THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



ZONE OF RUBBER PRODUCTION. It is between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. 

 Cuba IS withm this zone. 



periment Station, found recently on one 

 finca or farm^ near Havana which he visit- 

 ed especially to estimate the value of the 

 trees, some 2,500 seedlings near the parent 

 trees of the castilloa elastica, six to twelve 

 ii'.ches high, which, he says, the men of the 

 farm not knowing their value had been ac- 

 customed to slash down with machetes. He 

 fcimd also on the same farm other seed- 

 lings from two to six feet high which re- 

 ceived the same treatment. He found trees 

 in an abandoned section of the farm, six to 

 ten inches in diameter, healthy and yielding 

 a splendid flow of heavy creamy later, 

 from one to two pounds per tree. A plan- 

 tation of castilloa elastica could easily earn 

 $300 to $500 per acre. In Mr. Baker's 

 opinion these trees could serve as a shade 

 for tobacco instead of the worthless trees 

 new used for the purpose. Outside of Man- 

 tanzas, along the highways on each side, 

 many rubber trees have been planted and 

 looked healthy and strong. 



THE world's PRODUCTION OF RUBBER. 



According to the Review of Reviews 

 125,000,000 pounds of rubber are used in 

 the world each year and the highest grade 

 free of impurities still costs the manufac- 

 turer $1.50 a pound, which is one of the 

 highest prices paid for any of the great 

 staple commodities. The value of the 

 v/orld's total production, says the same pub- 

 lication, is valued at $80,000,000, of which 

 the Amazon Valley is credited with 65 per 

 cent., leaving 35 per cent, for the rest of 

 the world. The United States uses over 

 one-half of the entire product. 



American enterprise will undoubtedly de- 

 velop the rubber industry in Cuba, and 

 make it as successful as similar properties 

 controlled by Americans in other countries. 

 One serious drawback in Brazil and the 

 Congo is the labor question. 



The valley of the Amazon which sup- 

 plies the bulk of the supply, and the Congo 



Pests of 



Citriis 



Groves in 



Cuba. 



Free State which also' supplies a good per- 

 centage, are neither of them a white man's 

 country. No one other than a native can 

 work in the river bottoms. The mortality 

 is so great that it is said every ton of Bra- 

 zilian rubber costs a human life. It is not 

 so in Cuba. White men can and do work 

 hard in the island without experiencing any 

 soil effects, and the rubber industry can be 

 developed and pursued in security. 



Prof. C. F. Austin, horti- 

 culturist, and Mr. William 

 T. Home, plant pathologist, 

 of the Estacion Central Ag- 

 ronomica, recently examined 

 the citrus groves of Orr 

 Brothers at Taco Taco. The fruit showed 

 up well and the navel oranges were de- 

 cidedly juicy, although in many orchards 

 the contrary was found to be the case. 



The usual troubles were present, such 

 as bibijaguas, fire ants, blue beetle grubs, 

 etc., also a few cases of gummosis, which 

 had appeared among the grape fruit trees 

 in the highest part of the place. This is a 

 type of gummosis in which twigs and 

 trunks are both affected. It seems to be 

 rather common in Cuba and has usuall}^ 

 been associated with dry soil. Gummosis 

 appears in many forms of citrus trees and 

 is a very serious trouble in Cuba, but the 

 pathologist of the 1 Estacion AgTonomica 

 finds no evidence that it is due to a specific 

 germ. It seems to be caused entirely by 

 soil conditions. The groves were planted 

 three years ago in deep red, gravelly and 

 sandy loam well drained. 



RC. BOURDETTE has a number of 

 ♦ avocados planted along the road out- 

 side the fence of his plantation on 

 West Front Street. They are only four 

 years old, but from two of them he has 

 picked 144 fruits. — La Gloria Cuban-Am- 

 erican. 



