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away, companies have gone bankrupt, and plantations have been 

 abandoned. Those that have survived up to the present time will 

 in due course become a success, at least in the majority of cases. 

 Exaggeration has been the keynote in the promoters' circulars, 

 and inexperience the cause of most failures. 



SOME MEXICAN PLANTATIONS. 



I have in a previous publication (Bulletin II, La Zacualpa 

 Botanical Station, "Notes on Rubber Culture in Mexico") tenta- 

 tively divided Mexico into a number of rubber districts, the 

 northernmost being that of Tierra Blanca, in the State of 

 Vera Cruz. The number of plantations in this district is small. 

 Among these may be mentioned Hacienda Yale, owned by a 

 number of former students of Yale University, and La Esperanza, 

 first started by Mr. GEO. CULLEN PEARSON, representing British 

 capital. 



Not far from Perez station on the Vera Cruz and Pacific railroad 

 isthePlaya Vicente district, containing several small plantations. 

 In this neighbourhood, along the Papaloapan river, are a number of 

 other rubber plantations which all can go under the name of the 

 Tuztepec district. 



Further south, and not very far from Santa Lucrecia we have 

 the important Trinidad River district. This is often included in 

 the general term of " the Isthmus" but conditions are in many 

 respects different from those on the Isthmus proper. This latter 

 is a very large district comprising the rubber country along the 

 National Tehuantepec railroad, and along the Coatzacoalcos river 

 or its tributaries. 



One of the largest plantations on the Isthmus is Rubio, situated 

 some distance from the township of Minatitlan. It is owned by 

 the Tehuantepec Rubber Company of New York. Its able manager 

 is Mr. A. B. LUTHER, who has had a long Mexican experience, 

 and also has studied conditions in the South American rubber 

 districts. Rubio plantation has some 3,000 acres under rubber. 

 Oaxaquena, Columbia and Del Corte are some of the other large 

 rubber plantations in the district. 



In the Trinidad River district the largest plantation is La Junta, 

 owned by the Mexican Mutual Planters' Association, of Chicago. 

 It has some 4,500 acres under rubber besides a large acreage in 

 coffee and cocoa. Its manager is Mr. J. C. HARVEY, who also is 

 part owner of an adjoining rubber plantation, Buena Ventura. 

 Here Mr. HARVEY, who is very much interested in botany, has a 

 small botanic garden of his own, the only one, in fact in the 

 country. Some fifty different species of palms, a good sized 

 collection of native and foreign orchids, many economic plants, 

 and ornamental trees and shrubs surround his house. The only 

 Para trees yet grown in Mexico are to be found here, and are Mr. 

 HARVEY'S special treasures. Many of the trees and plants in 

 this collection are raised from seeds obtained from Singapore 

 Botanic Gardens, with the Director of which Mr. HARVEY is in 

 frequent correspondence. 



