Sept, 1, 1900.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 170 
plantation cleaned and well cared for. At this 
date 1 have many trees fi-om five to six inches in 
diameter and from 12 to 16 feet high, and two- 
thirds of my trees are large enough to take 
care of themselves with little or no more atten- 
tion. These facts can be corroborated by many, 
or what is better by coming to the plantation 
and seeing for one's self." 
Mr. Scott speaks of the probable short life of 
the trees after bleeding begins, but from my 
observation, there is no tree that has greater 
tenacity for life and can stand such rough usage. 
There are trees on my place that were there 
when I began work that are 16 to 18 inches in 
diameter and must have been bled for ten or 
twelve years and they are yet growing well. lb 
is true "that the trunks show a rough scarred 
appearance, but that is due to the ruthless 
bleeding done by the natives with the only tool 
used by them, "the machette." Formerly they 
always cut the trees down. I have been told 
by old men living here that rubber trees formerly 
grew in this vicinity that were from 4 to 6 feet 
in diameter. 
In .June, 18s)8, 1 visited a man living some miles 
from here to get rubber seed, and saw a tree he 
had planted that was eight years old and 1.5 
inches in diameter. He had bled it for the first 
time during the Christmas of 1897 and got from 
it oj pounds of rubber. By a systematic way 
of bleeding the rubber tree, I am sure the life 
of a tree can be prolonged indefinitely and it 
will continue to increase in size and yield. From 
the rough manner in which the natives bleed 
the rubber trees of Nicaragua (the wild forest 
trees) they will soon be exterminated. 
For my actual experience on '• The Daytonia " 
plantation, we have trees lA inch in diameter 
and from three to four feet high, planted from 
seed last .June. They were planted out in the 
open sun without any shade whatever ; neitlier 
have they been shaded at any time since trans- 
planting last September. In order to give the 
rubber trees all the sun possible, we have the 
trails running east and west, so as to catch the 
sun all day. 
A great deal has been said, jivo and con, in 
regard to planting rubber in the sun, but the 
trees gTow more rapidly when planted in the 
sun and it is quite evident that they are more 
healthy and produce more rubber. Take trees 
planted in the shade, as a great many natives 
have done, and you will find them a failure. 
■This, we have learned, by close investigation for 
some years back, and also from actual experience. 
Rubber is of very slow growth when planted 
in the shade, and when found in the forest you 
will notice that the tree has shot straight up 
in search for the sun. 
Rubber trees plarted in the sun will attain a size 
in diameter in two years of from .5 to 6 inches 
and a height of from 1.5 to 20 feet, while trees 
planted in the shade in the forest o inches in 
diameter will reach probably a height of from 40 
to 50 feet and will take, as near as we can as- 
certain, from information gathered from all the 
authentic works we can secure, from twenty-five 
to thirty years. 
The method the natives follow in tapping the 
rubber tree is very injurious, as they, in their 
ignorance and carelessness, cut clear througli 
the bark and into the wood of the tree. This 
is entirely unnecessary and uncalled for, as the 
milky substance, or rubber, is held or contained 
in millions of small globular cells 1-10000 inch in 
diameter, and in bleeding it is entirely wrong to 
cut tlirough the bark and into the wood, as no 
rubber milk is gotten between the bark and 
the wood of the tree. It is held in the minute 
cells in the bark and if a tree is properly tapped, 
by making an incision simply in the bark, it 
will do no injury to the tree. We would say 
that rubber trees are not easily killed. We find 
trees on " The Daytonia " plantation, volunteer 
trees, that have Iteen cut nearly to pieces by the 
the rubber hunters and still they leave and 
flourish, showing tliat rnbber is a very hardly 
plant and not easily killed as Mr. Scott would 
imply. It is a fact that there is very little known 
of rubber culture in Nicaragua, except on the 
eastern coast and near Pearl City. 
As the editor of The India Rubber World 
says : " Because rubber gTows in one locality, in 
a state, it is not an assurance that it will 
grow everywhere." We know there are large 
areas in northeastern Nicaragua that are totally 
unsuited for it, and even in tliis vicinity rubber 
does not do well everywliere, but altogether it 
is the finest locality in Nicaragua for rubber cul- 
ture. In the dry zone in the interior and Oii 
the west coast of Nicaragua, it does not grow 
well. Rich land, good drainage, and plenty of 
moisture are the requisites for successful rubber 
culture. 
George L. Bittixger. 
Pearl City, Nicaragua (Department of Zalaya), 
April 9th, 1900. 
Having just returned from a two months tr.p 
in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, where I visited 
and inspected plantations of rubber, chocolate, 
coconuts, pineapples, bananas, vanilla, oranges, 
sugar cane, and the like, and investigated loca- 
lities, soil, and cost of planting, talked with men 
who are working and investing heavily in them 
—I feel that I am in possession of correct in- 
formation on this important " Rubber question " 
in Nicaragua. In addition to the foregoing 
article of George L. Bittinger, which I endorse, 
I will only say that I am convinced that Mr. 
Scott knows absolutely nothing about the " culti- 
vation " of rubber. His little article itself is full 
of contradictions, one paragraph with another, 
and would not be worthy of attention or considera- 
tion were it not for the fact that many innocent 
people read your valuable journal— people who do 
not know, and yet who are anxious to know 
the facts about the culture of rubber and which 
is now a very profitable and staple commodity 
and is a product of Nicaragua. 
Mow I saw on the plantation of Dr. Roman, at 
.Jinotepe, Nicaragua, not a great way from Grey, 
town, where Mr. Scott lives, rubber trees nine 
and ten years old, that had been tapped since 
seven years old and are as strong and healthy 
as though never touched ; these trees are over 
two feet in diameter, gave an average of 5^ 
pounds of rubber the first tapping, which has 
increased nearly a pound per year since. These 
trees were planted at first as shade for coffee 
trees. I also saw a number of old rubber trees, 
shown me by some native rubber cutters, from 
which tliey had cut rubber every year for the 
last fifteen to twenty years. The treee are still 
healthy and big, although considerably cut up, 
as these native cutters are indifferent and take 
no care of the trees, not even sealing their uneven 
cuts with mud to prevent exposure to the air, 
sun, rain, or insects, and yet the trees thrive 
and yield 10 to 15 pounds at each tapping. I 
saw three tapped. Rubber plantations have about 
200 trees per acre ; figure the profits. 
The rubber tree, like all other trees, requires 
the proper soil, care, and conditions for its 
growth and profitable cultivation. That it can 
be made as profitaVjle in Nicaragua as anywhere 
in the world, there is not the sliadow of doubt, 
of which I believe I can fully satisfy anybody 
by absolute proof. At present the most suitable 
soil and location in Nicaragua for rubber culti- 
vation, seems to lie in the region of Pearl Lagoon, 
where are located a number of plantations. — India 
Rubber World, June 1st. 
F. D. Bittinger, m.d. 
Dayton, Ohio, May 12th, 1900, 
