June 1, 1903,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
The following account of llie rubber tapping at 
San Miguel was prepared by Mr. Eoyer, the plan- 
tation manager :— " We were very fortunate in 
securing for the plantation a native rubber tapper, 
who has been raised in the rubber district, and for 
many years has successfully tapped both wild and 
cultivated rubber riees in the states of Ohiapas and 
Tabasco. With this experience he was able to 
obtain the best results without injury to the trees. 
The first step in tapping a rubber tree is to clean a 
small place around the tree, a small gash then 
being made in the bark with tlie point of a machete 
and a leaf inserted therein, which serves as a spout 
to run the milk into pails. This leaf is placed 
about fifteen inches from the ground. From this 
point the cuts are made upwards at an angle of 
*5 degrees and extending in each direction a suffi- 
cient distance to include three-fourths of the cir- 
cumference of the tree. Directly above this, a 
distance of one meter, another cut is made exactly 
like the first, the milk flowing down the side of the 
tree into the first cut and on into the pail. These 
cuts are repeated on the entire body of the tree, 
or until the branches are encountered. You will at 
once see that all the milk has not been secured, 
but a sufficient amount left to maintain the tree in 
good condition for another year. The next tapping, 
which will be made in a year from now, will be 
made on the same side of the tree, three inches 
above the cut made this year, and the following 
year three inches above that, so that it will be 
possible to make thirteen tappings on one side, or 
twenty-six on both sides ; or in other words, a 
tree can be tapped twenty-six years without re- 
tapping the old cuts. The instrument used by the 
natives is a machete, or long knife. The bark of a 
ten-year old rubber tree is about three-fourths of an 
inch thick. The rubber trees on San Miguel are of 
the variety known throughout Mexico and Central 
America as Gastilloa elastica. This variety is 
divided into two classes, the lirst of which is 
known as the yellow rubber tree, or 'hule amarillo,' 
this being the male. The milk from these trees 
flows very freely, having a rich yellowish colour. It 
flows so freely that there is scarcely any left in the 
cuts after tapping. The other variety is known as 
the White rubber tree or ' hule bianco,' this being 
the female. The cuts made in these trees are not 
made at a 45 degree angle, but horizontally, a suffi- 
cient distance to include three-fourths of the cir- 
cumference of tiie tree. The milk from this tree 
ooaes into and fills the cuts, flowing down the tree 
several inches. The milk is very thick, requiring 
several days for it to dry so that it can be gathered. 
Of the two varieties the yellow is regarded as 
superior. The milk, gathered in pails, is taken to 
the rubber drying house where it may be con- 
verted into rubber through either of the following 
processes, both of which we have used : First, it is 
•pread on a cement floor to a depth of three-fourths 
of an inch, this floor being so situated that the milk 
is constantly in contact with the sun's rays, thus 
drying very rapidly. After it is dry the sheets are 
rolled up into convenient sizes for shipment. The 
second process is through coagulation with a native 
vine known as ' bejuco de necta.' During the 
coagulation the rubber is left porous, and as it 
contains more or less water it is necessary to re- 
move the same by using a press. It requires more 
time to prepare rubber by the first process. The 
average shrinkage in converting milk into solid 
rubber is 2.3, or in other words, 2.3 pounds of 
rubber milk will produce one pound of ruboer, I 
107 
have personally attended to the tapping »nd th« 
figures herein given are absolutely correct." 
'CEARA RUBBER' IN EAST AFRICA. 
The last India Rubber World contained a refer- 
ence to the interesc in rubber of the Deutsch 
Ostafrikanische Plantagengesellschaft on their 
plantation at Lewa, in German East Africa. A 
letter from Berlin offices of that company informs 
us that the species planted is Manihot Glaziovii— 
the rubber of CeaiA— of which they now have 
250,000 trees standing. Recently 4,000 5-year old 
trees were tapped, yielding about J pound of lateoo 
each, of which they estimated that 30 per cent in 
weight was lost in drying. This would give a yield 
of 700 pounds of dry rubber for the 4,000 trees, 
which, considering the age of the trees, and the 
good quality of the product, is considered very 
encouraging. — The India Ruhher World, April 1. 
THE MALARIAL CAMPAIGN: 
SIR WILLIAM MACGREGORS 
AMSTERDAM VISIT. 
The report, by Sir William Macgregor- 
Governor of Lagos, of his visit to Amster, 
dam, in connection with the water-supply 
there, as applicable to the Capital City of 
the West Coast of Africa, which reached 
us some days ago, is a comprehensive, 
clear and exhaustive document. It reflects 
its author on every page, and shows in 
the keen mtelligence, patient research and 
thorough mastery of detail, those high 
qualities which have built up the imperial 
reputation of the West Coast Governor, and 
have earned for him a stand-out character 
among the men of gubernatorial rank. 
Lagos, like all our settlements on the 
African West Coast, has long suffered from a 
bad reputation. It has been regarded as a kind 
of penal settlement, where white men found 
an early grave, or, if fortunate enough to 
return home, arrived hopelessly undermined 
in health. It was a surprise when Sir Wm. 
Macgregor was appointed its Governor, for 
the splendid work he had achieved during 
his time in Mew Guinea certainly entitled 
him to a healthier and higher post. If the 
CitU came as a disappointment to Sir William, 
he has successfully hidden away his chagrin 
and allowed it in no way to affect his public 
work. Indeed, if anything, it has made him 
more strenuous, and when he is called on 
to resign the reins of office, his personality 
will be visible, and remain visible for good, 
far into the future years. As a fully quali- 
fied medical man, the health conditions of 
Lagos have had more than usual interest 
to him as Governor ; and, while it would 
have been excusable in the enervating and 
depressing atmosphere of its deadly climatp 
to have followed the laissez faire policy of 
his predecessors. Sir Wm. Macgregor, has 
made improved conditions of his province, 
his objective, and has spared neither trouble 
nor pains to effect the removal of causes 
telling against the health of this CapitaL 
It was in connection with a better water- 
supply fur Lagos, that this high offi- 
cial made in November last, such 
an exhaustive study of the system which 
obtains ac Amsterdam, for the topo. 
