148 



THE CASTILLOA ELASTICA TREE. 



The Castilloa elastica, or Mexican rubber tree, is between five 

 and six years old when it blooms. Before blooming the tree sheds 

 its leaves. The blossoming season begins in January and con- 

 tinues until April. Clusters of small, whitish blossoms first put 

 forth, and three weeks later the tiny petals fall, leaving a little 

 green centre which gradually enlarges, and is filled with seed 

 points sticking fast to a round disc. The blossoms are as nu- 

 merous as the leaves, and each one has at least twenty seeds 

 about the size of an ordinary pea. When the blooming and 

 seeding time is over the trees put forth new leaves. 



SEEDS. 



The seeds are encased in a shell which is hard while green, but 

 it soon softens into a sticky substance like fish gelatine. The 

 first turning in the ripening process is to a sickly yellow, which 

 gradually changes to a bright red. As soon as the seeds are ripe, 

 with the first rains they begin to fall. This is a busy time on the 

 plantation. The seeds literally cover the ground underneath the 

 trees, and the labourers gather them into sacks and carry them to 

 the nurseries. There they are dumped into pails filled with water 

 and washed thoroughly to detach them from the discs and rid 

 them of the enveloping gelatine substance. When the seeds have 

 been ripe sixty days they will no longer germinate, and to get the 

 best results should be planted immediately after washing, which 

 is done to facilitate handling and prevent them from germinating 

 in the gelatine coating. 



PLANTING. 



There is some difference of opinion among planters as to the 

 best methods of planting, some advocating partial shade, and 

 again some would plant from a nursery previously formed, and 

 others with the seed at stake. Difference of local and climatic 

 conditions is no doubt the cause of this diversity of opinion, as 

 each section calls for different methods. The method adopted on 

 La Zacualpa, and that which has been productive of the best re- 

 sults in that locality, is the following : — 



The land is first surveyed into squares of thirty-three acres 

 each, which includes avenues and roads twenty-four feet wide be- 

 tween them. The roads run in straight lines, and are cleared of 

 all trees and shrubs, thus making them available for the use of 

 the workmen and inspection of the plantation. The roads run- 

 ning north and south are called avenues, and those east and west 

 streets, the former being named and the latter being numbered. The 

 roads are now several miles long, and in order to facilitate trans- 

 portation of the labour to various parts of the plantation, the 

 Company is about to put in a small electric railroad. The land 

 is cleared by cutting down the forest and is then burnt off. Some 

 of the largest trees are left, and most of them escape the fire and 

 send out new foliage, which then acts as partial shade to the 

 young trees. After the burning the land is then staked out to 



