254 



FOREST TEEES. 



clothing Jcarab soils and rocky eminences such as 

 abound on every side. If it does tins, it needs no 

 other recommendation to become one of the most 

 useful gifts the land could possess. Like the Lantana, 

 it annually litters the ground with decayed leaves, 

 thus adding fertility to what might otherwise remain 

 barren soil. Being a deciduous tree, it' remains bare 

 of leaf during the driest part of the dry season, 

 thereby escaping the risks of drought and exposure 

 at a critical period. "While in leaf it is a handsome 

 object, and being milky, cattle do not attack the 

 foliage. 



Local trees have not been productive of caoutchouc, 

 although in its native place the species is said to 

 yield commercially after the sixth year. But the 

 great development of the rubber industry within 

 the last decade has improved our knowledge 

 of the true sources of this article, and it is very 

 doubtful if Ceara rubber ever took the leading posi- 

 tion in the market that was once assigned to it. At 

 the present time the principal supplies of rubber 

 are obtained from the following species ; — 



Central American ruhher — Castilloa elastica. 



Local plants of Manihot Glaziovii were first intro- 

 duced in 1879. Instances are recorded of the tuber- 

 ous roots being locally prepared and eaten like the 

 roots of cassava, this, however, requires fuller in- 

 vestigation. The leaves make good manure and the 

 wood burns well. 



Cultivation-— Seedlings spring up freely around 

 the parent tree and can be transplanted into pots or 

 nursery beds when they are 4 — 6 inches high. For 

 field growth, plant in loose well-drained soil at 20 ft. 

 apart. 



