March I, igio.' 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



215 



condition. Samples of rubber from the "Florida" plantation of 

 the Wisconsin Rubber Co., exhibited at Olympia, London, in 

 1908, won high praise, and, to quote Mr. H. Hamel Smith, editor 

 of Tropical Life, "showed what excellent nerve and color 

 Castilloa can turn out when prepared by scientific methods." 



The Chiapas Rubber Plantation Co., of Berkeley, California, 

 own an extensive tract between the towns of Salto de Agua and 

 Palenque, comprising the estates of "San Leandro," "Santa Is- 

 abel," "San Luis," and "San Benito," aggregating 25,000 acres, 

 of which area, however, only about one-fifth is under cultivation. 

 The approximate total number of planted rubber trees on the 

 property is 1,000,000, all set out in light forest shade, the ground 

 never having been burned. Tlie age of the oldest trees is seven, 

 and of the youngest three years. The present manager, Mr. 

 W. D. Plant, in a comprehensive series of tapping experiments, 

 has amassed a large amount of useful comparative data on yields 

 of trees under varying conditions. He has tried various coagu- 

 lants, including corrosive sublimate, which produced a very 

 white rubber that did not become discolored by oxidization, as 

 Castilloa ordinarily does; but the extremely poisonous nature 



1.000 more this year; "La Arena," of the Chacamax Plantation 

 Co.; and the "San Marcos" and "San Pedro" plantations. The 

 town of Monte Cristo is actually in the state of Tabasco, but all 

 the plantations named are in Chiapas, the Usumacinta river 

 forming the boundary. Near here are the famous historic ruins 

 of Palenque. The total number of planted rubber trees in the 

 department cf Palenque might be put, at a rough estimate, at 

 between 9,000,000 and ic,ooo,ooo. 



About two years ago the Camara Agricola de Palenque (Palen- 

 que Chamber of Agriculture) was formed at Salto de Agua, to 

 promote agricultural interests. Its first president was Mr. H. H. 

 Markdey, who was reelected in 1908. During the first year meet- 

 ings were convened every month, and later, for a while, every 

 three months ; but of late none have taken place. At first the 

 society included representatives of various lines of agriculture, 

 but before long it automatically reduced itself to a community 

 of rubber planters. A proposal was made to convert it into 

 a local branch of the Rubber Planters' Association of Mexico, 

 but that body itself, despite the heroic efforts of a few members, 

 seems now to have passed out of existence. 



A VIEW ON THE PLANTATION "JULIAPA." 

 Rubber 2 l / 2 years old. [Hidalgo Commercial and Plantation Co.] 



of this agent would bar its general use. Rubber coagulated with 

 acetic acid had proved tacky. 



On the "San Francisco" plantation of the Rio Michol Rubber 

 Plantation Co., of San Francisco, California, planting in partial 

 shade has likewise been adopted. Nursery stock was used in 

 these cases, seeding being obviously impracticable under such 

 conditions. 



Adjoining the above mentioned estate is the "San Carlos" 

 plantation of the Palenque Rubber and Commercial Co., of San 

 Francisco, where, however, but a few hundred acres have as 

 yet been planted. 



The measured rainfall in the Rio Michol district during the 

 twelve months ending June 30, 1909, was 113. 17 inches. 



On the Usumacinta river, in the vicinity of the town of Monte 

 Cristo, are several plantations, including the "Chullipa" estate of 

 the Mexican Rubber Culture Co., of Portland, Oregon, managed 

 by Mr. A. B. Mullay, with some hundred acres under cultiva- 

 tion ; the "Monte Cristo" plantation of the Monte Cristo Rubber 

 Plantation Co., of Greeley, Colorado, with 900 acres planted ; 

 "La Castilloa," on which 500 acres were planted in 1908 and 



Department of Pichucalco. 



Nature has been lavish in her gifts throughout the state of 

 Chiapas, and nowhere more so than in the department of Pichu- 

 calco ; but its resources have as yet been exploited to only a very 

 limited extent. As a member of a party whose business it was 

 to make a reconnaissance of a tract containing about 180 square 

 miles the writer had opportunities for study, at close range, of 

 one of the most favored sections of this province. The work 

 involved a five days' tramp, on foot, through jungle and forest, 

 riding being impossible on account of the dense undergrowth. 

 Frequent examination of the soil proved it to be of a mean 

 depth of about four feet — an intensely black, porous loam, with 

 a superimposed layer of humus, the beds of the deeper arroyos 

 draining the land, revealing substrata of sand, gravel, and meta- 

 morphic clay. 



Mahogany and cedar trees of great girth were abundant, as 

 were also wild rubber trees; but every one of the latter had been 

 tapped and severely mutilated. Many bore marks of the use 

 of spurs, or pole climbers, such as telephone linemen carry, for 



