332 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^A^ORLD 



[July i, 1905. 



MANHATTAN r^AMTATION. * CAjTlLLOA" TREES QaOJ.MD COVtR£D WITH MOHNINij liLOSY ViNES. 



trees. Next to that comes the Manhattan, with about 140,000 

 trees. This group of plantations lies in the form of an ellipse 

 about five miles long and two miles broad. 



After having visited the typical plantations, collected sam- 

 ples, and secured all the information possible, the whole crowd 

 saw us down to the Cukra pier, where we again embarked on 

 the A'<z/. Jr.. and started down the river on our way back to 

 Bluefields. 



We reached this Americanized city 

 early in the evening and found that a 

 fruiter was starting for New Orleans 

 the next morning and that the gover- 

 nor had promised to hold it for us, so 

 that we could not miss it. In the 

 meantime, our friends began to make it 

 easy for us to leave the country. One 

 of the first things to be done in leaving 

 Nicaragua is to secure a passport, 

 which one pays a dollar lor. Mine de- 

 scribed me as being about 35 years old 

 and having red hair, but as long as it 

 sufficed to let me out of the country I 

 didn't care, particularly as the descrip- 

 tions of the Importer and the Manu- 

 facturer were even less flattering. 



I have already mentioned that the 

 custom house at Bluefields is situated 



at the bluflf. some miles from the city Manhattan plantation 



itself, and it was while going over to the fruiter that was to 



take us to New Orleans that we saw a very curious instance of 



the peculiar concessions that are held by various companies. It 



seems that a steamer which was not one of the elect had come 



down there for a load of bananas. In other words, it didn't be- 

 long to the company having the navigation concession. It was. 



therefore, not allowed to go up into the rivers or lagoons, but, 



not to be beaten, the steamer's captain sent up to certain plant- 

 ers who promptly despatched a huge scow load of bananas to 



the blufT where the steamer lay. 



The government caused the scow 



to be laid alongside of its wharf 



while it discussed the unlawfulness 



of the proceeding, and while the dis 



cussion was going on, marched 



something like a hundred soldiers 



onto the gunwale ol the scow, which 



careened it just enough to cause the 



water to flow over the low bulwarks 



and sink the boat, bananas and all. 

 I tried to get a photograph of the 



sinking scow, but was deterred by a 



gentleman who said that I might 



get in trouble with the customs of- 

 licers and get my stufT held up if I 

 Ljave evidence of being too active a 

 ;)Hrlisan. This was no idle dream, 

 lor I had trouble enough with the 

 officials anyhow, although I was not 

 taking anything out of the country 

 except what I had brought in, with 

 the exception of a few samples of 

 lubber and some Castilloa twigs 

 that I was taking home in order to 

 liscover by what disease they were 

 attacked. 

 Speaking of diseases of Castilloa 

 tree, I noticed in a yard surrounding one of the plantation 

 houses that numbers of trees were affected by scale, some of 

 them quite badly, the insect appearing to have practically de- 

 stroyed the lactiferous tubes so that the outer bark presented 

 a curious shrunken appearance. This scale, as far as I was 

 able to observe, only appeared where neither undergrowth nor 

 weeds were in evidence round the foot of the tree. All of the 

 trees thus affected were uprooted and 

 burned. I, however, brought samples 

 of the stems back to the United States, 

 and through the courtesy of the ex- 

 perts at the Connecticut agricultural 

 experiment station at New Haven, and 

 the bureau of entomology, at Washing- 

 ton, was able to identify the disease 

 and alsodiscover simple remedies. The 

 reports of the two entomologists fol- 

 low : 



Dear Sir ; Your letter with specimens 

 has been referred to mc. The tree seems to 

 be attacked by two species of scale insects ; 

 the large brown one is a I.tcanium, and the 

 small, glassy, greenish yellow one is an As- 

 teroUcaniiim. We do not have the literature 

 by which I can determine them specifically. 

 From a knowledge of simil.ir species found 

 in this part of the country I should expect 

 that a thorough spraying with kerosene emul- 

 DWELLINQ HOUSE. ^j^^ ^^ whale oil soap would destroy them, 



though of course experience is needed to know just how strong to make 

 the mixture. I should try some of these made in the proportion recom- 

 mended in published bulletins, and if it did not kill them I should use 

 somewhat stronger mixtures. Very truly yours, w. L, britton. 



State Entomalogisl, The Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station. 

 New Haven, Connecticut, January ^5, 1905. 



Dear Sir : - - - The scale insects upon the twigs which you sent 

 represent the AV^^W\r\'}.^A^Q.3.\i{Asterohcanium pustulans). and I.enaci- 

 odiaspis rtigosus (?). This Astfrolecanxum is very common ard veiy in- 



ROAD THROUGH MANHATTAN PLANTATION, AMONG CASTILLOA" TREES. 



