374 1Tn&ia*1Rubber Culture in flDejfco, 



previously been grown wild and the large ones had been destroyed by 

 the rubber gatherers, a fact showing, in my opinion, that it was the 

 best place for that culture. I planted about 100,000 trees, having to 

 contend with the scarcity of hands, and with the great difficulty of 

 bringing laborers there, because it was somewhat removed from any 

 settlement, the climate warm and productive of intermittent fevers, and 

 there being, besides, a great number of mosquitoes. 



In 1875 my trees were prospering and in a very satisfactory con- 

 dition; but as I had to abandon the place at that time, when the trees 

 developed, the natives tapped them, destroying them as they do with 

 the large wild trees, and I could not therefore have the advantage of 

 the experience drawn from my plantation. 



I have not heard of any plantation on a larger scale being made in 

 Mexico, except one on the southern coast of Oaxaca, called ' ' Esmer- 

 alda," which I have not seen, and of which I have not reliable 

 information. 



Extracts from my paper on the India-rubber culture in Mexico 

 were published in English by the India-Rubber World, of New York, 

 in its issue of April 15, 1893. 



The demand for India-rubber has increased considerably since my 

 paper was written, while the supply is necessarily diminishing. Every 

 day new applications are being made of that material, as, for instance, 

 tires for bicycles, carriages, and wagons, all of which result in a 

 much larger consumption of that article. In the Para regions, the 

 main source of the supply, the wild India-rubber trees near the rivers 

 have been destroyed, although new ones are growing up, and it will be 

 more difficult and expensive to go to the interior to tap the trees, so 

 that the wild India-rubber trees are being put to contribution in other 

 regions like Asia and Africa, for the purpose of supplying the demand. 

 The price has consequently increased and a good quality of rubber, 

 such as is produced in Mexico, is now sold at $i per pound. 



The United States Consuls in America, Asia, and Africa sent re- 

 ports to the Department of State, during the years 1890 and 1891, 

 in answer to a circular addressed by the same, asking for information 

 on India-rubber culture in the tropical regions of the world, and they 

 all were published in a volume of 250 pages (Special Consular Report 

 on India-Rubber, 1892), which contains very interesting information on 

 the rubber culture in Brazil, India, and Africa. Unfortunately this 

 information came after my paper had been written and published, for 

 which I am sorry, for had I had such data, I could have enriched my 

 article very materially with important matter ; but I was very much 

 pleased to see that the cardinal points which I laid down about India- 

 rubber culture are the same as those considered the safest in their 

 case. 



