and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society .—December, 1911, 



575 



Hevea, 80,004; Castilloa, 600.0C0 ; Funtumia, 

 25,000. It is not possible to compare the growth 

 of these trees with those of similar age in 

 Eastern plantations because in the latter 

 countries tho trees have been grown from their 

 being planted as stumps on. clean-weeded land, 

 and the height and girth under these condi- 

 tions is much greater than in the case of trees 

 surrounded by weeds or shading the soil with 

 other trees and shrubs. The entiie northern 

 half of Tobago possesses soils and environments 

 well adapted to rubber culture. Many estates 

 have already entered upon the productive stage, 

 and the yield per tree, as well as the quality of 

 the product indicate that Tobago must be re- 

 garded as one of the most important, if not the 

 most important, rubber producing island in the 

 West Indies. An idea of the rapidity at which 

 the Tobago rubber industry is growing may be 

 gathered from the fact that in six years its 

 export of rubber has risen from 91 lb. to 

 4,348 lb. The cultures are as yet young and 

 only an insignificant area has been tapped. It 

 is estimated that about 120 000 rubber trees are 

 now under cultivation in that island. The con- 

 stantly increasing demand for rubber has been 

 so great that this article is now recognised as 

 one of the staple agricultural products of the 

 tropics. The colony of Trinidad and Tobago is 

 singularly favoured both as to soil and climate, 

 but has so long prospered on its two great sta- 

 ples, cacao and sugar, that scant attention has 

 been given to other pursuits. Rubber was first 

 planted in the colony by a few progressive 

 proprietors of an experimental turn of mind. 

 The ample rewards which came to them soon 

 induced other planters to devote parts of their 

 acreages to rubber culture. Year by year these 

 have been extended by bona fide planters. Tbe 

 rubber industry of the colony is free from spec- 

 ulative features, and Trinidad and Tobago offer 

 today one of the richest fields for the tropical 

 agriculturist desirous to devote his capital and 

 energy to the growing and remunerative rubber 

 industry.— F. Times, Nov. 1. 



SOYA BEAN CULTURE IN CEYLON. 



The soya bean which has come into prominence 

 recently, owing to its commercial value, has now 

 been successfully experimented with in Ceylon. 

 The Agricultural Society secured a large quantity 

 of seed some time ago from the Far East, and 

 experiments were carried out at the Botanic 

 Gardens at Peradeniya, but the cultivation 

 proved a failure. The Secretary of the Ceylon 

 Agricultural Society has now succeeded, how- 

 ever, in turning out a large crop in the Govern- 

 ment stock gardens in Colombo, producing two 

 varieties, the Japan (white seed) and the Java 

 (black seed), and seed will, it is said, be shortly 

 available for distribution. Lt is expected that 

 the cultivation of the soya bean will be taken 

 up largely in Ceylon, for besides its value as an 

 article of food it can be exported to the Euro- 

 pean and American markets. — Royal Society of 

 Arts Journal, Nov. 17. 



THE BANANA INDUSTRY OF SAN 

 TIAGO DE CUBA. 



The production of bananas is second in im- 

 portance among the agricultural industries of 

 Santiago de Cuba. There are three districts 

 where bananas are grown for export. Saetia, on 

 Nipe Bay; Sagua de Tanamo, on Tanamo Bay, 

 and in the region about Baracoa. The plantings 

 at Saetia and Sagua de Tanamo are on lowland 

 along the valleys of the Yumuri and Tanamo 

 Rivers. The soil is a deep loam, formeil from 

 the deposits of the rivers and streams flowing 

 from the Mayari mountains on the south and 

 from decomposed vegetation. At Baracoa, tho 

 plantings are in the valleys and on the moun- 

 tain slopes. The soil is also a deep loam from a 

 disintegration of the rocks and earlier vegeta- 

 tion. There has been a large decrease in 

 banana growing for export during the last de- 

 cade. Large areas devoted to that industry have 

 been planted in sugar-cane because greater re- 

 turns are derived from land planted with cane, 

 and because the fruit produced in Cuba cannot 

 compete with that of the Central American 

 States, the winters of Cuba being too cold and 

 dry. All the bananas produced for export are 

 sent to the United States. — Journal of the Roya 

 Society of Arts^ov, JO. 



RUBBER SUPPLIES. 



It seems likely that the cultivation of Ceara 

 rubber on the Upper Blue Nile will be carried 

 on successfully, and that a good deal of wild 

 rubber will be got from the Bahr-el-Ghazal pro- 

 vince. The Imperial Institute furnished reports 

 during 1910 to the Government of the Sudan on 

 Landolphia and Ceara rubber on the basis of 

 investigations conducted in the scientific and 

 technical department, followed in some instan- 

 ces by submission of samples to manufacturers 

 and experts for technical trial or valuation. 

 The report gives details of two consignments. 

 A small consignment of rubber from the Bahr- 

 el-Ghazal, derived from the indigenous vine, 

 was forwarded for examination and subsequent 

 sale. The rubber was in the form of biscuits 

 and sheet, varying from light to dark brown ; it 

 was of good quality and contained from 92 '7 to 

 93 - 6 per cent, caoutchouc in the dry material. 

 The consignment, weighing 647 lbs., was divided 

 into four lots and sold in London at prices rang- 

 ing from 6s. 9d. to 8s. 4d. per lb. Brokers re- 

 ported that the rubber was exceptionally strong 

 and that prepared with a little more care it 

 should realise prices comparing favourably with 

 those of Eastern plantation rubbers. A sample 

 of Ceara rubber, derived from two-year-old trees 

 at Mongalla, consisted of clean biscuits of pale 

 yellow rubber which exhibited good physical 

 properties. Great care had been used in the 

 preparation. It was not quite as good in com- 

 position as specimens of Ceara rubber from 

 Ceylon, but it was superior to several samples 

 from East Africa which have undergone exami- 

 nation at the Imperial Institute.— Journal of the 

 Royal Society of Arts, Nov, 10. 



