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submitted to any practical test in order to pass an 

 opinion on their respective merits. By actual compari. 

 sons, however; I have been able to make at Messrs 

 Siemens Brothers & Co^s important works at Charleton- 

 town, and in the opinien of the director of the India 

 Rubber Department of that manufacture of Telegraph 

 and electrical appliances, they were not inferior to the 

 products used at the works. 



I have also visited the India Rubber Gutta-Percha 

 and Telegraph Works Company Limited and have been 

 able to fully realize how important the production of 

 these gums would be for Mauritius, the Seychelles and 

 RodrigueSj considering the almost unlimited demand 

 made for them. Nor is there the least apprehension 

 lest the prices should fall, as the supply is far from 

 being sufficient to meet the daily increasing demand. 



Our waste lands of Mapou, Pamplemousses and 

 Poudre d^Or are admirably suited for the growing of 

 these plants, which if we judiciovisly tapped, might in 

 a few years yield an abundant and lasting supply of 

 excellent gum. 



Amongst the varieties ' best suited for our soils and 

 climates are the Para ru.bber tree (Jlevea BraziliensisJ , 

 the Ceara rubber tree (Manihot Qlaziouvi,) the Lanclol- 

 ])liia Vahea Madagascariensis and several species of 

 cryp-to8tegia also from Madagascar. 



Of the Gutta Percha tribe, the Isonandra Gutta of 

 the Malayan Islands might also succeed. The Bictopsis 

 Gutta is however amons:st all the Gutta trees the one 



