308 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 



1904. 



THE RUBBER CULTURAL INTEREST. 



YIELD OF TWENTY YEAR OLD " HEVEA " TREES. 



IN the Ceylon Observer of April 11 Mr. R. W. Harrison re- 

 ported in detail the result of tapping some 20 year old 

 Para rubber (Hevea) trees on the Culloden estate, in 

 Kalatura district, Ceylon, which cannot fail to attract 

 attention. Four trees, particularly selected for experiment for 

 this record, he says "have been tapped regularly since 1891, 

 every known method of tapping having been tried at some 

 time or other." The tapping was begun on January 5. Single 

 oblique cuts were made, about 6 inches apart, around each 

 trunk, extending not higher than 6 feet from the ground. 

 The same cuts were reopened on every alternate day until 15 

 tappings had been made of each tree. Then a second series 

 of cuts was opened, higher up, and the cuts were reopened for 

 the same number of days. The second series of tappings was 

 somewhat disappointing, as the weather had turned very dry, 

 "and possibly better results might have been obtained if the 

 tapping of the upper section had been delayed a month or six 

 weeks." The results obtained were as follows: 



Trees. Lower Section. U]»per Section. Total. 



A g lb. 4 oz. 51b. o oz. 141b. 4 oz. 



B n "o" 4" 12" 15" 12" 



C 5 " 8 " 1 " 12 " 7 " 4 " 



D 12 " S " 4 " o " 16 " 8 " 



Total 53 lb. 12 oz. 



Average per tree 13 " 7 " 



The four trees differed widely in size. Three of them meas- 

 ured in girth as follows, 3 feet from the ground : 



A B C 



8 feet. 7 feet 6 inches. 5 feet 11 inches. 



The fourth tree divides naturally, at 2 feet from the ground, 

 into three stems, the respective girths of which, at 3 feet 

 from the ground, are : 4 feet 8 inches, 4 feet 4 inches, and 6 feet 

 4 inches. 



Mr. Harrison intends tapping the same trees again this year, 

 in August and September, and recording the results. 



THE OBISPO RUBBER PLANTATION CO. 



[Hacienda de San Silverio El Obispo, stale of Oaxaca, Mexico. Office : No, 15 

 William street, New York.] 



The shareholders chose by ballot for the annual inspection 

 this year Mr. John A. Schauweker, a business man of Cleve- 

 land, Ohio, who reached the plantation in February, finding in 

 charge Mr. Maxwell F. Riddle, treasurer of the company and 

 general manager of the estate. Mr. Schauweker reported 670 

 acres in rubber, from six months to 2^ years old and in good 

 condition. Some of the rubber is now too large to permit 

 " side crops " on the same ground, but some other land is de- 

 voted to such crops. He reports the production during the 

 year of about 5000 bushels of corn and 100 tons of rice. Con- 

 siderable clearing was in progress, to prepare for planting this 

 year. 



BATAVIA COMPANY, INC. 



[Plantation " Batavia," near Santo Domingo, district of Culcatlan. state of 

 Oaxaca, Mexico. Office : Wells Building. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. See The 

 India Ruuuek Wohi.p, March 1. 1904 — page 185.] 



The first annual inspection of Batavia plantation under its 

 present management was made by Ben L. Edgarton, of Osh- 

 kosh, Wisconsin, as representative of the shareholders in the 

 company. He reached the property in the latter part of Feb- 

 ruary. He reports nearly 60 acres of rubber growing well, 

 some of it planted in 1900, with 70,000 nursery seedlings for 

 planting this year. Trees 3J2 years old measured 31 feet high 



and 23^ inches in girth 6 feet from the ground. Over 15.000 

 coffee trees are in bearing; at the time of Mr. Edgarton's visit 

 the year's yield had been 30,125 pounds, and the gathering was 

 not quite complete. Since July 40,869 coffee trees had been 

 set out. Considerable vanilla had been planted. An experi- 

 mental garden of 15 acres has been opened for the study of 

 other tropical plants. Edward A. Kummel is the plantation 

 manager (administrador). 



MEXICO RUBBER CO. OF PROVIDENCE. 



[Plantation " Estrella," state of Oaxaca. Mexico. Office : No. io Weybosset 

 street, Providence, Rho e Island.] 



This company has been referred to hitherto in these pages as 

 La Estrella Coffee Co. The business was established in 1898, 

 to engage in coffee growing. There are now growing about 

 250.000 coffee trees, from 3 to 6 years old. besides which about 

 60,000 rubber trees have been planted. On February 24, 1904, 

 toe stockholders voted to make rubber culture the principal 

 business, and therefore amended the name of the company, as 

 printed at the heading of this article. It is proposed to in- 

 crease the number of rubber trees to 500,000, to provide for 

 which an issue of bonds has been voted. 



LARGE YIELD OF " CASTILLOA." 

 The amount of rubber that can be taken from one tree has 

 been the subject of much conjecture and the source of many 

 conflicting statements. It is therefore with satisfaction that 

 we here reproduce a photograph of a wild Castilloa elastica 

 from which 26 pounds of rubber were taken in 1902. The tree 

 is on a private plantation on the west coast of Guatamala, and 

 is thought to be about thirty years old. The 26 pounds came 

 from two tappings, and in no way injured the tree, as it is still 

 healthy and yielding rubber. Just what condition of dryness 

 the 26 pounds was in when the weights were taken there is no 

 means of knowing, but there would be at least 20 pounds of 

 bone dry rubber. 



PROLIFIC CASTILLOA" TREE IN NICARAGUA. 



