Gums, Resins. 



414 



[May 1908. 



"It has been found, from experiment, 

 that the Jiquie Manitoba tree cau be 

 made to yield its latex between the 

 fourth and fifth years from time of first 

 planting ; but the tree yields its maxi- 

 mum returns from the age of eight years 

 onwards. 



" The planters of Bahia have awakene^ 

 to the fact that in the cultivation o 1 

 Jiquie Manitoba they possess a source of 

 much potential wealth. Already several 

 fazendeiros have begun to lay down 

 plantations of the tree in question upon 

 a large scale. The two most extensive 

 of* those plantations are situated one 

 upon the Island of Joannes, close to the 

 city of San Salvador, the other in the 

 district of Machado Portella. The Agri- 

 cultural Institute, which has recently 

 been established by the State, pro- 

 poses to devote special attention to the 

 systematic cultivation of Jiquie Mani- 

 toba, and to the preparation of rubber 

 derivable therefrom. 



"A planter established in the Jiquie 

 district recently prepared a considerable 

 quantity of rubber obtained from 

 Manicoba trees growing wild in that 

 neighbourhood, and despatched it to 

 New York. The consignment was classi- 

 fied in the New York Market as being 

 equal to the best Para rubber, and it 

 fetched 1 dol. 20c. (5s.) per lb." 



In answer to a further request for 

 botanical specimens of the Jiquie 

 Manicoba, the following letter was re- 

 ceived at Kew :— 



H.M.'s Consul, Bahia, to Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Kew. 



H.B.M.'s Consulate, Bahia, 



4th September, 1907. 



Dear Sir, — "With reference to your 

 letter of 11th July last requesting fur- 

 ther information respecting Manicoba, 

 I have just learned that a German 

 botanist, Professor Ule, who recently 

 visited the States of Bahia and Piauhy 

 for the purpose of collecting speci- 

 mens of the rubber-producing plants 

 which grow in those two States, 

 has decided, after having conferred 

 with his colleagues at Berlin respecting 

 the matter in question, that the three 

 species of Manicoba which grow in the 

 State of Bahia and Piauhy all differ 

 essentially from Manihot (Jlaziovii, of 

 Ceara. 



The German botanists have decided to 

 distinguish the three species of Manitoba 

 found growing in the States of Bahia 

 and Piauhy by the following designa- 

 tions, viz :— 



So-called Jiquie Manicoba = Manihot 

 dichotoma ; 



do S. Francisco Manicoba = 

 Manihot heptaphylla; 



do Piauhy Maniyoba= Manihot 

 piauhyensis. 



As regards the name " Manicoba," it 

 would appear to be a generic term ap- 

 plied locally to all species of Manihot 

 which yield rubber. 



I am, &c. 



(Sgd.) D. R. O'SULLIVAN-BEARE, 



H.B.M's Consul. 



On the 20th of September Mr. O'Sul- 

 livan-Beare wrote again, promising her- 

 barium material, and sending two sam- 

 ples of rubber, namely, a sample of so- 

 called Jiquie rubber (obtained from 

 Manihot dichotoma), and a sample of so- 

 called Rio Sao Francisco rubber (ob- 

 tained from Manihot heptaphylla). 

 These are now in Museum No. 1, and are 

 both rubbers of good quality. 



The young plants raised from the seed s 

 sent by Messrs. Davy, Rowe, and Steven- 

 son appear to be all similar. The seeds 

 germinated very readily, and the plants, 

 now some nine months old, are charac- 

 terised by the somewhat thickened 

 lower portion of the stem. In the shed- 

 ding of the bark these plants differ from 

 Manihot Glaziovii, since longitudinal 

 slits are formed, and the membranous 

 bark peels off in more or less vertical 

 rows ; the leaves of the young plants 

 appear to have had greenish-white veins 

 in all cases, thus differing from Davy's 

 plants grown in Brazil, but this may be 

 due to the artificial conditions of culti- 

 vation. 



Other attempts to obtain material 

 which would have enabled the question 

 of these Mauir;obas to have been solved 

 at Kew have proved in vain, and the 

 following extract from a letter from 

 Senor J. Limao da Costa helps to show 

 the difficulties besetting the subject: — 



" The Manicoba of Jequie is a variety 

 of that plant existing in Ceara and in 

 this State, in the San Francisco region. 

 Absolutely different to that is the 

 species named Jequie (locality where it 

 abounds in a wild state), as it presents 

 various specimens (? considerable vari- 

 ation) in the trees from which latex is 

 extracted. The trees commonly known 

 as Jequie Manicoba abound mostly in 

 the municipalities of Maraca, Pocoes, 

 Conquista, &c." 



In Mr. O'Sullivan-Beare's letter to 

 Kew of September 4th, 1907, already 

 quoted, reference is made to Professor 

 Ule's visit to the States of Bahia and 



