THE CENTRAL AMERICAN RUBBER TREE 215 



British Hondui'as. According to INIorris, they occur on 

 what are known as the Cohune ridges, especially along 

 the banks and in the valleys bordering Mullin's river, 

 Sittee river, and the Rio Grande in the south, and along 

 the Sibun river and the upper waters of the Belize river 

 in the west. The trees are also being cultivated on a 

 small scale in the Colony. 



In the States of Central America, CastiUoa trees occur 

 on both sides of the mountain chain, and small planta- 

 tions have been established in most of the countries. 



In Colombia the trees are abundant along the valley 

 of the ^lagdalena river and are also being cultivated. 

 Plantations have been established, too, near Guayaquil 

 in Ecuador. 



Castilloa trees have been introduced into several of 

 the British West Indian Islands and have been found to 

 grow well. In Truiidad and Tobago especially large 

 numbers of the trees have been planted, and are now 

 furnishing supplies of rubber of good qualit}'. In 

 Southern India and Ceylon the tree has also been growai 

 successfully, but in East and West Africa it has proved 

 to be extremely susceptible to the attacks of boring 

 beetles. 



The Castilloa trees occur naturally at low elevations, 

 being seldom found higher than 2,000 ft. above sea level. 

 They are met with most frequently on the banks of rivers 

 or streams, and on moist plains where there is good 

 drainage ; they cannot be grown successfully on swampy 

 land, nor on a stiff, clay soil. In a wild state Castilloa 

 does not thrive in the dense forest, but prefers more open 

 situations, where it occiu's hi small groups. 



Native Methods of Collecting the Rubber. — The native 

 collectors do not, as a rule, tap trees less than 25 in. 

 in circumference at 3 ft. from the ground, as they consider 

 that the yield from smaller trees is not remunerative. 

 The incisions are made with the native cutlass or machete, 

 and the system of tappmg varies in the different districts. 

 The following are the principal methods employed : 



(1) Single oblique incisions are made at an angle of 

 about 45° one above the other and from 2 to 3 ft. apart ; 

 the cuts usually extend about tlu'ee-fourths round the 

 tree. The latex flows to the lower end of the incisions 

 and then runs down the trunk, being collected at the base 



