October 1, 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



meteorological records as made at EI Palmar Estates during 

 the past three years: 



Ave. Mini. .\ve. Max. 



Inches. Temp. Temp. 



January 4 60 dog. F. 81 deg. F. 



leUruary 3 60 deg, F. 82 dcg. F. 



March 4 65 deg. F. 87 dcg. F. 



April 3 70 deg. F. 92 deg. F. 



May 5 75 deg. F. 95 deg. F. 



June 15 72 deg. F. 92 deg. F. 



July 22 70 deg. F. 90 deg. I- . 



.August 20 75 deg. F. 92 deg. F. 



September 22 72 deg. F. 88 deg. F. 



October 18 68 dcg. F. 85 dcg. F. 



Xovenibcr 5 65 deg. F. 83 dcg. F. 



December 3 62 deg. F. 80 deg. F. 



Rainfall 124 inches. 



Both higher and lower temperatures have been recorded 

 during the period under consideration — but the extremes 

 were but a degree or so — nor are tlie annual variations of 

 rainfall very great, not exceeding fifteen inches. 



.\t Buena Ventura the rainfall over a period of 14 years 

 shows an average of some twenty inches less, the variation 

 annually ranging from 90 to 115 inches, tho the average 

 atmospheric humidity throughout the year is greater, with 

 a lesser rainfall, owing to less marked dry periods and a 

 higher average of cloudy days, caused by proximity to oceanic 

 effects. This data may be said to fairly characterize the best 

 of the rain forest districts of Spanish .America north of the 

 Isthmus of Panama fronting the .Atlantic or Caribbean sea. 



Our few trees at liuena \'entura are growing in a dark 



Hevea Tree at Buena Ventura. 



loam soil underlaid with a light yellow somewhat porous clay. 

 At San Selerrio, in very dark claj- loam underlaid at varying 

 •depths with a very light colored stratified clay, and in some 

 instances with a rotten shale-like formation into which many 

 tree roots penetrate and upon which several Hc^'ea trees 



some seven or eight years of age are in a most flourishing 

 condition and are being tapped with most gratifying results, 

 several thousand one year plants are also in a healthy state. 

 At EI Palmar the soil is the regular Cordoba coffee soil, 

 a chocolate colored granular soil underlaid by a bright red 

 porous clay. Here some 50,000 one, two and approaching 

 three-year trees are also in a line healthy state ; — one feels 

 inclined to say, hard to beat anywhere. Some years since I 

 visited the Batavia Estates, situated in the State of Oaxaca 

 in the Tuxtepec district, and I saw there a few very fine trees 

 of llevca, then some six or seven years of age; and at La 

 Junta Estates some Hei-ea trees were growing vigorously 

 when last seen by me some years ago. In short, I have no 

 knowledge of any Hevea planted within the tropical rain 

 forest districts of south-eastern .Mexico that has failed to 

 flourish, tho I believe that in several instances where a 

 few trees have been planted and neglected they have dis- 

 appeared in time, undoubtedly owing to the attacks of gophers 

 or deer. 



A NEW CASTILLOA TAPPING KNIFE. 



/~\XE of the objections to methods that have been used in 

 ^^ the past for tapping the Castilloa is that the trees were 

 often left in such condition that they were either permanently 

 injured and died, or re()uired a long time in wihch to fully 

 recover and heal over the wound left by the tapping process. 

 Plantation men have been striving for a number of years to 

 produce an instrument that would successfully tap trees and 



still leave them in a 

 healthy condition. The 

 secretaries of the Obispo 

 Plantation, Walter E. 

 HoIIoway and D. H. 

 Gardner, have designed 

 a new knife which, it is 

 said, will allow the in- 

 cision to be made in such 

 a manner as to permit 

 perfect flow and the most 

 rapid healing of the 

 wound. 



Instead of cutting out 

 a piece or strip of the 

 bark in the usual way, the 

 bark is merely raised from the tree sufficiently to permit the 

 escape of the latex, after which it can be closed down to its 

 original position and allowed to grow fast. Instead of the large 

 ridge which results from the healing process following the usual 

 method, there is very little scar left by the new process after 

 the parts are united. This is a great advantage, since it permits 

 a continuous tapping of the tree immediately above or below, 

 or even directly on top of the previous cut. In other methods 

 the scars are often so large that they prevent an unobstructed 

 (low of the latex if the tree be tapped near the old wound. In 

 lime the tree becomes so covered with these old wounds that 

 it is rendered valueless. 



One excellent feature of this new knife is that it is provided 

 willi a movable gauge attached with thumb screws behind the 

 cutting edge, so that the teeth can be quickly adjusted to the 

 proper depth for a tree of any age. This prevents the knife 

 from cutting too deeply through the bark, which contains the 

 latex, and from severing the cambium. The equipment is light 

 and is convenient to carry. 



Should be on every rubber man's desk — Crude Rubber and 

 Compounding Ingredients; Rubber Country o£ the Amazon; 

 Rubber Trade Directory of the World. 



