542 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Fee 1, 1901. 
fying results ami 1 sliall hope to make some im- 
portant scientific use of the process it afforded 
the opportunity of its ])ractical utilisation amid 
tropical surroundings. I have also in hand a 
scientific description or revision of the many 
species of eornmercial pearl and mother-of-pearl 
sliells, concerning the correct identification and 
nomenclature of which there is almost inextri- 
cable confusion even in the moat widely-accepted 
text-books and well-appointed museums. Another 
circumstance, however, has more particularly 
tied my hands and compelled me, like Brer 
Fox, to Iny low this past couple of years. A 
syndicate of would-be conipany promoters ap- 
proaclied me with the object of obtaining large 
concessions of suitable pearl shell cuilivating 
areas on the Western Australian coast line, and 
of which they wished mc to undertake the 
scientific direction. I went to the trouble of 
using my influence with the W. A. Government 
to get a special Act passed (whicii did not ex- 
ist) and have paid several hundred pounds out 
df pocket in securing the requisite leases, etc., 
and now after letting the matter drag on for 
all this time, they have failed to raise the 
capital which they said they could command, and 
left me with all the time'.and trouble wasted in 
addition to the cash. 
RUBBER :-PKODUCERS AND NEW 
SOITKCES. 
Paris, Dec. 7. 
Dear Sir,— I am very obliged to you, because 
you open so liberally your columns to my bad 
English and my worse writing. I am nearly sure 
that all- readers, collaborators, printers, etc.— 
obliged by duty to make the light shine through my 
prose wil'l, in a better life, receive superior encour- 
agement ! 
I send you one fruit of Castilloa Tunu and you 
will see that all the seeds are sunk in the support. 
In Castilloa elastica the seeds are exerted. I do 
not know if you understand well what I write ! 
I will ask for a botanical analysis to M, Posijor 
from museums and send to you. 
With same post I send you a little part of a 
young stem of Ohonemorpha Macrophylla which 
is an" Indian plant. If you look at one end of 
this you will find a little part of rubber and 
very fine rubber ! Certainly, it is not much, but 
the stem is a very little part of the plant and the 
plant is a very robust one. Why don't you pay 
any attention to so good a producer of rubber? 
In many plants rubber is found between the bark 
and the wood, or more properly in the inner part 
of the bark. In Chonemorpha the rubber is found 
in the marrow. 
New sources ot rubber are discovered every day. 
I have just received from a friend two tons of a 
rubber from one particular species of Sapium from 
Ecuador. I know that the plant is similar to 
Sapium biglandulosum var. Soiimantc, but I have 
heard such fantastic reports of that last plant that 
I cannot believe it is the same. 
Consul Patin, the introductor of Sopium Soli- 
manic, says that that tree gives up to 40 English 
pounds of rubber every year ! ! ! Mine from 
Ecuador gives four to six pounds and the tree must 
be felled (cut down). The sap begins to flow, 
.{t.i * Not yet received.— Ed, 3'.4. 
only two or three days after. My friend has 
collected this year 13 tons of rubber in the 
country; but the trees are so abundant that nobody 
can say when the rubber has been taken. In 
the main country lives the black rubber, Castilloa 
species. I do not know exactly the name. The 
rubber badly prepared does not reach so good a 
price as Sapium rubber or white rubber; but gives 
regularly by tapping. 
About tapping (saignee)my friend told me a thing 
that I have heard from others. The tapping must 
be made quickly, several cuts at once, for after 
four or five cuts made in the tree, the sap does 
not flow, the tree retains its sap ! 
Sapium biglandulosum is a very common plant 
on all the American continent; you can find it 
from Mexico to the Argentine Republic ; but the 
form varies considerably ; therefore the two plants 
which have motived the name bigland^dosum are 
more or less apparent. In some parts as in Ecuador, 
Columbia and Peru, the rubber is good ; in other 
])arts it is considered to be very bSd. The good 
rubber plant is always found at 2,000 feet high. 
I wait for enough from cooler countries. 
Did you hear of rubber made fiom sage bush 
from Mexico? This plant is extremely common 
in all the dry region of San Luiz Potosi, and an 
American Company has started a manufacture. 
It is a small ligneous plant, two feet high. The 
rubber is obtained by a very curious process. The 
plant is boiled with soda? But I will be soon in 
a situation to give you particular information 
about the botanical name and the process. 
The bark I received from you does not contain 
any rubber : kindly tell this to your correspondent. 
I have always been unsuccessful with Euphhor- 
beaceous plants, but you will see by the different 
sorts of barks I send you by this mail how rich 
are the barks of Mascarenhosia, Landolphia and 
Hancornia. Bieak the parts and you will see the 
rubber very apparent. — Believe me. Sir, your 
most truly servant, 
A. GODEFROY-LEBEUF. 
"FOXINESS" IN COFFEE. 
Fairlands, Sidapur, Ooorg, Dec. 29th, 1900. 
Dear Sir, — Can you inform me of any publi- 
cation dealing with the foxiness in cofiee, and 
\Yould you kindly insert the following in an early 
issue of your valuable journal, and send me 
a copy and also further copies by V. P. P. should 
any answers appear. 
Can you, or any of the numerous readers of 
your valuable journal, give me any information 
regarding the cause, prevention, or cure of " foxi- 
ness" in coffee. — I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, 
PEKCY G TIPPING. 
[We can find no reference to "foxiness": does 
it not mean a deficiency in the beans, due to 
drought, poor soil, or some such cause ?— Ed. T.A.} 
REH AND IRRIGATED LANDS. 
30th Dec. 
Dear Sir,— With reference to an article of 
yours on irrigation, I believe you have taken too 
serious a view of the matter, regarding which 
I have reason to think that you are mistaken 
in supposing that the condition referred to is due 
to exliaustion of the soil. For instance, I have 
seen lands that have been under cultivation tor 
ten and twelve years giving good crops as a resi^It 
