ToL. V. No. 115. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



293 



CASTILLOA RUBBER IN TOBAGO. 



The accompanying illustration (fig. 17) shows young 

 <;acao trees growing urder the shade of trees of the 

 ■Central American rnhher {Cant illoa' elastica) at Agenza 

 estate, Tobago. ' 



It is stated in Pamphlet No. 41, entitled 'Tobago, 

 Hints to Settlers,' recently issued by the Imperial Dei>artment 

 of Agriculture, that there are some 100,000 Castilloa trees 

 planted in Tobago, mostly through cacao. Where they have 

 been planted alone, the owners are, in most cases, running 

 ■cacao through the rubber. 



Fig. 17. Castilloa Trees, .tNO Young Cacao under Rubber. 

 (Agenza estate, Tobago.) 



'A good deal of rubber (Castilloa) has been planted 

 as a shade for cacao, and the two trees grow well together. 



' Rubber planted through cacao, about seventy trees to the 

 acre, has been found from actual experience in Tobago to 

 give a yield of i- &. per tree per year when eight years old, 

 and this without any eflfect on the cacao crop. So that, 

 although the cultivation of rubber in the island is still in the 

 experimental stage, it would seem sound policy to plant the 

 two trees together, seeing that the cost of establishing the 

 rubber would be practically nil, it taking the place of the 

 usual shade tree. 



' Rubber from eight-year-old trees has sold for 4s. to 5s. 

 per fi). Scrap rubber from five-year-old trees sold at 3s. 6c?.' 



RICE CULTIVATION IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



The Ciiiisiddf Report on the trade of Te.x;as for 

 190.5 has the following account of the progress of the 

 rice industry in the United States : — - 



The cultivation of rice in the south-western states is of 

 comparatively recent date. Formerly, whatever rice was 

 grown in the United States was cultivated in the Carolinas 

 and Georgia, but these districts have of late been completely 

 overshadowed by the newer fields of Louisiana and Texas. 

 The swampy lands on the coast of the Gulf of ^Mexico in 

 these two states have been found to be peculiarly 

 suited to the growth of rice, and land that was 

 a few years ago thought to be almost valueless is 

 now sold at high prices. Additional impulse has 

 been lent to the industry by the presence of several 

 colonies of Japanese, skilled rice cultivators, and 

 more of them are expected. Tliere are already 

 several hundred of these Japanese. 



The progress of the rice industry in Texas 

 can readily be seen when it is stated that, according 

 to the report issued by the Secretarj' of Agriculture 

 at Washington in December last, out of a total of 

 460, 198 acres under rice cultivation in the United 

 States in 1905 no less than 432,286 acres were in 

 Louisiana and Texas, 237,900 acres in the former 

 and 194,386 acres in the latter. Texas produced 

 6,025,966 bushels, of an average value of fUOO 

 per bushel, and Louisiana 6,137,820 bushels, of an 

 average value of 89c. per bu.shel. 



As yet, however, there is comparatively little 

 rice exported from Texas, the bulk being grown for 

 home consumption. 



A small quantity was shipped abroad in the 

 early part of 1905, but none of the present crop. 

 It will, however, be but a question of time before 

 the rice-exporting business assumes considerable 

 importance, so it is stated. 



POLISHING OF RICE. 



On the subject of polishing rice, reference 

 to which was made in the last issue of the Agri- 

 cidtiiral News (p. 285), Mr. Consul Nugent 

 writes : — 



The following extract from a well-known 

 American paper regarding the liking of the public 

 for polished rice may prove of interest : ' The rice 

 that comes on the American table looks " mushy ; " 

 the grain seems all mashed together instead of 

 being distinct and large. The trouble (sometimes 

 due to cooking) is usually explained by the state- 

 ment that our rice is of an inferior quality, though 

 there is no better rice in the world than our 

 Louisiana and Texas articles ; the grains are large, firm, 

 and nutty. The fact is that our public will not buy any 

 rice unless the grains shine and glisten. Consequently 

 the first thing the miller does is to put his rice crop 

 through a course of polishing, by which the covering of 

 the kernel is rubbed off, and at the same time the most 

 nutritive part. The result is that he gets a most beautiful 

 sparkling grain, which sells well, but, inasmuch as the covering 

 has been removed, the grains when cooked lose their identity 

 and become a mush. "Polished rice" is a peculiarity in 

 America. The public can procure the unpolished rice if they 

 will insist on the grocer getting it for them, for " polishing " 

 is an extra process which the miller will be glad to abandon.' 



