March i, 1910.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



213 



"Castilloa" Rubber in Chiapas (Mexico) — II. 



By J. L. Hermesscn, A. M. I. E. E. 



THE department of Palenque is situated in the extreme 

 northeast corner of the state of Chiapas, and its climate, 

 governed by the influence of the Gulf of Mexico, is dif- 

 ferentiated from that of Soconusco by a considerably greater 

 and more evenly distributed rainfall, and a relatively higher de- 

 gree of atmospheric humidity. 



One of the foremost among the seventeen or eighteen planta- 

 tions in the department is that of "El Chival," owned by the 

 Orizaba Rubber Plantation Co., of Chicago, Illinois, comprising 

 15,000 acres of land on the Tulija river, near Salto de Agua, the 

 chief town of the department. Of this area 2,000 acres have 

 been cleared, and 1,600 acres planted to rubber, while the re- 

 mainder is devoted chiefly to pasturage for some hundred head 

 of cattle. The property is under the management of Mr. P. L. 

 Barrenquy, an able and experienced planter. The oldest rub- 

 ber is six years of age, and numbers between 8,oco and 10,000 

 trees — of sound, clean-barked growth. The estimated total 

 number of trees on the plantation, up to the end of 1908, was 

 600,000. The planting distance adopted at "El Chival" has 

 been 2 x 2}4 meters, representing about 800 trees to the acre — 

 to be gradually thinned out to make a permanent stand of 200 

 trees. It may be remarked here that there is much diversity 

 in opinion and practice in Mexico as to the relative merits of 

 close versus wide planting — the former usually denoting any- 

 thing between 400 and 800 trees per acre, and the latter, 200 

 or less. Since local conditions, comprehended in topography, 

 soil, climate, etc., may vary appreciably in regions equally well 

 adapted to rubber, demanding, by consequence, modifications in 

 cultural methods, it is manifest that consideration of these 

 conditions should in all cases guide the planter's judgment with 

 regard to the above, as to any other practical detail. 



Thus, for instance, where plantations are not subjected to 

 the scorching effect of hot and more or less violent seasonal 

 winds, tending to cause excessive transpiration and hardening 

 of the bark of the trees, wider planting would generally be 

 preferable, for the sake of the gain both in circulation of air 

 about the trees and in ground space for root and branch exten- 

 sion. There seems, however, a 

 tendency on the part of some plant- 

 ers, in Chiapas to go to extremes 

 in this direction ; for it is indis- 

 putable that the absence of surface 

 shade in rubber fields not only in- 

 vites the entrance of noxious 

 grasses, but exposes the rubber 

 trees to other harmful agencies, 

 which, in its natural environment, 

 are either subdued by the surround- 

 ing vegetation or neutralized by 

 opposing elements. 



Instead of throwing up small 

 mounds of fresh soil for the seed, 

 as is done in Soconusco, the prac- 

 tice here is to make holes, about 

 15 inches deep, at each stake (or, 

 where corn is planted as a catch 

 crop, about 1 foot from the corn 

 stalk) immediately after burning, 

 allowing these holes to remain open 

 to the action of the weather until 

 the seeding is done. 



The configuration of the ground 



lends itself to natural drainage. The soil is composed of a 

 loose, black, sandy loam, combined with a small proportion of 

 clay, fragmental masses of calcareous rock appearing -where 

 the forces of denudation and erosion have been must active. 

 The subsoil is of a disintegrated sandstone, through which the 

 roots of the rubber trees penetrate without difficulty. This 

 formation, tending to assist subsurface drainage, seems to suit 

 the rubber well. 



The north side of the property extends up on to a range of 

 well-wooded hills, of no great height, and has been planted 

 up to the commencement of the slope, the abruptness of which, 

 together with the occurrence of much rock, prevents cultivation 

 beyond. The highly beneficial effect of the constantly renewed 

 mulch of decayed vegetable matter and detritus carried down 

 from the forest and deposited by the rains over the lower 

 level of the planting was very noticeable in the superior growth 

 and condition of the rubber, as one viewed the field from a 

 distance, the line of demarcation between the area subjected to 

 this natural fertilizing process and adjacent portions not reached 

 by the same being very distinct. 



The permanent labor force at "El Chival" is recruited from the 

 isthmus of Tehuantepec and from the town of Acayucan, in the 

 state of Vera Cruz, and numbers, on a yearly average, 45 men, 

 while the floating contingent, made up of Indians of the neigh- 

 borhood, has varied between 100 and 150 men, according to the 

 requirements of the season. The daily wage for the Isthmus 

 men is 75 cents (Mexican), with a ration of meat, rice, beans 

 and coffee — costing the plantation about 50 cents per capita — 

 while the local men earn 75 cents to $1, without ration. 



A year or two ago 5,000 Hevea stumps were imported from 

 Ceylon ; of these, 4,000 arrived in good condition, and were inter- 

 planted with bananas on a selected piece of ground. They have 

 not, however, proved a success, and only a few hundred now 

 survive. 



The mean annual rainfall recorded at "El Chival" over a 

 period of five years was about no inches, the maximum pre- 

 cipitation occurring in the months of September and October. 



A VIEW ON "EL DORADO" PLANTATION. 

 Five months old rubber, [The Land Co. of Chiapas (Mexico), Limited.] 



