S06 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. 1, 1902. 
results, lot the two lips of the wound woul<l tend to 
separate, and Ihe tension would become feebler.* 
Asia seen, several causes contribute to render more 
efficacious the transverse incisions of the bark, with 
reference to the flow of the latex. But are these 
sections to be exclusively recommended ? That is not 
my opinion : for the cultivator ought not merely to 
have the present harvest in view, but the possibility of 
future harvests. From this viewpoint, the transverse 
incisions may be disastrous, and the more so as they 
are the more extended. 
Every wound made in a bark produces a scar more 
or less rapidly by the formation of new tissues, and 
from this fact the latioifers, at first continuous, are 
separated into portions, the shorter as the incisions 
are the nearer. It necetsarily results that the future 
incisions meet only fragments of laticifars yielding 
only a small quantity of latex. 
In my opinion, 
and for the reasons 
mentioned above it 
would be suitable, 
if transverse or obli- 
que incisions are to 
to be made in a 
shrub or tree, to 
first make a num- 
ber of incisions at 
tbe same height — 
say 3 meters ifrom 
the ground — then 
to commence after- 
ward a little lower, 
and so on until the 
last incisions occur 
near the ground. 
Then on leaving the 
tree at repose for a 
sufficiently long pe- 
riod — at least a 
year — new tissnes 
will be formed in 
the interior of the 
bark and in these 
new tissues prolon- 
gations of the ori- 
ginal laticifers will 
penetrate. After 
this period emplo- 
yed by the tree in 
producing new tis- 
snes, containing 
laticiferous ducts, 
incisions can be 
made again, identi- 
cal and in the same 
order. 
In no case should 
completely annular 
incisions ba made. 
This will prevent 
the circulation of 
the sap and compromise the life of the plant. Too 
wide incisions distance between the edges of the 
*lt is not correct to Bay as Boujssou, has in the 
Bevue Generate des Sciences that thelatex is a kind of 
ascending sap, I do not think that any proof what- 
ever has been yet presented of the circulation of Uie 
?a?ea; in the ducts. The fact that the latex flows un- 
equally at the lips of an incision is a direct couee- 
quence of the difference of tet)sion of the tissues on 
the different sides of the incision and the flowing may 
naturally be greater at the upper lip of the section 
than at the lower, This I have verified with the 
LandolpJiia florida in the hothouses of the Museum. 
The fact that the incisions made near the ground 
(^Hcoea produce more latex than the same at a height 
of 2 or 3 meters scarcely be explained except by a 
difference of tension of the tissue b at different heights 
incisions should also be avoided ; for . the heading of 
the wound is the longer and more difficult ip propor- 
tion as the edges are further separated from each 
other. 
It will not be difficult to fix upon the plan of a 
certain number of methodical experiments and obser- 
vations which persons living in the tropical regions, 
and having at disposal rubber trees or plants, might 
undertake. The results of such an inquiry would be 
important with reference to the future of the planta- 
tions of caoutchouc which of late are coming into 
existence so generally in all the tropical rei^ions of 
tbe globe — India Bubher Wotld, 
PIG, 4. 
This view not presented with M 
I.ecomte's paper illustrates a preva 
lent method of cutting the rubber 
tree (eastilloa elastica) in Mexico,- 
PLAIN TALK TO SMALL OWNERS 
IN WEST INDIAN ISLANDS.* 
His Honour . H. WatMns, Commis- 
sioner of llontserrat.) 
{Concluded from page 226.) 
TROPICAL PLANTS AND INDUSTRIES, 
There are many small industries suitable for the 
tropics, but I will touch briefly on three — cacao, ginger, 
and bee-keeping. 
Cacao. — It is true that in Montserrat there are no 
large areas suitable for cacao, but in every 
district suitable, small patches are found on which 
even a few trees could be grown with profit. Mr. 
Whitfield Smith, in an interesting report on cacao 
growing in Grenada, has shown what can be done on 
a small estate under seemingly disadvantageous condi* 
tione. From this small estate an average return of 7 
bags of cacao to the acre was obtained. With cacao 
selling at only £3 per cwt., this would mean a return 
of over £30 per acre. For cacao select a sheltered 
spot, snd plant even if it be bat a dozen or more trees. 
Bananas and ground provisions can be grown between 
the trees until they come to perfection. Look after 
your trees well »s if they were pet children, and you 
are, in a few years, almost certain to make a profit. 
Choose your pods and seeds carefully. There are 
many varieties : the short smooth-skinned pods or 
Oalabacillo cacao; the Forastero or Trinidad cacao 
with big heavy, straight pods ; and the Criollo with 
long, curved pods, constricted at the upper end, taper- 
ing at the lower, with a deeply wrinkled skin. The 
last named should be chosed, for the Spanish or Cala- 
bacillo variety does not contain as many seeds in the 
pod, and they are smaller and flatter and slightly 
bitter. The consequence is that the crop is smaller 
and inferior. 
GiNGEK. — The Consular reports of Central America 
have of late years bean calling attention to the oppor- 
tunities afforded, for making fair profits out of the 
cultivation of ginger. An excellent article on the sub- 
ject appeared in a recent number of Chamhers' Journal. 
According to this article the soil for this crop ehonld 
be of a rich vegetable composition, loose and moist, 
yet well drained. Sandy or heavy soils should be 
avoided. It is advisable to select what are known as 
the more temperate, that is, hill regions of the tro- 
pics where the rainfall is more or less abundant. The 
soil should be loosened by the hoe when the ground 
has been furrowed. The soil ia banked up in ridges 
small holes are made 3 inches deep and one foot apart. 
Then healthy roots, or rhizomes, are selected and care- 
fully divided into short lengths, each fragment having 
at least one shoot attached. One of these pieces is 
placed in each hole and covered up with fine earth 
containing as much vegetable matter or manure as 
possible. Planting generally takes place about April 
or May, and the land is regularly weeded. 
Four months after planting the plants will commence 
to bloom. Towards the end of the year both the 
flower-bearing and the leaf-bear.'ng stems begin to 
* Imperial Dejyartment of Agriculture for the We 
Indies, 
