240 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May I, 1907. 



Group of "Manihot Glaziovii" Trees. 



[Property of Dr. F. I. de Vildosola, Secretary of Agriculture.] 



1 was introduced to Secretary Dr. Francisco I. de Vildosola. I 

 found him to be one of the very best types of Spanisli gentleman. 

 He did not speak nnich English, but understood it, and we were 

 able to get together without the slightest difficulty. Dr. Vildo- 

 sola IS a very large land holder and is in office purely for pa- 

 triotic reasons. When he understood my errand to Cuba he 

 at once placed at my disposal all the department records, and 

 presented me with books and pamphlets and a fine sectional map 

 of the island. He was well up on nidia-rubber and talked in- 

 terestingly on plantings ot Hcvca, CasiUloa, Maiiihot. etc. He 

 also spoke of the native Ficus trees and said that the one called 



liy the natives '■jagucy hemlira," and vvliich he identified as Piciis 

 laduhi, is the only one that produced commercial india-rubber^ 

 that is, rubber had been secured from the latex that brought 60 

 cents per pound when Para rubber was somewhere about the 

 dollar mark. It is also claimed that the wood of the tree is 

 useful, while the roots yield a fiber used by surveyors in making 

 chains or lines. 'Iliese trees have never been cultivated, but 

 either grow wild or are set out for ornament and arc said to be 

 abundant in the Isle of Pines. At a later date I expect to have 

 liDth latex and figures as to yield. 



Incidentally, the Doctor secured for me some fine photographs 

 'if Castilloas on an estate at El Aljibes, near Tapaste, in Ha- 

 vana province. These trees are from old plantings of a dozen 

 or more trees, but a very thrifty orchard has sprung up around 

 them of trees that seeded themselves. They have not only found 

 a thoroughly congenial soil, but climate, drainage, and every- 

 thing is right for them. The soil there, by the way, is a dark red 

 loam, very deep and well drained, and the location in the high 

 valley protects them from winds on all sides. Underneath the 

 old trees — in fact, everywhere within reach, where there is shade 

 and moisture^there are thousands of little seedlings growing 

 lliriftily, a native nursery that could easily be developed into a. 

 large plantation. The largest of the trees on this plantation are 

 14 feet in circumference, ,3 feet from the ground, and are from 

 75 to 80 feet high. As far as the records go the original trees 

 were planted back in 1830 from seeds distributed by the bo- 

 tanical gardens of Havana to plantations like El Aljibes — for 

 instance, at Salud, Bijucal, and San Jose de las Vegas. 



Later the secretary wa.i able to secure for me photographs 

 of Manihot planted in 1903 at the Labrador sugar planttition, 

 which looked fairly well, considering they were taken at the 

 time when the trees shed their leaves. These trees did not seem 

 to have sufifcred from the insect that attacks the terminal buds 

 about which Mr. Baker spoke. In answer to many questions, the 

 opinion of the secretttry was that both the Castilloa and the 

 Manihot grew well in Cuba, but he did not know of the Hevea 

 ever having been experimented with enough to prove its fitness 

 or unfitness. I saw the secretary a number of times during my 

 stay in Cuba and he did everything possible to make the secur- 

 ing of information easy, and since my return has been good 

 enough to send me additional information. 



'Ticus Intida(?)" At Entrance to Finca Sax Miccel. 



