20 



to continue such cleaning depends largely upon the amount of over- 

 head shade present to discourage the undergrowth. Some planters 

 on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec are evidently taking advantage of 

 this fact and are setting close, with the intention of removing 

 alternate trees before they are large enough to injure their 

 neighbours by crowding ; and it is expected that if they are "tapped 

 to death" they can be made to yield enough rubber to more than 

 cover the expense of planting. At least there seems to be no 

 reason why, if the land is to be cleared, it should not be made to 

 produce as much rubber as possible instead of being planted with 

 useless trees for a purpose which can be attained quite as fully by 

 setting the rubber trees closer together. 



There is danger, however, that any suggestion which promises 

 earlier returns from rubber culture will be overdone. The rubber 

 of very young trees is of low grade and expensive to collect; also 

 it would be very poor policy to risk permanent injury from weak 

 spindling growth, which overcrowding would undoubtedly cause. 

 More is likely to be lost than gained by trees standing at less than 

 8 feet for even a few years. Better than uniform close planting 

 would be to set the north and south rows farther apart than the 

 trees in the rows. With a given number of trees this would se- 

 cure the maximum of shade on the ground, because the morning 

 and afternoon sun would not shine down the rows. The cleaning 

 of the land or the cultivation of a catch crop or a shade crop be- 

 tween the rows would also be facilitated. The distances would 

 depend on the size which the Castilloa trees were expected to at- 

 tain in any given locality, the rows from 1 2 to 20 feet apart, the 

 trees from 8 to I2 feet in the rows being fair average estimates. 



{To be continued.) 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



A Special Meeting called to consider the matter of the Locked 

 Still at Denbigh Estate was held on 1st November, 1904. Present : 

 the Hon. Colonial Secretary, Chairman ; the Director Public Gar- 

 dens, the Chemist, His Grace the Archbishop, the Hons. T. Capper, 

 J. V. Calder and H. Cork, and the Secretary, John Barclay. 



Resignation of Mr. Sharp. — Mr. Cousins asked if he might put for- 

 ward a special matter, as it was urgent. This was the resignation 

 of Mr. T. H. Sharp, jr., Superintendent of Manurial Experiments, 

 who asked permission to leave on November 15th. To fill the 

 vacancy, the name was suggested of Mr. P. W. Murray, son of 

 Dr. Clark Murray of Brown's Town, who had been through a five 

 years' course at an Agricultural Institute in Virginia. The Chemist 

 was directed to bring the name of Mr. Murray before the Govern- 

 ment with a view to asking him to act temporarily as Superin- 

 tendent of Manurial Experiments at a salary of £l00 a year. 



Sugar Grant. — The Chairman said that he had satisfied himself 

 that the disposal of the sugar grant was in the hands of the Board 

 and that he ruled that the mere fact of the Board sanctioning the 



