July i, 1906.3 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



317 



SUGAR CANE FIELD- 



banana, grown in big and little lots for the ITnituil Kniit 



Company. At the end of the trolley 



line was the Constant Spring Hotel, 



where we secured carriages for the rest 



of the journey. The way was hilly, but 



the roads good, and the soil although 



not apparently rich, seemed, under the 



influence of the sun and the abundant 



rainfall, to be very productive. 



The gardens were in a measure a dis- 

 appointment, as they are not large, and 

 have a neglected look, except in parts. 

 This is due to lack of money and not 

 lack of interest on the part of the care- 

 takers, the whole appropriation for the 

 upkeep being 515, gold, a week. I'li- 

 fortunately when the first real experi- 

 ments in rubber culture in Jamaica were 

 undertaken, the Ceara tree was selected 

 as the best fitted for that climate. As 

 far as can be learned, the tree behaved 

 exactly as it did in Ceylon, grew vigor- 

 ously, but as a latex producer was a 

 disappointment. 



There were several specimens of Ficus daslica and Lau- 

 dolphias as well as some fairly good Castilloas. The rubber 

 trees that gave the most promise, however, were Hivca 

 Spruceana and the Ilciea Brasilie?isis. The Spiiurana was 

 particularly thrifty and gave out late.x abundantly. The 

 rubber from it was of a light yellow color and very tough. 

 The trees that we saw were only a remnant of a fine lot, 

 most of which were destroyed by a hurricane that swept the 

 island some little time before. Our guide, by the waj-, who 

 was a negro foreman at the garden, knew the botanical 

 names of all of the plants, and was indeed better posted 

 than any white man that we saw- out there. 



The elevation of the gardens is 370 feet, and there seemed 

 to be plenty of land thereabouts that could be utilized for 

 Hcvea growing. As labor (negro) is very plentiful, and the 

 daily wage 50 cents, and as in addition the laws are as good 

 as anywhere in the North — given no more hurricanes — it 

 would look as if rubber might be made to pay. The soil, as 

 alread}' remarked, is in this part of the island, poor, but 

 royal palms, cocoanuts, ceiba trees, indeed all of the ordi- 



nary growths of the tropics were in evidence. In addition 

 to this, a few miles took one up in the mountains to almost 

 any climate that one could choose, a valuable adjunct to a 

 tropical plantation operated by a white man. 



About six miles from Kingston are the Hope Gardens 

 which are both for botanical specimens and great nurseries. 

 Here are 212 acres, the elevation being 600 to 700 feet. The 

 annual rainfall is 5.4.21 inches and the average temperature 

 77.2°F. Of the rubber trees that are growing in these gar- 

 dens only the Hcvea and the Castilloa are conspicuous. The 

 former does not seem to do well at all, as it is spindling in 

 its growth and far from vigorous. This is undoubtedly due 

 to the comparative dryness of the atmosphere. The Castil- 

 loa, however, showed a fine growth, due no doubt to the 

 fact that it was irrigated. If its vigorous growth means 

 added latex, it opens up a new field for the planting of this 

 tree where there is small rainfall but plenty of water for sur- 

 face work. 



It may not be generally known, but Jamaica has its own 

 rubber producer, a climbing shrub 

 known as the Milk Withe. Its botani- 

 cal name is Forsteronia florihunda (G. 

 Don) and its stem yields a rubber that 

 as long ago as 1891 was valued in Eng- 

 land at 79 cents a pound. That does 

 not mean necessarily that the product is 

 equal to fine Para, although it brought 

 the Para price, for the samples were 

 very dry and showed but little shrink- 

 age. It is a fact, however, that it was a 

 good grade of rubber and if the reports 

 of the first shippers are accurate, the 

 latex is very rich in Caoutchouc. 



To go back a little, the plant is a 

 climbing vine or liane, and grows only 

 in the woods in the interior, chiefly in 

 Manchester and St. Elizabeth counties. 

 The best manner of coagulating was 

 found to be the simple application of 

 heat. So far, it has never been ex- 

 COCOANUT PALMS. ploited commercially, nor is it known 



whether or not the vine is susceptible of cultivation. 



CASTLETON QARDENS. 



