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a creamy fluid, and probably a latex moderately thick will be found 

 the most economical to Trent. 



It is admitted that the cultivator of a Rubber plantation has a 

 difficulty to face, in obtaining his Rubber, as practically there is none, 

 or little experience to guide, and he is in a measure compelled to 

 "work out his own salvation." Experts who have collected Rubber 

 in the forest, cannot be safely employed, as if the methods they employ 

 in the wild woods were adopted on Plantations, there would soon be 

 no trees left to bleed. Experiments should be promoted to enable 

 proprietors to deal with and extract the whole of the Rubber from 

 trees which have from some necessity to be removed, and why this 

 should not be done in the field by certain solvents is a problem to be 

 •studied. Now, the Rubber contained in such trees is probably lost, 

 altogether, while they must contain a large amount of saleable 

 material. 



It has been seen that clean working of Rubber fluids has. as in 

 Ceylon, advanced the price of material prepared by such methods, and 

 it is fairly certain that more profit will accrue if such are adopted, 

 than if haphazard and untidy methods are employed. 



A simple method of obtaining rubber of good quality from 

 Castilloa is to cream the fluids obtained, in two waters, and then 

 after drawing off the second (from below as should always be done) 

 to place the unconsolidated latex in a vessel made of wire gauze 

 placed upon well washed and clean wet sand. The remnant of the 

 fluids in the Rubber will then filter through, and as they disappear 

 the Rubber globules will solidify into a cake of clean Rubber which 

 can easily be removed and hung up to dry. Water should always be 

 used in the vessels used for holding the latex as it issues from the 

 tree, and it should be passed through a fine wire gauze with plenty 

 of water for the first creaming. 



It is important to note that Dr. Weber is an advocate for partial 

 shade, such as our Bulletin has consistently advocated. He writes :- - 

 "All reliable evidence seems to show that the trees grow badly in 

 dense forests, and produce a poor yield of Rubber when grown on 

 open ground. They appear to prosper best when growing up together 

 with other trees, so that the trunk is always shaded, whilsl the top of 

 the tree at least, for a certain time during the day receives the direct 

 rays of the sun. I entertain no doubt, whatever, that the last named 

 condition is most favourable to the growth of the trees."' 



This opinion coincides with our experience both in the Forest and 

 in the Plantation, as it is the condition in which we have observed 

 them to thrive best in the country to which they are indigenous. 

 There can be little doubt that the climate of Trinidad is exceptionally 

 well suited for the growth of this tree, and that given a continuance 

 of the prices of to-day, a good return to those investing in the culti- 

 vation can be confidently expected. 



There will of course be the usual difficulties, but these should be 

 overcome, as the cultivator gains the necessary experience. The best 

 methods of tapping, preparing, harvesting, marketing have all to be 

 Learned. The industry is a new one, but if the progress already made 

 is continued, and there appears to be no reason why it should not, 

 then the prospects of the Rubber industry in Trinidad will certainly 

 be highly promising and possibly fully secure. 



