21G 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, 1910. 



A Gentleman of Chiapas. 



reaching the upper part of the 

 trunk. By tar the greater pro- 

 portion of the product of wild 

 Castilloa trees in Mexico is thus 

 collected by natives having no 

 right t<> it, and sold by them to 

 merchants and shippers who are 

 not concerned as to the source of 

 supply ; but legitimately organ- 

 ized syndicates, operating under 

 government or private conces- 

 sions, have from time to time 

 entered the field. In general, 

 however, the financial results of 

 such ventures have not been com- 

 mensurate with the difficulties and 

 risks involved. Little or nothing 

 has hitherto been done by own- 

 ers of large forest blocks in the 

 rubber belt toward the systematic 

 harvesting of the natural crop, 

 but the depredations of roving 

 bands of rubber thieves have in 

 some instances become so seri- 

 ous as to compel the adoption of 

 defensive measures of some sort. 

 Notwithstanding the existence 

 of extensive areas in this depart- 

 ment admirably adapted to rub- 

 ber, the amount planted is insignificant. There are, however, 

 numerous small plantations, generally combined with old estab- 

 lished cacao estates— the cultivation of cacao, by the way, being 

 of much importance here. The majority of these are located in 

 the valleys between the towns of Pichucalco, Juarez and Teapa — 

 the last named being in the state of Tabasco, which here intrudes, 

 in a wedge shape, into Chiapas. Latterly, rubber has replaced, 

 to some extent, the socalled "madre de cacao" (Erythrina sp.) 

 commonly used as shade for cacao, and seems to thrive in such 

 company. In other instances rubber has been planted for the 

 same purpose in conjunction with the "madre de cacao," the 

 arrangement adopted in the best examples of such practice be- 

 ing as follows : 



A— B— c— B— A. 



A representing rubber, B "madre de cacao," and C cacao; 

 and so on throughout each row. Apart, however, from the fact 

 that the Castilloa, by reason of its deciduous habit, is not a 

 good shade tree, interplanting of the same with cacao has been 

 condemned by experts as being liable to introduce insectal and 

 fungoid infection. 



There are mi available authentic records of rainfall in Pichu- 

 calco, but certain physiographical features would indicate a 

 somewhat greater precipitation than that occurring in Palenque— 

 probably something like 120 or 150 inches per annum. The 

 elevation of the town of Pichucalco is 114 meters above sea 

 level. 



Department of Tonala. 



In the installment of this paper first printed mention was 

 made of two or three rubber plantations in Tonala. An addition 

 which may be made to the list is "La Aurora" estate, established 

 by .Mr. A. Zwanziger and sold by him a year or two ago to the 

 present owners. It was twice destroyed by fire, and out of 

 the original plantings there are not now more than a few 

 thousand trees left, these being about six years old. About 

 200 acres were also planted to rubber in 1908 near Sesecapa, on 

 the border line between the departments of Tonala and Soco- 

 nusco, by Messrs. Cueto & Co., a large mercantile house of 

 Tonala and Tuxtla Gutierrez. 



In Conclusion. 



Economic progress in Chiapas, with all its latest potentialities 

 in agricultural, forestal, and mineral wealth, has been retarded 

 by nothing SO much as by lack of transport facilities. Thus, 

 the inaccessibility of some of the richest regions has preserved 

 them in a "splendid isolation," and until means of communication 

 shall have brought them within measurable reach of commercial 

 enterprise, they must remain merely "fertile solitudes." With the 

 exception of the recently constructed wagon road from Jalisco, 

 on the Pan American railway, to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital 

 1 if the state, and some stretches between the towns of San 

 Cristobal (the former capital) and Comitan, Chiapas is without 

 roads, in the common acceptation of the term. Between all 

 points in the interior the mails are carried on the shoulders of 

 Indians-. 



The Pan American railway is to undergo forthwith large 

 improvements, so that rapid expansion of industrial activity 

 (in the Pacific coast is thus assured. On the Gulf side, including 

 the extensive central plateau, the prime necessity, to the same 

 end, is the removal of the sandbar at the entrance to the harbor 

 of Frontera and of a similar obstruction at the confluence of 

 the Grijalva and Usumacinta rivers some ten miles above. 

 Both these fine waterways would then be open to navigation 

 for distances of respectively 100 and 150 miles inland; and it 

 may readily be conceived what an impulse such a condition 

 would give, not only to the trade of the port of Frontera, but 

 to the general development of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco. 



A LETTER FROM "LA ZACUALPA." 



To the Editor of The India Rubber World: On receipt of 

 the February number of your journal I was surprised, and at the 

 same time exceedingly gratified, to read the article on "Castilloa 

 Rubber in Chiapas (Mexico)," by Mr. J. L. Hermessen, and I 

 desire to thank you, and express my appreciation of the clear, 

 concise, and absolutely fair manner in which the Zacualpa proper- 

 ties and methods are described by the author, wdiich stands out 

 all the more prominently in our minds because of the half-truths 

 and misleading sensational stories published recently in certain 

 magazines and newspapers. - - - 



It is with sorrow that I have to report to you the death of one 

 of my associates in the Zacualpa properties — Mr. John W. Butler 

 — who held the office of president of La Zacualpa Rubber Planta- 

 tion Co. for over ten years. Mr. Butler died on December 15, 

 1909, aged 76 years. Yours very truly, 



0. H. HARRISON, 

 [President La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation Co.] 

 San Francisco, February 19, iqio. 



A NOTE ON "EL ROSARIO." 



To the Editor of The India Rubber World: I want to 

 express my personal appreciation of the article in your February 

 issue, entitled "Castilloa Rubber in Chiapas (Mexico)." I am 

 glad that you are publishing things as they actually are in that 

 section. I have just returned from "El Rosario" and found 

 things in very line shape, not only on this plantation, but on the 

 others mentioned by Mr. Hermessen. I would like to suggest 

 that our company owns 9,340 acres, instead of 7,500 as stated, 

 and that we have about 800 planted, instead of 600 acres. We 

 are clearing a 2,000 acre tract for rubber planting in May, and we 

 expect to plant about the same amount next year. I feel that 

 we have a great section in the Soconusco district and that our 

 companies down there are going to "make good." 



W. C. STEPHENS. 



[Secretary St. Paul Tropical Development Co. — Plantation 

 "El Rosario."] 

 St. Paul, Minnesota, February to, ioio. 



Tires as Insulation.— According to electricians, one of 

 the safest places in a thunder storm is in an automobile, the 

 rubber tires serving to insulate and protect the occupants of the 

 :ar perfectly— ./vY?w/>«/><t Paragraph. 



