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difficulty of importing seed from the East without definite knowledge 
as to the character and latex-producing powers of the trees from 
which they have been obtained. There is thus always a danger 
that trees which yield seeds quickly may not be the best latex 
roducers. Two old trees of true Hevea brasiliensis have recently 
een discovered in a wild portion of the Trinidad Botanic Gardens, 
and careful experiments as to the latex production of these trees and 
of other undoubted Para rubber trees in the experimental plots are 
being made so that before long the island will possess accurate data 
as to the yield of its own trees from which a supply of seeds will be 
available 
Despite the somewhat low rainfall of Trinidad, which in the past 
year was considerably below the average, Para rubber appears to 
flourish, and I saw some promising young trees on one o 
Lamont’s plantations at Palmiste. Ceara rubber and the other 
Manihot rubbers find but little favour in the West Indies, and it 
seems that the rubber industry generally will always be pursued 
under more difficult conditions than in the East owing to the lack of 
cheap labour and the difficulty of obtaining experienced tappers. 
Cocoanuts.—The Cocoanut industry is rapidly rising in importance 
as an object of agricultural activity in the West Indies owing to the 
good prices which are being realised for nuts and copra. Flourishing 
lantations exist on the windward side of Trinidad, and others are 
ing established at various places around the coast. At present the 
demand for nuts for planting is far in excess of the supply. 
The diseases of Cocoanuts due to insects and fungi occupied the 
attention of the Conference. The Bud-rot disease described by 
r, d\orer is @ serious parasitic disease of bacterial origin and is pre- 
valent in Trinidad, and great care is being taken to destroy all trees 
affected by the disease. Mr. Urich dealt with the numerous insect 
sts, the most serious being the beetles which bore into the stems. 
nsects no doubt also aid in the dissemination of the Bud-rot fungus. 
Manurial experiments with Cocoanuts have been started under the 
control of the Board of Agriculture in Trinidad and Tobago but no 
results have yet been published. 
An account was also given by Messrs. Tempany & Jackson of the 
