THfi TjROPICAli 
A&KICULTURIST. 1, 1902. 
Uares ar« earefully broken; and so we were led to apply 
to the different organs of the latter plant the proce- 
dure recommended by M. Jungfleisch for extracting 
gntta-percha from the leaves of the former. We 
experimented first on some fresh leaves of a plant 
of Eucommia grown in the Jardin Coloaial. The 
leares are 3 to 3} inches long and li to 2 inches 
wide. They are oval, pointed at the end, finely 
dentate, have short stalks, and in length resemble 
those of our comipon elm. Operating upon 30 gram- 
me* of dried leaves, we obtained 0*45 gr. of product 
■olnble in toluene which corresponds to a return of 2*25 
gr. per cent. This return is poor, rememberiog that 
the fresh leaves contain 70 per cent, of water. The 
bark is full of laticiferoua vessels. But the plant which 
we possess being still very young, we have not been 
able to take any branches away for examination. 
A second series of observations was made upon the 
fruits. The fruit is a samara, the length of it 
being inches, and the width nearly i inch. Two 
hundred fruits weigh about 13 to 14 grammes. The 
extraction of matter soluble in toluene has given us 
the following results : — 
lit attempt, 15 grammes yielded 4'09 gr. soluble in 
toluene 
2nd attempt, 15 grammes yielded 4-12 gr. soluble in 
toluene. 
i.*; 8 "20 gr. 'from 30 grammes ef matter, or a yield of 
27"34 per cent. We worked with fruits not dried. 
The fruit contains a small proportion of water, equal to 
7'4 per cent. 
The product obtained is of a brown colour with 
metallic reflections on the surface. Plunged into hoc 
Water it becomes soft again, stretches out in thin 
flakes like goldbeater's skin and under pressure will 
take the impress of metal. In cooling it loses its sup- 
pleness and becomes quite hard. 
" We have submitted the samples to M. Leaute, an 
authority on the subject, and he has been so kind 
as to authorise us to say that he considers the gutta 
percha of good quality. We have but one plant under 
observation in the Jardin Colonial, but experiments 
are being made as to the methods of propagating. As 
at present Eucommia ulmoidea is only known to exist 
in China, it is not easy to get a quantity of seed; and 
further, germination seems alow and irregular. One 
sowing produced a single seedling after the lapse of 
six weeks, a second after five months, attd others 
later. Fortunately cuttings seem to give better re- 
sults. They will strike root at any season, and give 
vigorous plants ; but spring, when the branches are 
•till leafless, seems to be the most favourable time 
(or taking them. 
Eucommia ulmoides promises to be hardy at Kew. In 
November. 1897, M. Maurice L da de Vilnoorin pre- 
sented a plant to the Royal Botanic Gardens, where 
it has been grown successfully in the op«n without 
protection. 
In Paris, where the winters are more severe than 
at Kew, the plant has survived through them, as 
testified by the following answer dated November, 
18, 1899, kindly sent by M. M. de Vilmorin to a 
question from Kew : — 
Two plants of Eucommia uhnoidts remained un- 
protected agunst a wall in our Paris garden dnrine 
the two last mild winters, and stood nninjored 
through as low a temperature as 18* or 19° F, " 
The Jardiu Colonial has already experiment in 
hand in Annam, Tonkin, and North Africa. 
The bark of Tu thung had attracted attention long 
before the discovery of tho tree to which it belonged. 
The following notice appeared in the Kew Beport for 
1881, p. 47:- 
Chinese collections of Materia Medica often contain 
■pecimens of a drug consisting of blackened fragments 
of bark and small pieces of twigs. These when broken 
across are seen to contain an abundaude of oaontchonc 
which can be drawn out in fine elastic threads as in 
the East African Landolphias. Specimen! h»T« 
|«ashad t)i« Z«w Mas«mn froa th« Paris Ezhibltiou 
ef 1878 (with the Ohinese same Tu ehunsr), and from 
the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. The bo- 
tanical origin has been hitherto altogether uncertain. 
It seems, however, probable from a notice byM. L. 
Pierre, Director of the Botanic Gardens, Saigon 
(Excursions et Reconnaissances, "So 11, Saigon), that 
this drug is the produce of Parameria glandtdifera. 
This is an apocynaceoua climber, ascending to the 
summits of the highest trees ; it i^ common in the 
forests of Ooohia China. Specimens which M. Pierre 
has obligingly communicated to Kew prove that the 
plant is identical with a species which abounds in 
Southern India. M. Pierre states that " the sap 
which flows from the stem has exactly the appear- 
ance of milk, and m«y even be used as a substi- 
tute for it ; and it has a slight nutty flavour. In 
the liquid state it is often employed in medicine 
by the Annamites ' and the Cambodians. The bark, 
after being dried ordinarily in smoke, is sold at 20 
to 25 francs the picul=lS3| lbs.), and exported to 
China, The bark is a medicinal product esteemed 
by the Chinese." 
The real source of the drug was cleared up when 
the specimen of Eucom.mii, collected in Hupeh in 
1887 by Dr. A, Henry, was described in 1890 by 
Prof, O iver in the leonei Plantarum. Dr. Henry's 
specimens were accompanied by the following 
note : — 
The Tu chmg tree 20-30 feet. The bark of this 
tree is a most valued medicine with the Chinese, sell- 
ing at 4s to 8b a lb, 
Mons, Pierre concurred that the suggested identi- 
fication with Parmeria must be abandoned. 
Subsequently further specimens were received from 
the Museum d'Historie Naturelle, Paris. These had 
been collected in Szechnen in 1874 by Bev, Pire 
Farges. They were accompanied by tho following 
note ; — 
Lorsqu'on brise I'ecorce les vaisseanx cortieanz 
s'etirent comme dea fits de soies ; o'est pour oela qo'il 
est appele aussi vulgairement at mien. Ecorce 
officinale usilee dans les maladies des reins et com- 
me une charpie dans les blessnres. 
E^tcommia is a tree of mountainous districts. Tho 
name Tu chung is, however, applied by the Chinese to 
a tree of the plains, which is almost certainly a 
Muonymus and not improbably E. hamHteniatiui, Wall. 
(Sea Km Bullttin, 1899, p. 319 . 
RUBBBR CULTURQ IN NICARAQUA- 
The following report on the cultivation of rubber on 
the old Mosquito Coast by Mr. Qordon Waldrou is in- 
teresting because of the conflicting opinions of thoso 
intareated with regard to the possibility of saeceasfal 
and profitable growing rubber in this distriet. 
Before 1898 there had beeh no rubber planting 
beyond a few fruitless experiments on the Atlantic 
coast of Nicaragua. In 1898, the work began on what 
may be called a large scale, and each year since tha 
number of planters has increased. It is safe to say 
that in this vicinity about £10,000 iu gold valaa is 
now baing expendad yearly in growing rubber axcla- 
sively. 
PLlNTINa. 
The method of planting followed here by all who 
bave achieved any sncoess has been to grow ];abber 
entirely without shade. The best practice is to fall 
the primeval forest early in tha dry season, via., 
daring March and April - to lop the branches and brusk 
oloaely, and, when the whole has become dry enough, 
to fire it, with the resalt that everything is burnt but 
the trunks and large branches. Stakes are then set 
out at regular intervals over the burnt field. From 
the let or 16th of May to the 15th 'Of June, tha land is 
planted by setting a rubber seed to eaeh stake, or, if 
seed is plentiful, two seeds, so that if ona fails there 
may still be a tree. Where two plants oome up at a 
stake, ona is removad, and tha othar is Ufl to grow 
parmauantly. 
