572 



THE INDIA RQBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1912. 



"It would be interesting to isolate plants from these seeds, with 

 a view to ascertaining whether the offspring is constant, or if any 

 variation on Mendelian lines results. 



"Eight additional trees of a similar type, which have lately been 

 tapped on the full herring-bone system for half llic girtli of the 



Ui,L Ut JUL i'lVL loLA.\b.5. IkI.nIDAU. 



Iree, yielded during tlie months of November and December, 

 1911, 45.4 oz. of dry rubber, being an averag% each of 5.7 oz., 

 approximately. 



"The inferior trees have produced very httle seed during the 

 past two years, and all such seed has been collected and for- 

 warded to the Laboratory, to avoid any possible admixture with 

 good types. The policy of the new department has been to plant 

 seeds from authenticated trees which have been proved to give 

 good quality rub- 

 ber and a large 

 yield. Some 10,- 

 000 of these se- 

 lected seeds have 

 been planted out. 

 The Confusa 

 tree has been 

 lopped of all its 

 .branches. 



"The rubber 

 produced by H. 

 confusa and H. 

 paucHiora is of 

 inferior quality ; 

 the latter type 

 hardly possesses 

 any elasticity. 

 Although they 

 show a certain 

 amount of 

 wound response, 

 the yield is very 

 disappointing; it 

 required ten tap- 

 pings of H. con- 

 fusa to obtain 2 

 o z . of dry 

 rubber. 



"A trial ship- 

 ment of this so- 

 called inferior rubber at St. Clair was recently valued at 4.t. 3rf. 

 per lb., fine Para being quoted at 4.?. 6d. to As. Id. 



"The trees were tapped every other day on the following sys- 

 tems : (a) single and double herring-bone on half the girth of 



the tree; (b) single herring-bone on opposite quarters (only on 

 the two largest trees) ; (c) double herring-bone on quarter girth 

 of tree; (d) single herring-bone on quarter girth of tree. 



"Of the above four systems, the last proved more favorable 

 and was less injurious to the tree. The double herring-bone 

 system, with either alternatirg or opposite lines, is apt to cause a 

 place of damage where the gouge meets the vertical line." 



I have quoted this in full because there has been so much in- 

 terest among planters since they have learned that a tree that 

 would pass inspection among many experts as a true Hevea 

 Brasilierisis, was really quite a different Hevca and one that 

 would prove a disappointment as a rubber producer. 



Much of what has been done in rubber planting and in ex- 

 perimental work in Trinidad has already found place in these 

 pages. So far. however, little has been chronicled about planting 

 in the nearby island of Tobago. It is some twenty miles from 

 the larger island and under the same government. It is a 

 romantic spot, with enough in its historic past to make it one of 

 the best known islands of the world. For example, a certain 

 seductive weed, native there, was brought to England by Sir 

 Walter Raleigh, smoked in a pipe, and called Tobago. That we 

 call it Tobacco should not lead us to forget the birth place of 

 "My Lady Nicotine." Were the English properly alert they 

 would rename the island "Tobacco" and its fame would be ever- 

 lasting. One would think that of the thousands who have drawn 

 comfort and inspiration from the pipe, some, at least, would have 

 builded here a shrine, a Mecca of smokers, where they could burn 

 incense of their own special brand and dream in the very heaven 

 of soporifics. But no ; the fact is forgotten ! 



So, too, is the fact that this was the real island of Robinson 

 Crusoe, and not Juan Fernandez in the far away Pacific. To 

 really prove this and appreciate Defoe's story, that is the humor 

 of it, one should do as we did, secure a copy of the book and 



, read it in the hot 



tropical twilight. 

 How poor Robin- 

 son must have 

 suffered in his 

 suit of goat skins, 

 how that huge 

 skin helmet must 

 have heated his 

 head. But the 

 author, used to 

 temperate climes; 

 could not im- 

 agine tropical 

 heat. Could he 

 have visited To- 

 bago, enjoyed its 

 wonderful c 1 i - 

 mate, seen i t s 

 brilliant flowers, 

 its gorgeous 

 birds, its magni- 

 ficient scenery, 

 what a book 

 "Robinson Cru- 

 soe" would be — 

 fascinating 

 though it is as 

 written. 



John Paul 

 Jones lived here 

 for a short time at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Since 

 then nothing of interest has happened — that is, of historic interest. 

 But of commercial — very much. The leading town, Scarborough, 

 with 2,500 inhabitants, has become quite a shipping port, and the 



Cusliltoa ANU C.\c.'^o, Tobago 



, ojnr n-, 

 II TJ -irt) 



