298 
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1919. 
cause the wood is resistant to the teredo. Another product that 
comes within the domain of forestry is the balata, a substance re- 
sembling gutta percha obtained from the milky juice of a native 
forest tree {Mimusoj^s glohosa). The trees are bled in about the 
same manner as the rubber tree. Eubber itself is not gathered from 
the wild trees in appreciable amounts. 
The agricultural industries occupy the chief place in the life and 
commerce of the country. Of these by far the most important is 
the production of sugar. This has always been a valuable product 
since the early days of the colony, but during the war it assumed 
