
Five-and-six-years-old trees were in one instance tapped by 
the full spiral method for five or six months, without any apparent 
check to the growth of the trees or to the fulfilment of their natural 
functions. 
