CONTENTS 



SIXTH LETTER. 



DAYS SPENT WITH PROFIT IN SELANGOR 80 



Rubber Plantations at Klang; Distance of Planting-; Age 



at Which Hevea Trees Yield ; The Labor Question ; The 



Chinese as Rubber Planters ; The Selangor Rubber 



Company ; Return to Singapore and Departure for 



Hong Kong. 



ISTHMUS OF TEHAUNTEPEC 



FIRST LETTER. 



ON THE WAY TO THE LAND OF THE CASTILLOA 95 



The Mining City of Zacatecas ; Queretara Where Maxi- 

 milian Was Executed ; Mexican Opals ; The Eternal Snows 

 of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl ; From the City of Mex- 

 ico to Achotal ; Experiences at the Latter Town ; First 

 Sight of Cultivated Rubber. 



SECOND LETTER. 



PROSPEROUS PRIVATE PLANTATIONS 115 



Careful Study of the Situation Proved to Investors that 

 Rubber Would be More Profitable than Coffee; Results 

 of Planting in Favorable and Unfavorable Conditions ; 

 Continual Tapping Showed Latex Given Out by All 

 Trees; Knowledge of Climatic Conditions Neces- 

 sary to Successful Planting; La Junta; The 

 Laborers. 



THIRD LETTER. 



A GRASP ON THE RUBBER PLANTING SITUATION 130 



Clearing and Burning by Contract ; Danger from Fires ; 



Gathering Castilloa Seeds ; Costly Seed Failures ; The 



Journey to Coatzacoalcos ; Morning Glory Vines ; The 



Problem of Tapping and Preparing for Market. 



FOURTH LETTER. 



ACROSS THE ISTHMUS 1 44 



Views of Many Plantations ; Vast Tracts of Land Needing 

 Only Irrigation to Make Them Valuable ; Mexican Laws ; 

 Animals and Insects of the Temperate Zone ; Manner in 

 Which Plantations are Taxed ; The Cow Pea and Vel- 

 vet Bean \Vhich Should Receive the Attention of 

 Rubber Growers. 



