t)ow to plant IRubber^Erees* 387 



selected a part of the public domain occupied by Senor Escobar, to see 

 whether transplanting could be done by pulling up the small trees, as 

 in that case the roots would come up without any earth around them; 

 or if it would be necessary to remove the soil that covered them ; for 

 in the first case, the operation would be quicker and cheaper than in 

 the second. On the land referred to, we saw about sixty small rubber- 

 trees, from eight decimetres to one metre and a half high. We pulled 

 up a few without, and others with the earth covering their roots, and 

 transplanted them at a distance of two metres from each other. We 

 first performed the operation planting some of the trees in the shade, 

 and then planting others in the sun. A short time afterward we 

 noticed that the leaves of the transplanted trees had begun to fade ; in 

 the evening of that day, they appeared to be dead. On the day fol- 

 lowing, they were dry ; shortly after they fell off, the branches that re- 

 mained presenting a not very encouraging appearance. In a week, 

 the trees all began to sprout again ; a little later they were covered with 

 luxuriant foliage and not a single one was lost. This is a proof of the 

 endurance of the rubber-tree. The land in Tapachula, where the ex- 

 periment was made, is not the best kind for the rubber-tree, being some- 

 what higher than that nearer the shore. 



The easiest and most economical way of making such a plantation 

 would be, in the beginning, to combine it with the culture of some 

 product adaptable to the soil, and of a more rapid growth. The land 

 being cleared, it could be prepared for sowing cotton, which generally 

 grows well in the soil suitable for the rubber-tree; and, in sowing 

 cotton, rubber could also be sown at proper distances, or saplings 

 transplanted. The cotton crop being harvested, the rubber would 

 remain without any cost, since the expenses incurred would be only 

 those required for the cotton. This operation could be repeated the 

 year following; and, in this way, the plantation would be gradually 

 enlarged and without additional cost. 



There is also another very economical way of planting rubber, and 

 that is, to plant the trees as shade in the coffee and cocoa plantations. 

 I have heard that this operation has been successfully tried in some 

 places. The expenses of a plantation of rubber-trees would not then 

 exceed, in any case, those required for one of coffee or cocoa; but the 

 rubber-trees could not then be planted in the places best adapted for 

 their rapid development and greatest yield, inasmuch as the climate and 

 soil most advantageous for coffee and cocoa are not the best for rubber. 



Senor Don Jose" M. Chacon assured me that to have cuttings grow 

 well, the end which is to go into the ground must be pointed, and the 

 slip driven in, probably in order that the soil may adhere the better, 

 and the cutting remain firmly planted. 



It is to be observed that in the lands of Soconusco near the shores 



