RUBBER CULTURE.

101

afield to obtain rubber in paying quantity than was formerly
‘he case. The best methods of tapping the trees, collecting
and preparing the milk, freeing it from impurity, and clot.
ting it to form rubber, as well as the best ‘ways of drying and
preserving the rubber, have been carefully worked out by
the staff of the Botanic Gardens and by several planters,
with the result that Ceylon is now exporting a grade of rubber
much superior to any native rubber whatsoever, even Para
ap-river fine hard cure, which is the standard of the market:
The Ceylon rubber is cleaner and tougher than this, and
obtains from $0-10 to $0-15 more per lb. At the same time
the collection and preparation are so economically carried

RUBBER PLANTATION

out that to produce this rubber costs less than to merely
collect the wild rubber in the forests of the Amazon
valley.
Threekindsof rubber-yielding trees, all of American origin,
are cultivated in Ceylon, They were introduced through the
Botanic Gardens about twenty-seven years ago, and gradually
distributed as seed became available, The first to receive
extended trial was the Ceard rubber (Manihot Qlaziovit), a
Brazilian species, which furnishes the Cears scrap of commerce.
 This grows like a weed in the Island, and seeds early
and freely ; it was thus largely tried in the years 1882-85
when every one was trying to find some profitable substitute