May I, 1907.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



241 



World's Fair nt St T.f; 



li.-i.i n 



'.lltal.lr 



Taken as a whole, the rubber tree ihat seems to nppcal to the 

 Cuban planter more than any other is the Caslilloa. Probably 

 the most enthusiastic man m all Cuba regarding this tree is 

 Froderico M. Castro, who lives in Havana, anil who during the 



exhibit of rubber 

 gathered from 

 Caslilloa trees 

 then growing in 

 Cuba. He ad- 

 vises their being 

 interplantcd with 

 bananas, and 

 also as a shade 

 for both coflfee 

 and cacao. He 

 also suggests 

 that in tapping 

 the tree, yaniioi 

 or strips from 

 the leaf of the 

 royal pal ni 

 about 8 inches 

 wide be cut, 

 folded length- 

 wise to form a 

 canal, and then 

 tied around thv.- 

 tret under the 

 incisiini. I li c 

 bark canal car- 

 rying the latex 

 down into the 

 pail used for col- 

 lecting. Accord- 

 ing to his ex- 

 perinieuls. if the 

 tapping is done 

 at the full of the 

 moon the tree 

 gives more latex 

 and the inter- 

 vals between the 

 tappings should 

 be from 20 to 

 30 days, which 

 means that the 

 larger trees can 

 be tapped from 

 four to six times 

 during the dry 



lirii'HVTic Growth oi- "Ficus" 



season. No tapping should be done during the rainy season, 

 which lasts about six months. He advises also morning tap- 

 pings, as do the planters everywhere, the straining of the latex 

 through a No. 30 sieve, and air coagulation without the addi- 

 tion of heat, in shallow pans in the shade. 



There are said to be a number of possible rubber producers 

 in the province of Pinar del Rio, called by the natives "goma," 

 "goniero," and "palo babo." Undoubtedly these will all be identi- 

 fied within a year or two, and if of coinmercial value, promptly 

 utilized. There are many places where rirbber is growing, such 

 as Sta Rita plantation, at Baro: Consolation del Sur, in Petro 

 Paso Seco, and a score of others. This is all Caslilloa and 

 sometimes planted in good soil and other times in rocky ground, 

 but always growing in a thrifty manner. 



The unfortunate part of the Cuban rubber cultivation propo- 

 sition is that to-day there is only one producing plantation — 

 away down at the eastern end of the island — and there the chief 

 attention is paid to coffee, cacao, and other crops, and no definite 

 records of rubber are nhtain.nble. This plantation is known as 



"Chrvsofhvi.i.im Cmmite.' 



Olimpo and is owned by Senor .\rturo Mourthe. It is situated 

 some 40 miles from the city of Santiago and in a section where 

 the land is exceedingly rich and well adapted for Caslilloa cu'- 

 tivation. 



I s|>cm a I'lui; lime Tying to get in touch with the Central 



Caucho Co. of 

 Cuba, who in 

 190.? invaded 

 the island with 

 more than a 

 li .1 1 f million 

 Ilcvia seeds 

 and a glowing 

 p r o s p e c tus. 

 They were to 

 at once plant a 

 large tract near 

 Trinidad. San- 

 ta Clara prov- 

 ince, in south 

 central Cuba. 

 It may be all 

 planted and the 

 trees produc- 

 ing, but I could 

 find no one who 

 knew about it. I think I mentioned Edward A. Kummel, who 

 introduced me to the secretary of agriculture. He was formerly 

 manager of the Batavia Co. in Mexico and was so much a be- 

 liever in the future of Cuba that he started the Ocean Beach 

 Fruit Lands Co., at Guadana bay, in the province of Pinar del 

 Rio. Here is already a flourishing American communitj', the 

 colonists planting chiefly oranges, grape fruits, etc. Mr, Kum- 

 mel. always a believer in rubber, got 2,000 healthy Caslilloa 

 plants started, when the cyclone that everybody in Cuba 

 knows about came along and raised the river so high that all 

 but a few dozen of his plants were swept away. Xot at all 

 discouraged, however, he is starting over again, and will un- 

 doubtedly in time have some excellent rubber. My friend 

 Kummel also called my attention to the planting of Ceara 

 rubber 35 miles outside of Havana, at Caimito. where there is 

 a small American colony, but the cyclone is said to have 

 wiped this out. By the way, I do not want to give the im- 

 pression that Cuba has many cyclones, for she does not — not 

 half as many as the United States has of panics, and there is 

 no danger of their seriously interfering with the planting of 

 rubber of any sort. 



Of course the most pertinent questions to the prospective 

 planter are those of acquiring land and the supply of labor. As 

 far as I can see there is no trouble on either score. The gov- 

 ermtient at the present time, as I understand it, is not selling 



■■CRypTOSTEGI.•^" Species. 



I Dotanical Garden at Santiago dc las \"cgas, Cuba. ] 



