RUBBER 



RYE 



559 



planned, however, between quicker-growing kinds, 

 to come in later in case of the exhaustion of 

 earlier-maturing kinds. The tree has attained large 

 size at considerable elevations in the West Indies, 



Fig. 797. Tapping rubber trees. 



where a lower temperature prevails than on the 

 plains. In Trinidad it grows at elevations of 130 

 to 500 feet above sea level. Funtumia was for- 

 merly known as Kickxia. (Hart.) 



West African rubber (Landolphia spedes). 



There are several species of this genus which 

 yield rubber of good quality, but which do 

 not respond readily to cultural treatment. They 

 are for the most part high-climbing plants requir- 

 ing the support of trees. The latex or rubber 

 coagulates almost as soon as it exudes. It may be 

 formed into rubber by smearing on a smooth sur- 

 face. It is related that in Africa native collectors 

 use their arms for this purpose, cutting off the 

 accumulated material when it becomes sufficiently 

 large to inconvenience their working. It 

 may be assumed with some certainty that 

 Landolphias are unlikely to compete with 

 Hevea, F'icus, Castilloa or Manihot. (Hart.) 



Balata gutta-percha (Mimusops globosa). 



This tree is a native of the forests of 

 Trinidad and South America, and is ex- 

 ported in large quantities, via Trinidad, 

 from the mainland. The tree affords one 

 of the most useful hard-woods known. It 

 is especially valuable for railway sleepers 

 and for building purposes because of its 

 durability. It grows to a large size, both 

 in virgin forest and under cultivation. Its 

 produce is of the nature of gutta-percha 

 and melts in hot water. No attempt at 

 cultivation on a large scale has yet been 

 made. The tree produces a small edible 

 fruit, deliciously sweet, which is sold largely in 

 local markets when in season. The tree takes some 

 thirty or more years to reach full maturity. The 

 seed soon loses its vitality if allowed to become 

 dry. (Hart.) 



Literature. 



Parkin, Annals of Botany (1900 and 1901); War- 

 burg, French translation, Vilouchevitch, Plantes a 

 Caoutchouc (1902) ; Seeligman, Le Caoutchouc 

 (1896) ; Jumelle, Caoutchouc (1898) ; Ferguson, 

 All About Rubber, Ceylon; J. H. Hart, in West 

 Indian Bulletin, Vol. II, p. 100, Rubber Planting in 

 the West Indies (1901); H. Wright, Para Rubber, 

 A. M. and J. Ferguson, Colombo, Ceylon (1905) ; 

 D. Morris, Cantor Lectures, Society of Arts (1898) ; 

 Dr. F. V. Romburgh, Les Plantes a Caoutchouc et §, 

 Gutta-percha ; S. Arden, Report on Hevea Brazilien- 

 sis ; W. H. Johnston, The Cultivation and Prepara- 

 tion of Para Rubber ; Handbook of Commercial 

 Products, Imperial Institute Series ; G. Thurston, 

 India Rubber (Ficus elastica); Agricultural Bulletin 

 of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay 

 States; India Rubber World; India Rubber Journal; 

 0. F. Cook, The Culture of the Central American 

 Rubber Tree, Bulletin No. 49, Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, United States Department of Agriculture. 



RYE. Secale cereale, Linn. GraminecB./ Figs. 799- 

 801, and Fig. 562. 



By Jared Van Wagenen, Jr. 



Rye is one of the minor cereal grains, of relative 

 unimportance in America as compared with wheat, 

 corn or oats. The grain is used both for human and 

 for stock-food, and the entire plant for soiling and, 

 occasionally, as hay. It also finds a place as a 

 cover - crop and green - manure, while the demand 

 for the straw for bedding horses is considerable. 



In botanical relationship, physiological charac- 

 ters, manner of growth and method of cultivation, 

 rye is most closely comparable with wheat. The 

 spikelets are two- to three-flowered, two of the 

 flowers being perfect and three-stamened, the flow- 

 ering glumes long-awned. The straws are much 

 taller and more slender in rye than in wheat, some- 

 times reaching a length of seven feet on rich soils ; 



^M';^. 



^>' \j \\t \;^' ?^ 



Layered trees. Fims. 



hence, rye tends to droop or lodge more readily 

 than wheat. The heads of rye are rather longer and 

 much more slender and compressed, and the glumes 

 and appendages are so firmly attached that com- 

 paratively little chaff is formed in threshing. The 



