RUBBER 7O9 



extended over a week and ended in the death of the tree, 

 which, indeed, might have been felled at the start to 

 facilitate the extraction of the latex. 



But all such trees were huge, old forest trees which 

 had never before been tapped and, when discovered, 

 were drained utterly. Such trees must have grown 

 under very favourable conditions. The nearest Castilloa 

 rubber tree of size might have been 100 yds. or a mile 

 distant. There are few, if any, of such large wild trees 

 left anywhere. But with certain and confirmed know- 

 ledge of such yields, it must appear quite reasonable to 

 estimate (until the contrary was proved) that a 6-year- 

 old cultivated tree in a plantation would yield \ Ib. of 

 rubber per annum, and a 12-year-old tree 2 Ib. 



But to those who have cultivated Castilloas, the mere 

 mention of such yields as I have mentioned from wild 

 trees, however bona fide, must be in the nature of an 

 insult to their intelligence, so I will get back to the 

 proved yield of the Castilloa in cultivation in the most 

 favourable district I am acquainted with, the before- 

 mentioned District of Soconusco in the State of Chiapas. 

 On one estate with which I am very well acquainted the 

 trees range from about 2 years old to about 14 years. 

 No trees under 6 years old are tapped, unless 

 they are being cut out. The trees are tapped twice a 

 year, and the average yield of all ages per tree per annum 

 in dry rubber is a fraction under 4 oz. 



The average yield of trees of various ages may be 

 roughly allocated as follows : 6-year-old trees, 2 oz. of 

 dry rubber; 8 years old, 3 oz.; 10 years old, 4 oz.; over 

 10 years old (if not under shade or dwarfed from having 

 been under shade, or from too close planting), 6 to 10 oz. 

 The average of some 250,000 trees (all too closely planted 

 and some still under shade) which are now being tapped 

 twice a year is, as I have said, a little under 4 oz. per 

 tree. It has been shown by some two years of experiments 

 that the trees yield as much in two tappings per annum 

 as in four or more. The saving in bark waste with two 

 tappings only per annum will be appreciated, considering 

 the width of each cut. 



From trees 12 to 14 years old which have been dwarfed 



