370 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



plantation, which is on the Pacific side of the 

 state of Chiapas, produced about 50,000 pounds. 

 The Dona Maria in the same district, owned by 

 F. A. Quimby, produced about six tons. La 

 Amittad, which is a small plantation in the same 

 district, owned by V. S. Smith, produced about 

 two tons. All the trees on these plantations are 

 about seven years old, 



In the state of Veracruz the El Palmar, which 

 is located near the station of Tezonapa on the 

 Veracruz and Pacific railroad, which will have 

 about 3,700 pounds, and the La Junta, near San- 

 born on the Veracruz and Pacific, of which J. C. 

 Harvey is manager, is tapping, but the output 

 is not yet known and the same is the condition 

 existing on the Buena Ventura which is Mr. 

 Harvey's private place. 



These are all of the cultivated plantations 

 producing this year, according to Dr. Pehr Ols- 

 son-Seffer. The present price of rubber is ninety 

 cents gokl per ton. 



Caravonica Cotton. 



Many new plantations of every description are 

 being put under cultivation to rubber and 

 other products, and not a few of the Companies 

 are paying special attention to the new cot- 

 ton called Caravonica. This cotton was deve- 

 loped a few years ago in Australia, being the 

 result of hybridization between Mexican cotton 

 and Peruvian Sea Island. The result, a cotton 

 tree, grows to a height of from 14 to 16 feet and 

 gives an enormous yield. The return per acre 

 in other parts of the world is 1,200 pounds of 

 gin lint and in addition to such a yield is the 

 factor of a higher price than that obtained by 

 Sea Island. Two years ago Dr. Pehr Olsson- 

 SefFer made his first experiment with this plant 

 in Mexico, the results now proving extraordi- 

 nary, with still bigger promises. Trees planted 

 seventeen months ago at the Zacualpa botanical 

 station are now sixteen feet high and in full pro- 

 duction, 96 bolls having been counted on one 

 tree. The bolls are big and the staple is very 

 long. Thu tree stands seven years before the 

 necesssity of replanting. Special machinery is 

 required for handling the product. 



Several companies are now beginning to plant 

 this seed. One of these is the Tropical Produce 

 company, of New York, which is plar.ti. g this 

 year 200 acres on the Palmar estate on the Vera- 

 cruz and Pacific railroad. The San Thomas 

 Cotton Estates, Ltd., of London, will begin in a 

 few months the planting of 200 acres on its pro- 

 perty along the Pan-American railroad in Chia- 

 pas, and two other companies are just being 



formed for the purpose of making a specialty of 

 this cotton along the lines of the Pan-American 

 railroad. The plant is purely a tropical growth. 



RUBBER PLANTERS' CATECHISM. 



We have received the following letter from a 

 resident in the Far East :— 



Sir,— As a planter and investor in plantation rubber in 

 the Malay States, it appears to me that the following 

 pertinent questions, if authoritatively answered, would 

 be of more benefit to the industry and the investor than 

 the windy and often ignorant statements which appear 

 in the columns of various papers. 



I would ask you therefore to answer the few following 

 questions, which your undoubted knowledge and posses- 

 sion of statistics should enable you to do. 



(1) Can an acre of rubber be brought to a productive 

 stage for £20 inclusive of interest on capital ? 



(2) Is an average annual return of 200 lb. per acre a 

 fair estimate after six years (dry rubber)? 



(3) Is it probable or possible that the cost of putting 

 a pound of plantation rubber on the European market will 

 exceed Is. (id. when the forests of plantations are in full 

 bearing ? 



(4) Is it a fact that hard cured Para, whi;h I presume 

 may be taken as a basis for wild rubbers, cannot be laid 

 down in Europe under 2s. 8d. to 3s. id. per lb., according to 

 circumstances? 



(5) Is it a fact that the consumption of rubber in the 

 world is increasing about 10 per cent, annually ? 



(6) Is it a fact, or only a fancy, that were the price of 

 Para to fall to 2s. per lb. the demand would be practically 

 unlimited? 



If you are able to answer these questions in the affirma- 

 tive the grower or investor in plantation rubber would 

 have this prospect before him :— 



Capital £iu per acre. 



Average annual yield 200 lb. per acre at an average price 

 of 2s. (id., deduct Is. 6d. for production, and we have £10 per 

 acre profit, or 50 per cent. 



The question of distance of planting is in my 

 opinion useless to discuss just now, and only the 

 lapse of years can inform the planter what is 

 commercially the best distance to plant. From 

 the forester's p Ant of view there would seem to 

 be no doubt that to get line trees wide planting 

 is essential ; but I maintain that a good forester 

 does not necessarily make the money for his gene- 

 ration, although doubtless he may do so for 

 posterity. 



I enclose my card, and sign myself 



C. M. C. 



TAPPING YOUNG RUBBER TREES. 



The younger and smaller the tree the thinner 

 the bark ; that statement is generally accepted 

 for most Para rubber trees now under cultiva- 

 tion. The bark of five-year-old trees is so thin 

 that coolies, however skilled they may have 



