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EXTRACT from the Dépéche Coloniale, August 28, 1898. 
The Exploitation of India-rubber in Madagascar. 
The localities favourable for the cultivation of india-rubber in 
Madagascar are numerous, especially on the coast and lower levels 
of the Island. 
es l 
properly studied. The best known rubber-trees are: the Hevea, 
Manihot, Castilloa, Landolphia, Willughbeia and Ficus. 
Besides the vines (Landolpha) and the Euphorbiaceae of the 
south, there exists a tree met with on the east side of the Island 
which the natives designate barabanja. This tree, which furnishes 
an abundant and much-prized latex, appears destined to pla 
an important role in the future. The o varieties, 
the one, the more important, with large leaves, the other with 
small leaves. They belong to the family of the Apocynaceae, 
tribe Alstonieae. 
incisions, and very often even cut down the tree in order to gather 
the latex 
The tree propagates itself readily from suckers, and it is 
to this that the present abundance of the tree is due. Very fine 
specimens are reported from the neighbourhood of Antalaha, 
Sahambava and Soavinandriana. 
The cultivation of india-rubber trees has already been tried in 
different parts of the Colony. The preference seems to have been 
given to plants of Hevea, from Para, which appears likely to give 
satisfactory results. 
With regard to the production of india-rubber, certain regions 
of Madagascar have been specially favoured. In the province of 
Fort Dauphin, for example, where an increasing production has 
been most observed, there were only 12 to 15 tons a year of rubber ` 
riant commercial movement towards this district ; the 
harvest has been collected more energetically, and this has resulted 
in the zone of the rubber production being reduced to a consider- 
able extent, 
For the last few months natives of the west of the province of 
Fort Dauphin have begun to bring a little rubber to the coast ; 
