200 
of  rubber  annually,  and  that  exceptionally  large  trees  may  give  as 
much  as  loo  pounds  ! 
Collins  observed  “ that  a six  year  old  Castilloa  possessing  a 
diameter  of  19  inches  ” (where  can  such  a development  be  found  ?) 
“ on  being  tapped  in  April  in  the  dry  season,  furnished  20  gallons 
of  latex  from  which  49  pounds  of  rubber  were  obtained,”  and  he 
further  declares  that  this  is  the  average  yield  of  all  trees,  the  trunk 
of  which  before  branching  out  reaches  a height  of  from  18  to  27 
feet  above  the  soil. 
Dr.  Morris,  one  of  the  foremost  botanists,  now,  I believe, 
Director  of  the  Botanical  Department  in  the  West  Indies,  states 
that  a Castilloa  when  first  tapped  should  yield  16  pounds  of  rubber. 
If  my  memory  is  not  at  fault.  Dr.  Morris  has  stated  that  the  first 
tapping  should  take  place  at  six  years. 
In  Nicaragua  it  is  found  (in  Consular  reports)  that  a Castilloa 
tree  yields  from  four  to  six  pounds  of  rubber  annually.  In  the 
U.  S.  Consular  Report  for  October,  1896,  I find  that  “if  the  trees 
“ have  matured  properly  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  year  from  eight  to 
“ twelve  pounds  of  rubber  can  be  taken  from  each  tree  biennially  !” 
The  Bureau  des  Informations  Agricoles  de  Mexique  is  more  con- 
servative, giving  the  yield  of  Castilloa  trees  when  four  to  five  years 
old  at  2 pounds  6 ounces  of  rubber. 
Certainly  the  range  is  wide  enough  according  to  these  statements, 
selected  from  many  similar,  showing  that  the  yield  of  rubber,  even 
of  trees  not  exceeding  six  years’  growth  may  be  anything  from 
2 pounds  6 ounces  to  46  pounds  annually. 
Now,  I am  not  in  a position  to  prove  that  these  statements, 
coming  as  they  do  from  official  and  authoritative  sources,  are  not 
correct.  I can  only  say  that  having  given  considerable  attention  to 
all  points  connected  with  rubber  culture,  my  own  experience  does 
not  bear  them  out.  And  I prefer,  in  common  with  all  who  have 
seriously  taken  up  the  cultivation  of  rubber,  to  base  my  calculations 
of  the  probable  returns  on  facts  as  ascertained  by  actual  experiment. 
The  following  are  the  results  as  obtained  myself  of  the  yield  of  the 
Castilloa  : — The  greatest  amount  of  rubber  I have  secured  from  one 
tree  was  i2f  lbs.  which  I obtained  from  30  lbs.  of  milk — about  46 
per  cent,  of  solid  rubber.  This  was  the  result  of  tapping  a tree 
g;-owing  on  my  property  which  measured  two  metres  nine  inches 
in  circumference — 87  inches — at  six  inches  from  the  ground.  I may 
here  state  that  an  old  hulevo  (native  rubber  collector),  who  has 
worked  much  with  m^e  and  in  whose  statements  I have  learned  to 
place  exceptional  belief,  a man  of  long  experience,  who  has 
collected  rubber  in  all  parts  of  the  Republic,  told  me  that  the  most 
he  ever  found  a tree  to  yield  was  20  lbs.  of  solid  rubber,  which  he 
obtained  from  an  exceptionally  large  tree  measuring  three  metres 
in  circumference — 117  inches — growing  in  a wild  part  of  the  State 
of  Oaxaca.  He  believed  the  tree  to  be  from  40  to  50  years  old. 
On  24th  November  last,  I tapped  six  trees,  averaging  40:^  inches  in 
gii  th  with  a net  result  of  7 pounds  15-I-  ounces  of  rubber.  These 
trees  were  comparatively  lightly  tapped.  If  they  had  been  operated 
on  in  the  wholesale  fashion  of  the  native  collector  at  least  half  as 
much  again  would  have  been  obtained. 
