and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— April, 1912. 



373 



lished for several years over all those parts of 

 Peru watered by the rivers which flow into the 

 Amazon. The caoutchouc produced is, in ap- 

 pearance, similar to that obtained in Central 

 Africa. The process of curing it is much more 

 simple than that of rubber. To obtain the 

 latex the tree is cut down, and as many inci- 

 sions as the trunk will admit are immediately 

 made in it ; the milky juice then flows from 

 these to the ground. The coagulation is then 

 effected by mixing either lime or potash with 

 the juice. A few days later the strings of the 

 caoutchouc are pressed together into larger 

 masses or biscuits. After the tree is cut down 

 the stump shoots up again the following year, 

 and grows so rapidly that five years afterwards 

 the same operation can be repeated. Such is 

 not the case with the rubber tree, which, being 

 very delicate, is easily destroyed by the sligh- 

 test injury to the wood, and never grows again. 

 The market value of Peruvian Slab is about 

 one-half that of fine rubber. Caoutchouc trees 

 abound in the neighbourhood of the Bolivian 

 rivers, where the soil is hard, and the collec- 

 tion of this product will no doubt be increased 

 as the rubber becomes exhausted, or when 

 labour is more easily obtained and the rates of 

 transport are cheaper. 



Fine Rubber. — This is the uame given to 

 India-rubber of the finest quality, which in the 

 Liverpool and New York markets is known as 

 " Pine Para Rubber." The processes origin- 

 ally used at the commencement of the industry 

 have been generally improved upon until cer- 

 tain fixed rules have been established, which now 

 form the backbone of a large industry. Rubber 

 collecting was commenced in the islands of the 

 Amazon. From these islands it spread out to 

 the forests on the banks of the great river and its 

 tributaries, the district of the Maderia being 

 that which has attracted most attention. 



Robber Estates in'South America. 

 The considerable increase in the demand for 

 rubber during recent years has given a great 

 impetus to the cultivation of rubber trees in all 

 parts of tropical South America. Bolivia, owing 

 principally to the lack of adequate means of 

 transport, has not yet received her full share of 

 this newly-found prosperity, although Sir Mar- 

 tin Conway calculates that in the Beni country 

 alone there may be as many as 50,000,000 rubber 

 bearing trees. The laws relating to the acqui- 

 sition of rubber estradas contain the following 

 important clauses : — Every native or foreigner 

 has the right of exploring the uncultivated 

 woods of the Republic in search of rubber trees 

 or other vegetable products. The ownership of 

 trees producing indiarubber, and of the land on 

 which they are situated, is adjudicable by the 

 State. The adjudication will be made by "est- 

 radas," or groups of 150 trees, the parties inter- 

 ested having to set forth their claims in hectares. 

 Every person to whom a claim is granted shall 

 pay for each "estrada" the sum of 15 bolivianos, 

 payable in 15 annual instalments of one boli- 

 viano. Default of payment of the annual instal- 

 ment will occasion the loss of the prospective 

 right to define ownership, and if payment is in 

 default for one year, the State will assume the 

 ownership of "estradas." 



Rubber in Peru. 

 The Montana, or Forest Region, which, al- 

 though little exploited, is by far the richest 

 zone in all Peru, occupies about two-thirds of 

 the whole Republic, and is composed of im- 

 mense tropical forests, in many parts of which 

 the feet of the white men have never trod. In 

 this region, beneath the luxuriant vegetation, 

 gold, silver, copper, tin, mercury, lead, anil coal 

 exist in large quantities. In the rivers which 

 traverse this extremely fertile but uninhabited 

 land, bright specks of gold can be distinctly 

 seen in the candy beds beneath the clear waters. 

 Thousands of rubber-bearing trees grow in the 

 dense forests ; and on the plains, both in the 

 north and south cocoa and coffee trees flourish. 

 The River Amazon, called by the Peruvians 

 " Mararion,'' which crosses almost the entire 

 continent of South America, cuts through 

 the northern territory of Peru. The valley of 

 this fine waterway is one of the most fertile 

 spots on the globe, for in this well-watered tro- 

 pical region the maximum point of vegetation 

 is reached. The prolific growth, not content 

 with covering the banks and adjacent land for 

 hundreds of square miles, in many parts almost 

 blocks the passage of the river with over- 

 hanging trees and floating vegetation. Words 

 cannot describe the beauty unfolded by every 

 turn and twist of this great river from the 

 moment of its rise in Peruvian territory to its 

 mouth on the Brazilian Atlantic coast. UnlesB 

 one has seen the exuberant growth and vivid 

 lights and shades of the tropics, such a scene 

 as that represented in the valley of the Amazon 

 cannot be accurately imagined. The staple 

 product of the vast interior of Northern Peru 

 is rubber, and every year sees an increase in 

 the trade and foreign commerce of the whole of 

 Amazonia. The time will come when ships from 

 every civilised nation of the world will steam 

 up this magnificent river for the purpose of 

 exporting the natural riches of the limitless 

 forests. 



GARDENING NOTES. 



WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT. 

 Mangoes. 



In our notes last week we dealt with the 

 method of grafting mangoes and the varieties of 

 this fruit brought into Ceylon by the Ceylon 

 Agricultural Society. We resume the subject 

 to-day. 



The Mdlgoa Mango— is a Madras variety of 

 good size, average fruit weighing 1 lb. The skin 

 is green and yellow, and the pulp which is free 

 from fibre is pale yellow in colour. 



Goa Mangoes. — What exactly the Agricul- 

 tural Society mean by " Goa " mango we do not 

 know, for there are quite a number of Goa 

 Mangoes, all considered good varieties in Goa, 

 and most of them well-flavoured fruit. As stated 

 in these notes last week it was in Goa that 

 grafting and improving mangoes by selection 

 was first done, that is why Goa varieties are 

 thought so highly of. One authority gives eleven 

 named varieties of Goa mango, varying con- 

 siderably in shape, flavour, colour, and in weight 



