Nov. 1 1 1894.] TH£ TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
are also among the healthiest in the country, and 
the climate suitable for coffee-growing is adapted also 
for persons accustomed to living in a temperate zone. 
" The soil and climate suitable for coffee-growing are 
a'so adapted for the cultivation of tobacco, corn, 
beans, bananas, and oranges, and iu the lower-lying 
districts for sugar-cane, rice, and most tropical and 
subtropical fruits, the growing of which is made ac- 
cessory to coffee culture. The pineapple is the least 
expensive and the most profitable, especially where 
the planter has close and cheap transportation to the 
gulf ports. To the last paragraph of the above ex- 
tract might be added the fact that a rubber tree can 
be placed in the centre of each square of 12 fe6t, which, 
in the cours: of a few years, would vastly augment 
the income and profits of the plantation. To do a 
paying business in Coffee-raising in Honduras, I 
should recommend that no one attempt it at present 
unless he can command a capital of not less than 
25,000 dols. and double that amount would bring in 
much better returns. As above mentioned, no income 
from a plantation can be expected for the first live 
years, and a part of the capital invested will, there 
fore, go towards expenses and management, labour, 
aud care after the planting has been done. In the 
meantime, the machinery can be placed, the airange- 
ments made for transportation, &c. so that no time 
will be lost iu useless waiting. 
" Transportation from the interior is very primitive 
in its character, being by 'pac mule' over the steep 
and rocky trails of the mountain passes to reach the 
ooast or othor shipping point. A. project is now on 
foot to improve and navigate the River Ulua, on 
the north slope of the Republic, which, if carried 
out, will greatly facilitate transportation from tha 
coffee regions of this republic. 
" The part of Honduras best adapted to coffee culture 
in my opinion, is tlie department of Santa Barbara, 
and the country contiguous to the towns of Segua- 
tepeque, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz do Yojoa. 
These parts of the country are from thres to six days' 
mule travel from San Pedro Sula, the terminus of 
the Honduras railroad, which c mnects with the port 
of Puerto Cortez : and a shorter length of time to the 
River Ulua, should that liver be made available for 
steam transportation. 
" For the establishment of a plantation of 2)0,0)0 
coffee trees, an estimate might be made as 'ollows : 
— 4 Cost of Bulficent land, 5,000 dols.; clearing, fencing, 
Elanting, and cultivation, 25,000 dols. ; houses, ware- 
ouses, &c , 2,500 dols. ; machinery, purchased and 
placed, 5,000 dols. ; management, 10,000 dols ; incid- 
entals, 2,500 dols.; total, 50,000 dols. This istimate 
is intended to cover all expenses up to the fourth 
year, when the plantation is expected to pay its own 
expenses, a large part of which it will pay the third 
year. The fifth year, as mentionel above, will yield 
a profit on the investment, but the plantation will 
be in its prime from the eighth to the fifteenth year 
of its existence. Taking the tenth year as an average, 
the following estimate may be made as to the p o- 
ductim and profits: Each tree should produce, say, 
5 pounds of coffee — a very conse vative estimate — 
therefore 250,000 trees will produce, say, 1,250,000 
pounds; 1,250,000 pounds at 20 cents par pound am- 
ounts to 250,000 dols,; cost of p eduction and trans- 
portation at sa\ , 8 cents per pouni, 100.000 dols.; 
total profit on 250,0UO trees 150,000 dols. The invest- 
ment, as above seen, has been 50,000 dols. showing 
a profit of 300 p r c nt., taking the tenth year as 
the average. Up to the tenth year, from the fourth 
such profits can hardly be expected, but for the 
seventh, eigth, and ninth years they will almost 
equal. A smaller amount of money invested would 
not give equU returns in proportion, because the 
management, houses, and machinery would oost nearly 
as much for a smxl plantation as for a large one. 
