5 



Saps nd Exudations. 



choice strip of rubber land, The elevation at no point exceeds 400 feet, and at 

 some places is as low as 100 feet. La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation is a most 

 interesting place, and improvements are constantly being made. A sawmill is in 

 constant use, preparing timber for the construction of permanent houses for the 

 native labourers and other buildings for the company's use. Excellent tiles have 

 been made from clay found on the plantation and are used in roofing buildings. 

 The population of La Zacualpa today, including men, women and children, is 

 over 600. The same plan has been carried out in the buildings for the laboui'ers 

 as that used in the plantation proper, the buildings being situated on plazas, 

 or squares. 



THE CASTILLOA ELASTICA TREE. 



The Castilloa elastica, or Mexican rubber tree, is between five and six 

 years old when it blooms. Before blooming the tree sheds its leaves. The blos- 

 soming season begins in January and continues until April. Clusters of small, 

 whitish blossoms first put forth, and three weeks later the tiny petals fall, leaving 

 a little green centre which gradually enlarges, and is filled with seed points 

 sticking fast to a round disc. The blossoms are as numerous as the leaves, and 

 each one has at least twenty seeds about the size of an ordinary bean. When the 

 blooming and seeding time is over the trees put forth new leaves. 



The seeds are encased in a shell which is hard while green, [but it soon 

 softens into a sticky substance like fish gelatine. The first turning in the ripening 

 process is to a sickly yellow, which gradually changes to a bright red. As soon 

 as the seeds are ripe, with the first rains they begin to fall. This is a busy 

 time on the plantation. The seeds literally cover the ground underneath the 

 trees, and the labourers gather them into sacks and carry them to the'nurseries. 

 There they are dumped into pails filled with water and washed thoroughly to 

 detach them from the discs and rid them of the enveloping gelatine substance. 

 When the seeds have been ripe sixty days they will no longer germinate, and to 

 get the best results should be planted immediately after washing, which is 

 done to facilitate handling and prevent them germinating in the gelatine coating. 



Planting. —There is some difference of opinion among planters as to the best 

 methods of planting, some advocating partial shade, and again some would plant 

 from a nursery previously formed, and others with the seed at stake. Difference of 

 local and climatic conditions is no doubt the cause of this diversity of opinion, as 

 each section calls for different methods. The method adopted on La Zacualpa and 

 that which has been productive of the best results in that locality is the following . — 

 The land is first surveyed into squares of thirty -three acres each, which 

 includes avenues and roads twenty -four feet wide between them. The roads run in 

 straight lines and are cleared of all trees and shrubs, thus making them avilable for 

 the use of the workmen and inspection of the plantation. The roads running north 

 and south are called avenues, and those east and west streets, the former being 

 named and the latter being numbered. The roads are now several miles long, and in 

 order to facilitate transportation of the labour to various parts of the plantation, 

 the Company is about to put in a small electric railroad. The land is cleared by 

 cutting down the forest and is then burnt off. Some of the largest trees are left, 

 and most of them escape the fire and send out new foliage, which then acts as partial 

 shade to the young trees. After burning the land is then staked out to allow for 400 

 trees to the acre. A small mound of earth is made at each stake, and the rubber 

 seeds are imbedded therein. 



The seed will germinate in from eight to fifteen days, and one month from 

 the time of planting the plant attains a height of about eight inches, and its growth 

 from this time on is rapid and may roughly be put down as one foot per month. 

 Our three-year-old trees are over thirty feet high, and those of four years about 



