THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUBIST, [Nov. 1, 1902. 
VISIT TO A RUBBER, CACAO AND 
COFFEE PLANTATION IN COLUM- 
BIA, CENTRAL AMERICA. 
VARIETY AND YIELD OP CASTILLOA 
TREES. 
Dr. C. O. Weber is contributing to the 
" India-rubber Trade Journal" an account 
of his journey, inspection and hvboratory 
work on a large plantation in the isthmus of 
Columbia which includes some 70,000 rubber 
trees (Castilloa elastica) some of them 11 to 
12 years of age, besides cacao and coffee. 
Dr. Weber mentions that of the rubber- 
yielding Castilloa (there are at least four 
species) the best is the one possessing a 
whitish bark : it yields plenty of excellent 
rubber. Another has a black bark with a 
rough, irregular surface, and this yields a 
rubber as good as the white bark kind, but 
the tree is rapidly exhausted. Then again 
there is a variety with reddish bark very 
thin and fragile, which yields vei'y little 
latax, but the rubber produced is of good 
quality. Still further, there is a variety 
" Castilloa of Panama" distinguished by the 
enormous size of its leaves— some of them 
even on young trees being 20 inches long. 
Now Dr. Weber found that the trees on the 
plantation above mentioned have a bark 
neither yellow nor white, but of a delicate 
pale pinkish brown, and they are found to 
produce a good yield of an excellent quality 
of rubber. Dr. Weber's results from the 
tapping ofthe trees on the Columbia planta- 
tion are given as follows : — 
Age Yield Per cent of Yield of 
of tree of latex, rubber in latex. rubber. 
7 
8 
11 
1 lb 13 oz 
2 lb 6 oz 
S lb 1 oz 
5 lb 3 oz 
26 
26 
29 
31 
7-5 oz 
9 6 oz 
14-2 oz 
1 lb 9-7 oz 
These figures are much better than 
those obtained by the late Dr. Trimen at 
Peradeniya, and it is further stated that Dr. 
Weber considers his figures rather below 
than above the mark; while as the trees in 
. question can with perfect safety, be tapped 
twice a year, the annual rubber yield can 
be taken at double that in the last column 
as given above. All this may be considered 
fairly satisfactory to our Castilloa rubber 
planters — few and far between as we fear 
they are. To wait 6 and 7 years is a long 
time ; but a crop then of a lb. of rubber per 
tree, rising year by year until at 11 years 
pver 3 lb. can be harvested, should repay 
.both labour and patience if prices only keep 
as good as there is every prospect of their 
doing. 
THE CEYLON "HANDBOOK AND 
DIRECTORY." 
CBy n Jungle Eremite. J 
"Got what agin," growled Bill; "what's 
the matter now?" " It 's the jumps. Bill," 
gasped the other, " the 'orrors they 've got 
me and no mistake I " 
This from Anstey's " Vice Versa " almost 
portrays my state of mind on readinp— 
" The presen t is an od interim edition of the 
' CEYLON HANDBOOK AND DIBECTORY.' '' 
I was seriously disturbed about my mental 
balance. Here I am in the jungle, my 
nearest neighbour miles away. At last I be- 
thought me of my Cliinese kikne, " What 
are those two words?" I asked. " Ad in- 
terim. Sir." I drew a long sigh of satisfac- 
tion : my nerves were all right after all ! 
Rashly enquiring, he pursued, "Please, Sir, 
what is an ad interim ? " 
The strain had been severe. Rising on 
tip toe and grasping the Great Red Tome 
firmly in both hands, I brought it down 
wit h a mighty crash on to the cranium of 
the pig tailed one. " That,'' I exclaimed, 
"th/^ ^, and thou baleful one, that is an ad 
inte'>'im ! " And the wretched Confucian sank 
into the bowels of the earth, 
"Can't you ever be serious?" says the 
Familiar. ([ could write a chapter on Fami- 
liars. Socrates, like the writer, must have 
spent many lonely years in the jungle. 
This time the invisible one is evidently a 
female. A male would have said : " Can you 
never be serious ? ") — " Can't you ever be seri- 
ous ? " Yes, my dear, as serious as a graven 
image and as dry as a wooden god; which 
reminds me— Boy, bring light refreshments. 
But what I want to know is, if this is an 
ad interim, what is the final to be like ? 
It is impossible to be serious while that 
impudent little Familiar is raving at me 
out of Stephens' best blue black. * * * * 
I think the compiler is to be congratulated 
on his dedication : and the illustrious person 
thus honoured may well count it as another 
feather in his cap. 
The military information, especially the full 
details of the local Volunteer force on pp. 305, 
604 620, 733 and 1,015, is of interest to many 
who, perhaps, do not often make use of the 
Directory ! 
To add more would be to pile Ossa on 
Pelion (or should it be Pelion on Ossa ?). If 
Mr. Ferguson is to be congratulated on his 
Directory, much more is the colony to be 
felicitated on having such a single-hearted 
public man, such an excellent and pains- 
taking compiler, and such an able and accom- 
plished statistician.— J'rojn Sumatra. 
Coconut Cultivation in the Straits.— 
We are aware that a good deal of 
Ceylon money put into "Coconuts" in the 
Straits, is considered to be as good as lost, 
except where rubber has. been planted 
between the palms and is succeeding, so 
as to become the main staple. Our late 
friend Mr, A E Wright was very san- 
guine at first about his young coconut 
plantation in the peninsula ; but his trustees 
were glad to get out of the place for a small 
sum comparatively. The explanation of a 
good deal is found in the correspondence 
given in the Straits Times. On page 341 
Mr B V Carey replies to Mr Greig and 
throws a good deal of light on coconut 
planters' troubles. 
• Up to June, 1902 : Colombo, A. M. ^ J. 
Ferg«£on, 1902. 
