269 



imagine, be unwise to plant rubber, which demands as much 

 freedom as cinchona did; neither with our choice of soil is there 

 any reason for doing so. 



CEARA RUBBER. 



The cultivation of Ceara or Manitoba* rubber {Manihot Glaziovii) 

 was begun in Nicaragua about four years ago. The splendid con- 

 dition of the plantings and the large yield and excellent quality of 

 the product taken in trial tappings, give promise of the success of 

 the enterprise. The Ceara rubber tree is a dry land plant, and will 

 not prosper in a wet soil. It is being planted in the districts of 

 La Pas and Momotombo (300 ft. above sea level), where the 

 Momotombo mountain, by driving the clouds to one side, protects 

 this section from the force of the tropical rains so that it is 

 comparatively dry, receiving just about enough water to grow 

 corn, which is abundant for Ceara rubber. The soil is sandy, with 

 an admixture of a little clay, and very deep and level or slightly 

 rolling. The Nicaragua Rubber Co.'s plantation is the " San 

 Nicholas," on which are the oldest and largest trees in this section. 

 Three-year-old trees on this plantation measures 26 in. in girth 

 3 ft. above the soil, and are more than 30 ft. high. Ceara rubber 

 trees yielded latex at two years of age. Twenty-one trees from 

 fourteen to twenty-one months old, with an average age of fourteen 

 months, were tapped, and together gave 7| lb. of dry rubber. A 

 tree fifteen months old gave 3 oz; of rubber. However, it is not 

 intended to tap until the trees are four years old, in order not to 

 retard the best development. It is expected that four-year-old trees 

 will produce I lb. of rubber each, and from that time the product 

 will augment rapidly. There are now in the district outside of 

 native plantings, four American plantations of Manilwt Glaziovii, 

 on which are planted some 200,000 trees, while as many more 

 will be planted in another year. — Work. 



Present experiments with the Para and Castilloa varieties on the 

 Periyar River (elevation 2,300 ft.) in Madras Presidency tend to 

 prove that the cold nights are against a rapid growth of these 

 varieties, the thermometer falling to below 40 degrees at night in 

 January and February, though in the day time it is as hot as in 

 the plains. But for Ceara, I can say with confidence that the 

 climate suits it, and there are thousands of acres of magnificient 

 land only awaiting development with this species to make many 

 fortunes. — Madras Mail. 



A large Ceara rubber tree is growing on abandoned coffee land 

 on Franklands in the Kadugannawa district in Ceylon. The tree 

 is 5 feet 9 inches in girth at the bottom and 6 feet from the ground 

 it is 4 feet 6 inches. It is supposed to be about 20 years old. A 

 considerable area of land at a medium elevation, which has lain 

 fallow since the failure of coffee, is considered suitable for rubber 

 of this variety ; and we understand many acres are being prepared 

 for the purpose of planting Ceara. — Ceylon Observer. 



* [See Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, April, 1905, page 72.] 



