flnfcia*1Rubber Culture in 



from you containing more or less the same interrogatories as those which I had partially 

 replied to here. Being on the spot, I was able to refresh my memory in regard to cer- 

 tain details, and I hope you will find the replies more full and more satisfactory than 

 those which I had previously the pleasure of communicating. Should you at any future 

 time get the rubber nut from the Amazon region for plantation in Mexico, be particular 

 in the selection. Of the three best-known varieties, that which gives a white porous 

 wood, to which in your article you make an incidental allusion, is by far the least 

 esteemed. 



The suggestion referred to as made by certain collectors of making a "spiral cut 

 round the body of the tree," was at one time tried, but it was found so injurious to the 

 tree that no one follows this method. Indeed, I think a law was made many years ago 

 specially to prohibit this practice. 



In the letter to Mr. Travis, I give a description of the present system of extraction. 



It may be worth while to say that a few years since a French gentleman from 

 Cayenne employed whisky or rum of a certain proof (18 or 20, I think, but am not cer- 

 tain) to produce immediate separation and coagulation of the milk. I have heard of 

 an herb which in some parts of Central America is used for the same purpose. 



I shall be very happy to aid you in the enterprise you are engaged in by furnish- 

 ing or obtaining information, or indeed in any way by which the prosperity of our sister 

 republic may be promoted. 



I have read your article with much satisfaction, and, if not too much trouble, 

 would be glad to receive any future contributions on the subject. 



I remain, dear sir, yours, JAMES B. BOND. 



The India-Rubber World, Vol. XI., No. 6, New York City, March 

 15, 1894 : 



To the Editor of the " India-Rubber World": 



Will you be so kind as to give me some information in regard to planting rubber- 

 trees, the length of time it will take before the tree can be tapped, and the yield of 

 fluid in Mexico ; also the expense ? References to any literature on the subject will 

 be gladly received. 



EDGAR ZEH, M.D. 



WATERFORD, N. Y., February 12, 1894. 



[Mr. F. O. Harriman has in Mexico a plantation of rubber-trees which, he esti- 

 mates, will yield at seven years a larger output of rubber than has ever been gained 

 from the wild trees of that section. He has shown to the editor of the India-Rubber 

 World some specimens of goods manufactured from rubber obtained from cultivated 

 trees four years old. His advice, however, is not to tap them before six years, after 

 which he estimates the yearly yield at three pounds. The Mexican Minister at Wash- 

 ington, a number of years ago, planted some rubber-trees in Soconusco, with the idea 

 that the trees would yield, after the sixth or seventh year, about three pounds each. 

 His estimate of the cost of a plantation of 100,000 trees up to the productive age six 

 years was about $8,000. Mr. Harriman has cultivated rubber and coffee together, so 

 that his report does not give the cost of rubber culture alone. This industry is in the 

 experimental stage, the work which has been done in it being for the most part too 

 recent to admit of conclusive results. There is little to be said in regard to it newer 

 than what is contained in a little book entitled India-Rubber and Gutta-Percha : Being 

 a Compilation of all the Available Information Respecting the Trees Yielding these 

 Articles of Commerce and their Cultivation. Second edition. Colombo, Ceylon : 

 A. M. & J. Ferguson, 1887. It should be read by any one interested before investing 

 in rubber-planting. THE EDITOR.] 



