THE TROPICAL AGEICULTURIST. [Sept. 1, 1899. 
not hard," we remarked, "that 3 lb. should 
have to be taken out of 100 lb. ? " " Well, 
whose fault is that, save the planter's, who 
is idiotic enough to send so small a break 
for sale ? " — The remedy therefore is solely 
with the planter so far as we can judge, 
unless he cares to instruct his Brokers to give 
out no samples. — Eb. T.A.] 
RUBBER IN MEXICO : CASTILLO A 
ELASTICA. 
Heaarats'oda, 21st July 1899, 
Dear Sir,— I beg to enclose particulars on 
Castilloa Elastica cultivation supplied by a 
leading Rubber planter its Mexico at my request, 
who lias several plantations of his own. I trust 
that the particulars will be usehilto the readers 
of the Obseroer and Tiopiccd Ac/riculturist. He 
writes : — " A good many plantations of this tree 
are being started all over the Southern part of 
this country now, but owing to their being still 
young, seeds have still to be gathered principally 
in the forests." — Yours faithfully, 
J. P, WILLIAM, 
"CASTILLOA ELASTICA." 
{To Messrs.' J. P. Wiillam <fe Co., Ceylon.) 
^ Mexico, June 1. 
The fresh seeds are sown with or without the 
surrounding pulp in the nursery bed at one foot's 
distance giving them some shade, and keeping the 
gromid well drained. The best soil is considered to 
be diluvial sandy loam, but I have seen very large 
rubber trees giovving on clayey soil, and in many 
localUies the trees seem to grow with preference on 
tba^^hilty ground and not dovpn in the bottom of the 
canyons. 
When one year old the young plants are trans- 
planted in the rainy season to holes dug previously in 
the ground, and if the tap-root is very long, as is 
apt to be the case if the plants, as done in some 
places, are left in nursery till tvpo years old, it is 
simply cut, leaving it only ten or tvfelve inches long 
and letting it bleed profusely before planting it, as 
it is said that the clogged milk impedes its taking 
root quickly. Transplanting without cutting the root 
is however preferable, as is also transplanting " en- 
piion " that is with the lump of earth surrounding 
the roots ; but this is not always practicable when 
transplanting to a long distance. Cuttings are very 
seldom planied, and seem not to give good results. 
As for planting in the sim or in the shade, there 
are different opinions as to the proper course. Some 
claim that they ought to be planted in the forest in 
the shade of other trees, and that the sunhurtsits 
milk-produotion, makes its rind thicker and prevents 
its growing old and stroujr. The other side clamis that 
the young trees planted in the sun grow much more 
vigorously than m the shade, and that not only the 
greater facility aad convenience in lookiug after the 
plantation, but also the actual increased growth favors 
plating in the sun. It is rather difficult to decide 
which is true in the absence of large old plantations 
formed on both plans, but I for my part am of the 
opinion that it depends greatly on r,he climate of the 
locality where the plantation is made, for whereas on 
the Pacific Oopjst and part of the Atlantic coast 
there is a long dry season, sometimes fully six months 
daring which the sun may inflict some damages on 
tlie tr^^es and where consequently shade would be pre- 
ferable, in other places as for instance on my own plan- 
tation there are rains in ten months or more in the 
year, and the moist atmosphere consequently pre- 
vents the sua from damigiug the vitality of the trees, 
and especially if the altitude is from 2C0 to .500 meters 
over sea-level, as on my place, where a hea\y shade 
would not be benefici il lo the trees, since they would 
not get the necessary heat, and this is borne out by 
the fact observed by myself, that the young jtrees 
planted in the sun grow much quicker and stronger 
there than those left in the shade. Several planters 
in the State of Chiapas, however, claim just the op- 
posite result, their plantations being situated almost 
at sea-level and farther south than mine. On the 
other hand I have seen a plantation of young trees 
grow nicely at a height of over 700 meters altitude, 
but these I am inclined to think that the absence of 
the necessary heat may have an adverse influence on 
the latex of the grown tree. I have found that lime and 
green manure seem to help the growth of the trees 
very much. 
The distance between the trees varies much. Some 
give them as much as 20 feet, but the average seems 
to be 15 feet. Some few give only 12 feet bat with- 
out planting anything else between the trees, and a 
few are trying the Trinidad system of planting at 
8 to 10 feet only, intending to uproot and thoroughly 
bleed one half later. Of course, in selecting the dis- 
tance, the quality and configuration of the soil and the 
climatic conditions have all to be taken into considera- 
tion. Where the ground is very wet and inclined to 
form pools, it seems advisable to follow the system 
of forming a hill around the foot of each tree, as, 
contrary to the " Hevea " excessive moistoie and 
swampy land seem to hurt it. 
I do not think the Castilloa Elastica ought to be 
tapped till in its eighth year to avoid injuring the 
tree, nor do I think that planters ought to effect 
such fabulous yields as five or more pounds a year, 
as some enthusiasts promise. Here we generally 
make the safe estimate of one to two pounds of rubber 
per year, and rather the former than the latter. 
Plumbago. — We have received copy of a 
valuable paper on " Graphite : its formation 
and manufacture" by a competent scientist, 
which will be given in full in our 
Tropical Agriculturist. It is curious to 
read that the only difference between 
the diamond and gi-aphite— both being 
carbon — is one of pressure, the former 
being the result of high, and the latter 
of low, pressure. A formula we have 
already published runs :— (1) Diamond, (2) 
Plumbago or Graphite, (3) Amber, (4) Coal, 
(5) Peat, (6) Petroleum, 
The Cajiphob Monopoly in Formosa,— A 
Taipeh correspondent writing to a Hongkong 
paper on 29th June says : — 
Preparations for the operation of the camphor 
monopoly law, which will come into force on 
the 5th August next, are now in progress, and 
it has been announced that six camphor offices 
will be established, namely at Taipeh, Tekcham, 
Miori, Taichu, Rinkeho, and Giran. It is the 
intention of the Government to improve the 
present method of packing by making_ the chests 
of pine instead of camphor-wood as hitherto and 
lining them with zinc, so that the contents can 
be kept for a long time without loss by evapora- 
tion. If all the stills now in use are well 
managed they have a capacity of turning out 
some 150,000 piculs a ^ear, while the world's con- 
sumption is roughly estimated at forty or fifty 
thousand piculs only. The Government therefore 
intends to greatly decrease the present number 
of stills so as to keep a fair proportion between 
demand and supply and to ensure a fair price 
for the drug. As regards the manner in which 
the Government will sell its camphor nothing 
definite has been decided, but according to a 
competent authority the Government will not 
sell the drug at all for the present but will 
allow an interval of six months or a year to 
elapse, when it is anticipated the article will 
fetch three times the price paid for it to the 
producers. Owing to the importance of increas- 
ing the general revenue to make it balance the 
ejcpenditure the Government, it is stated, desif^ 
to get a million yen out of the monopoly. 
