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A484 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 June, 1898. 
Government Secretary's Office, 
Port Moresby, B.N.G., 
19th April, 1898. 
Sir,—In examining some unavoidable arrears of correspondence, I found that 
your letter of the 9th August last has hitherto been left without any reply. 
I referred to Mr. A. C. English, of Rigo, however, as he has taken more interest 
in the question of ‘‘ Maki” rubber than anyone else here, and he sent me the letter of 
which I now have the pleasure of enclosing a copy. Mr. English also intended to 
prepare some photographs of the tree to accompany his letter, but through some 
deficiency in his materialshas not yet been able todo so. I deferred forwarding this 
copy of his letter, hoping to be able to forward his illustrations at the same time. 
Your Agricuitural Journal now reaches this office in duplicate with great 
regularity ; one copy I present to the Port Moreshy Reading Club, and the other is 
kept for reference in our official library. The publication frequently contains subjects 
of considerable interest to persons here, and I beg to express my thanks and 
acknowledgments for its receipt. 
I have not been able to procure the specimens of the “Maki” (Ficus rigo) thatyou 
request, but will endeavour 10 do so later. Should I get any further information 
likely to be of use to you as to our rubber plants, I sha!l be glad to let you have it. 
A. MUSGRAVE, 
Government Secretary, 
Government Station, Rigo, 
4th December, 1897. 
Sir,—I have read the interesting articles on the rubber industry in your Journal 
for November last, in which some remarks are made with reference to the rubber- 
bearing fig of the Rigo district. As I have been in charge of that part of the 
possession for a number of years past, I am glad to communicate the following notes 
in case they may be of use :— 4 ie 
In 1892 I found the natives burning rubber for “tattooing,” and I have since 
taken a deep interest in. the natural supply and the cultivation of the varicty that T 
regard as most likely to be profitable. Unfortunately, the rubber-producing area is 
somewhat limited, and the natives prosecuted the industry with such zeal in the first 
instance that many trees have been killed, and a great number rendered unproductive 
for some time. The district was consequently ‘closed’? in certain localities, but has 
now been reopened. : 
Uncultivated.—The rubber industry of this district lying between the meridians 
longitude 147 degrees to 149 degrees (about) will never, I think, attain large pro- 
portions, as the trees naturally yielding such produce are found in a comparative] 
narrow belt on the coast. I have not known of one growing at any greater distance 
than ten miles inland. Within this strip of country, rubber-trees are to be found in 
the scrub and on its borders. Some grow in open grass land, and afew even on almost 
bare rock, and only a few feet above high-water mark in the sand. ‘The special tree 
of which I write, locally known as the “ Maki,” is very hardy, grows to the height of 
about 50 feet, and is about 2 feet in diameter. I have found a few specimens that 
appear to have sprung direct from the soil, but generally the sced probably passes 
through the stomach of birds, and is deposited in the forks of other trees, from which 
the roots find their way to the ground, its rapid growth and constriction eventually 
strangling the foster parent form. 
One of the trees, if properly “bled,’’ should give from 5 to 7 lb. of rubber, and 
could be tapped twice in each year, but thenatives of the country will never, I fear, 
make good collections of this article, unless under the supervision of some person who 
knows the value of the trees. . 
Their present mode of collecting rubber is by hacking the trees all over with a 
tomahawl, and they thus waste in many instances a great deal more sap than they 
collect. ‘This practice soon kills the trees, besides mixing some portions of the bark 
with the rubber and injuring its purity. The “Maki” appears to be a tree of very 
rapid growth, and is, I should think, well worth cultivation. The young trees might 
be tapped in the fourth year under favourabie conditions. About 100 specimens have 
been planted out (on the “Rigo” flat), and have attained the height of 22 fect in two 
years, and are 5inches in diameter. ‘They carry heavy tops and roots, and the latter 
are now reaching the ground from the lower branches. 
