457 
lieving  they  would  yield  earlier  than  Hevea,  and  to  follow  with 
Hevea  planting  from  seeds  to  be  obtained  at  the  first  opportunity, 
i.  e.,  the  fall  of  1905. 
The  prospectus  states  that  returns  were  expected  from  the  first 
trees  in  1909  at  the  rate  of  one-half  pound  per  tree,  to  be  gathered 
at  a collection  cost  of  30  cents  per  pound,  and  to  sell  for  $1.00  per 
pound.  It  was  thought  that,  after  the  land  was  cleared  and  the 
trees  planted,  little  cultivation  would  be  necessary,  perhaps  keep- 
ing a circle  cleaned  for  two  or  three  feet  about  each  tree,  and  that 
$75.00  per  acre  would  amply  suffice  to  bring  the  plantation  into 
bearing. 
Work  was  begun  on  this  basis,  and  at  about  the  same  time  two 
other  plantations  in  Nahiku  commenced  operations.  The  first 
unforeseen  difficulty  was  encountered  when  the  young  trees  were 
transplanted  from  the  nurseries.  The  rats  ate  most  of  the  first 
planting  before  a method  could  be  found  of  circumventing  them 
and  checking  their  ravages.  As  fast  as  the  trees  were  replaced 
they  were  eaten  off  again.  This  multiplied  expenses  and  divided 
profits  by  a large  figure,  and  much  less  was  realized  from  the 
year’s  work  than  was  expected. 
The  next  set  back,  besides,  of  course,  the  minor  difficulties 
always  met  in  a new  undertaking,  was  the  failure  of  the  Hevea 
seeds,  seedlings  and  stumps,  obtained  from  Ceylon  at  large  ex- 
pense. We  have  since  been  assured  by  an  eastern  plantation 
manager,  after  describing  to  him  the  stumps  obtained  that  these 
were  undoubtedly  from  seedlings  that  had  been  discarded  from 
the  home  nurseries  as  unfit  to  plant,  and  had  been  sent  to  us  as  a 
means  of  getting  revenue  out  of  an  otherwise  worthless  asset.  As 
these  seeds  can  be  obtained  at  only  one  season  of  the  year  it  be- 
came necessary  to  wait  for  another  crop.  The  Hevea  trees  planted 
in  1906  from  these  seeds  gave  very  few  normal  trees.  The  results 
from  seeds  obtained  in  the  fall  of  1906  were  even  worse,  about 
300,000  seeds,  purchased  by  three  different  plantations,  producing 
less  than  100  trees.  It  was  not  until  the  fall  of  1907,  after  three 
years,  that  seeds  were  obtained  which  gave  the  results  we  had  a 
right  to  expect  from  the  first.  Thus  Hevea  cultivation  has  been 
delayed  three  years  by  inability  to  get  good  seeds,  and  we  are  just 
ready,  practically,  to  begin  with  a good  supply  of  trees  in  nur- 
series, and  a few  thousand  iriHne  fields.  The  inevitable  result  of 
this  is  that  returns  from  rubber  in  the  Territory  for  the  next  four 
years  depend  entirely  on  the  Ceara  tree. 
For  the  first  two  years  after  the  lands  were  cleared  the  trees 
grew  fairly  well  under  the  scheme  of  little  cultivation  which  had 
been  adopted.  Then  the  Hilo  grass  began  to  affect  them,  and, 
finally,  through  various  stages  of  partial  cultivation  the  conclu- 
sion has  been  generally  accepted  that  complete  cultivation  is  nec- 
essary for  the  best  results.  This  means,  of  course,  that  it  has  cost 
more  to  cultivate  each  acre  than  was  estimated  five  years  ago. 
The  chief  difficulties  and  disappointments  then  have  been : 
