4 



As to Castilla in Costa Rica, Mr. T. F. Koschny states :— 



" The safest and most productive rubber plant is the Castillo* 

 elastica of Central America. Its tenacity of life and adaptability to 

 soil and climate are seldom exceeded by other trees ; the same is 

 also true of the quantity and quality of the rubber." 



" It requires a humid, warm climate, and with respect to 

 rainfall Tess depends upon the amount of precipitation than upon 

 the distribution of it. The shorter the dry season and the more 

 the rain extends over the entire year the better will the locality be 

 adapted for rubber culture; regions with a long, absolutely dry 

 season are unsuitable for this culture. In the valley of San Carlos, 

 Costa Rica, upon the Atlantic slope, it rains occasionally also in 

 the dry season, and even in the two dryest months, March and 

 April. The Pacific slope of Central America has, on the contrary, 

 a completely dry season of four months, and two months at the 

 beginning and end with little rain. Both the wild and the planted 

 rubber trees die there at the third tapping at the latest, in case this 

 takes place in the dry season." 



Colins writes in his Report on the Caoutchouc of Commerce, 

 in regard to the occurrence of Castilla in Nicaragua : — 



" The basin of the Rio San Juan is where the Ule tree grows 

 to perfection. This river is the natural vent of the two vast basins 

 of the lakes of Nicaragua and Managua, receiving numerous 

 tributaries, which have all their sources in the innumerable tracts 

 hitherto virgin and unfrequented, and where the trees abound. 

 The ground is very fertile. The district is very unhealthy." 



Rubber Planting in Central America. 



Throughout the Central American republics very little has 

 as yet been done towards planting rubber. In most of these 

 countries there is a great unstability of government, and foreign 

 capital is not attracted under such conditions. Labour conditions 

 are also very unsatisfactory on account of the frequent revolu- 

 tionary movements, which sporadically crop up and draw the 

 greater part of the able-bodied men to the ranks either of Govern- 

 ment or rebel armies. Transportation also offers a serious 

 drawback, and many prospective planters are deterred from settling 

 because of the reported unhealthfulness of the climate. This latter 

 is not worse than in other tropical countries, and with the advent 

 of the Pan-American railroad, which will connect the south with 

 the north, the country will be opened. In Central America there 

 is plenty of land suitable for rubber planting. A year ago I rode 

 for days through good rubber country in Guatemala. 



In this latter republic very little planting of rubber has so far 

 been done. In Northern Guatemala there is only one plantation of 

 any account devoted to rubber. In the other Central American 

 States, rubber cultivation has been commenced on a small scale. 

 In Nicaragua there are a number of plantations, especially near 

 the Pearl Lagoon, on the Bluefields and Escondido rivers. In 

 Panama rubber is being planted, in Costa Rica there are a few 

 young plantations, and in Honduras rubber has been planted 