A larger sum invested would giv ■ better results, as 
the cjst of land, planting, and care are the only 
matters of addit'onal expense. As above said, a small 
business in coffee cultivation will not pay in Honduras, 
but a man, or men, who can invest from 25,000 dols. 
up, and can afford to wait five years for returns, can 
find, in my opinion, no bettor field anywhere for the 
investment of their money than coffee-growing in the 
Rjpu'flic of Honduras. Any man who means busi- 
ness, and who can satisfy this Government that he is 
ecting in good faith, will receive all the aid and 
ancouragem nt possible from the authorities." — Board 
of Trade Journal. 
CENTRAL AMERICAN RUBBER. 
Practical Information. 
(Castilloa Mlastica of Cervantes.) 
To meet the increasing demand the cultivation of 
many different pUnts have been recommended, and 
among the most promising appears to be Caslilloa 
Elastica, Cerv., producing what is known as Central 
American Rubber. This tree, its varieties, and allied 
species have apparently a very wide range of distri- 
bution as they are said to be indigenous from Mexico 
down to Guayaquil, and the slopes of Chimborazo. 
This extensive range would tend to make it appear 
that the tree is capable of existing under consider- 
ably varied climatic conditions. In Central America 
however, it appears to be most vigorous, and produces 
the best quality of Rubber. That known as West 
Indian, not because it is produced in the West Indies, 
but on account of its coming to the English Markets 
in steamers sailing from West Indian ports, is at 
present one of the best classes of rubber now bein« 
sent to market. The greater part of this rubber is 
col'ected in the provinces of Veragua, Costa Rica, 
Nicaragua, and Spanish Hunduras, while British 
Honduras supplier not a little of the genuine article, 
In the province of Veragua, a part of the Columbian 
Republic which lies North of the Isthmus of Panama, 
this rubber ; s well manufactured by the Indians. 
The process by which the ultimate result is reached 
i3 unknown to the writer, but water-proof clothin^ 
and ba:s are produced which would iurleed to credit 
to European manufacture. The most important arti- 
e'e in use by the natives is the Rubber bag, and 
whether proceeding by land or by water, itforms 
the general receptacle into which all clothes and 
other property is deposited for safety. The bags are 
completely water-proof and can bear a long immersion 
without the contents becoming damp, besides which, 
wh<ni in the shallow and frail canoe of the Indian 
it forms a life buoy of a very effective kind for, not- 
withstanding it being partially full of clothes, &c, 
it will still contain sufficient air to give it buoyancy 
enough to support a mau in the water, aud care is 
always taken to prepare it for such an emergency, 
by inflating it and tying up its aperture securely 
before starting on a water journey. The material used 
as the basis to which the rubber is affixed, is simply 
the ordinary unbleached calico or cotton cloth of 
various strengths, according to the article required. 
■When well prepared these articles are seen to be 
covered with a soft, smooth, flexible, almost trans- 
parent coat of brown-coloured rubber which is 
thoroughly water-proof, and may bs exposed to the 
sun or the weather for considerable time without 
injury. Traveling in Nicaragua iu 1893 I found the 
tree a common one along the roadside, and although 
the most of the large trees up the country had beeu 
destroyed by the rubber collectors, still I saw that 
efforts were being made to grow them on the plan- 
tation system for future use, and with no little 
success Since writing iu 18S8 we have sold lar^e 
numbers of plants to local planters, a considerable 
number have also been purchased for Tobago, One 
of our planters is much impressed with the suitability 
of our climate for pla , ting the Castillo', as it has 
succeeded well with htm, and grows naturally and 
rapidly in partially c eared land with a minimum 
amount of care. In good land, trees will come to 
sufficient maturity to allow of bleeding being c.un- 
menced in from five to six years. The tree is readily 
raised from seed, but the seed itself loses vitality in 
two or three days, and canuot safely be transported 
any distance except in a growing state. Trees begin 
to produce seed in Trinidad at about ten years old 
ThoUustilloa tree luxuriates in a moist cliunto, and 
