THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October i, 1905. 



-J«-Jt-»T 





CENTHAL PARK, SAN JOSE. 



giving the sun a chance, no doubt something could be done, 

 but unless some such measures were instituted, it would be 

 years before the tree trunks would have bark surface enough 

 to do anything at all. 



That the trouble with the first planting was not due to the 

 presence of the bananas was 

 proved by a look we had at a 

 small plantation run by a Ger- 

 man, where the ground was 

 much better drained and 

 where the trees looked stocky 

 and thrifty. We were also 

 told that on the Northern rail- 

 way on some of the uplands, 

 the planters were putting Cas- 

 tilloa in land that had form- 

 erly been used for bananas 

 and were getting excellent re- 

 sults. 



All of this leads up to what 

 I think I have before written, 

 that a deep, open soil, partic- 

 ularly one that cakes at the surface a little and in which there 

 is no chance for standing water, or nothing more than a very 

 brief inundation, is what the distilioa calls for. 



The interest in the planting of India-rubber in Costa Rica 



NATIVE RUBBER 10 YEARS OLD SURROUNDED BV PLANTED RUBBER AND 

 CHOCOLATE. 



RAILROAD ON THE WAY UP TO SAN JOSE. 



dates back some twelve or fifteen years. As early as 1892 it 

 was reported that the wild trees near the cities and along the 

 coast had been practically exhausted, and that what rubber was 

 gathered came from the more remote mountain valleys. In 

 that year the amount of rubber that came out of the country 



was a trifle over $6000 worth, 

 less than half the amount 

 shipped the preceding year. It 

 was about this lime that the 

 government began to take an 

 interest in the cultivation of 

 rubber and passed laws against 

 tapping the wild trees, and 

 also offered prizes — one for 

 $Sooo and another for $5000 

 ^for the best plantations of 

 Ctislilloa rubber. Both of 

 these prizes were taken in 

 1894 by Minor C. Keith, who 

 installed two plantations near 

 Port Limon, the trees, some 

 25,000 in number being 

 planted with bananas about 150 rubber to the acre. At the 

 time the prizes were awarded the trees were said to be eight 

 or nine years old. When the writer visited Costa Rica no 

 record of them could be found, although had they been cared 



TYPICAL LOWLAND TOWN. 



RUBBER AND BANANAS- 



