i88 



Society of Arts, the French successfully introduced the seeded va- 

 riety into Martinique, as in that year Mr. Robley, the Governor of 

 Tobago, imported from the French Island plants which he grew 

 with the understanding that they were of the seedless variety, but 

 was greatly disappointed when they turned out to be full of seeds 

 and consequently worthless, according to his light. These intro- 

 ductions, however, occasioned but little notice, and when Captain 

 Bligh in 1793 successfully brought the Tahiti fruit he was uni- 

 versally given the credit for the first introduction. It may be that 

 the presence of the inferior seeded kind was the cause of the Eng- 

 lish in those islands petitioning for the importation of the true or 

 seedless breadfruit, whose utility they were just beginning to ap- 

 preciate through contact with the writings of Dampier, Anson, 

 Byron, and Cook. 



( To he continued. ) 



THE CULTURE OF THE CENTRAL AMERICAN 



RUBBER TREE. II.* 



( Continued from Bulletin for July. ) 



By O. F. Cook, Botanist in charge of Investigations in Tropical 



Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



Improvement of Rubber trees by Selection. 



Instead of being able to dispense with agricultural knowledge, 

 skill, and caution, the rubber planter needs an extra supply of 

 these, since, without the advantage of adequate experience, he has 

 the added responsibility of choosing favourable natural conditions, 

 applying correct cultural methods, and securing the plants most 

 suitable for the circumstances under which he must operate. That 

 American planters have given their attention so exclusively to 

 Castilloa, and those of the East Indies to Hevea, is not the result 

 of any demonstration of the cultural superiority of the one tree or 

 the other, and the desirability of many other species reported as 

 promising remains to be determined. It is entirely possible that 

 that no one species will be found to have a superior value under 

 all conditions and be planted to the exclusion of all others. Rub- 

 ber, like starch, is produced in nature under varied conditions, 

 ranging between deserts and swamps. The number of cultivated 

 rubber plants will probably never equal that of the starchy cereals 

 and root crops ; but there is the same practical reason why the 

 cultural requirements, hardiness, vigour, and productiveness of the 

 different rubber plants should be considered, and not merely those 

 of the distinct genera and species, but those also of the differing 

 varieties or races into which each species will be found divisible 

 by cultural selection. 



It has been found possible with many plants to increase the 

 average percentage of starch, sugar, or oil through the planting of 



* Extracts from U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bull. No. 49, Bureau of 

 Plant Indu&try, 



