372 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1903. 



On my return to the city of Mexico almost the first people 

 that I met were Messrs. Warren and William Fish, Mr. Charles 

 E. Sieler, Mr. S. D. Dorman, and Dr. W. S. Cockrell, all of 

 whom have interests down in the Trinidad river district. I 

 had met all of the gentlemen before, with the exception of the 

 last named, and as he has been interested in rubber cultivation 

 for nine years, I was glad to get an expression of opinion from 

 him. He is a very earnest advocate of close planting. 1 be- 

 lieve he laid it down as a rule that the distances between the 

 trees should be 6 feet and 6 inches. He has also gone into the 

 subject of smothering the grass by the use of the cow pea, and 

 strongly recommends the whippoorwill variety. He also said 

 that his own observations proved that when the Castilloa was 

 planted in a soil that consisted of a thin layer of loam over 

 gravel, the trees did very well for three or four years, and after 

 that seemed not only to stop 

 growing, but that they pro- 

 duced very little late 1 . 



His remarks remind me that 

 in transferring my notes I left 

 out my visit to " Filisola," a 

 plantation that is not only an 

 acknowledged failure, but that 

 is practically abandoned. As 

 the record of failure is often 

 of more value than is the story 

 of any number of successes, I 

 am going to add it right here. 



It was hot — awfully hot — as 

 we climbed up the hillside to 

 the rubber trees. On the way 

 we walked in single file, con- 

 stantly thrashing our leggings 

 with switches to dislodge the clinging pinoleos. On the rolling 

 ground above the landing we found a stand of trees, said to be 

 7000 in number, planted about twelve feet apart. Most of them 

 were in the sun, but quite a lot were in among banana trees, and 

 had good shade. Those in the sun were knee deep in grass, 

 which was not of one year's growth, but showed a permanent 

 sod. Those in the shade were free from grass. All of the trees, 

 h jwever, looked aged, not in size, but from the wrinkled condi- 

 tion of the bark, and the thin gray lichen that covered it. Yet 

 those trees were but seven years old. They yielded some latex, 

 but the most optimistic seller of rubber planting stock, had he 

 seen them, would not dare predict that they would ever grow an- 

 other foot. They looked matured, finished, discouraged, and 

 a physical examination of the soil explained it. A thin leaf 

 mold, then sandy clay with a trace of iron, then clay, and the 





: 



TREES ON " FILISOLA. 

 TPhoto Copyright by C. B. Waite.] 



whole as dry as a smoked herring was what it showed. A 

 variety of opinions were put forward as to the cause of the fail- 

 ure of this venture— mismanagement, poor soil, bad seed, grass, 

 etc.— but to my mind the soil told the whole story. 



Since my return to the United States, I have so many in- 

 quiries concerning the cow pea that I want to add a word con- 

 cerning it. The botanical name of the ordinary variety is the 

 Vigna kant'aing. It is one of the well known leguminous plants 

 of the southern states, grown partly for fodder and partly for 

 hay. It makes the land richer because it returns to it so much 

 of the mineral matter taken from the soil, and in addition much 

 nitrogen taken from the air. There are a number of varieties 

 used through the southern states, such as the "clay," the " un- 

 known," and the " whippoorwill." The advantages of the cow 

 pea are, it is a nitrogen gatherer ; it shades the soil in summer, 



leaving it friable and loose ; it 

 has a large root development ; 

 is adapted to almost any sort 

 of soil ; stands heat and sun- 

 shinewell; and if sown thickly, 

 will by its rapid growth and 

 shade effectually smother all 

 weeds, thus serving as a cleans- 

 ing crop. 



There is another plant which 

 rubber planters might well 

 look into, and that is the vel- 

 vet bean,— the Mucuna pru- 

 viens (var. utilis). This plant 

 comes originally I think, from 

 Tampa, Florida, and no doubt 

 the Florida experiment station 

 could tell all about it. It is 

 said to have even a more luxurious growth than the cow pea, and 

 produces a great amount of vine, and a large yield of seeds. It 

 covers the ground with so heavy a vine that it is reported to 

 have killed temporarily even the cocoa and Johnson grasses. 



When one is in a foreign country, and almost ready to start 

 for home, and a bit homesick at that, there comes a moment 

 when all deterrents are brushed aside, and one bolts. I had 

 planned several days sightseeing, and a stop off on the way, 

 but instead I bolted. 1 met all sorts of nice chaps on the return 

 journey, yet it was a long week that elapsed ere I sighted the 

 skyscrapers of New York. Now that I am here, I wish some- 

 what that I had stayed a trifle longer, and I find myself yearn- 

 ing again for the open air life, the strange experiences, and the 

 glimpses of nature, luxuriant, triumphant. Will this wishful 

 attitude draw me back there next winter — I wonder. 



IlI.lSi >I.A " IN 1 rs 1 \\ MY D us. 

 [Photo Copyright by C. B. Waite.] 



'FILISOLA" WATER FRONT AT PRESENT. 

 Photo I opj right by C. B. Waiie.J 



