Jan. 1, 1900.] THE TR0PICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
48.3 
To the Editor. 
MEXICO AND ITS PRODUCTS BY A 
CEYLON PLANTER : CACAO ; RUBBER ; 
SUGAR AND COFFEE. 
Tabasco, Mexico. 
Deak Sir,— As promised you some months 
ago, I pow send you a general description of 
this part of Mexico and its products. From 
San Juan Bautista, the' principal tradinp; town 
and Port for this district, to the Grijalva Coy.'s 
land, some 45 leagues, ihe land is chiefly level 
and slightly rolling with a very deep loam soil 
and there are many very fine cacao and sugar 
plantations to be seen along the road, owned 
by Mexicans and Spaniards and some few ruh- 
ber plantations of small size also. • The states 
of Tabasco and Chiapas are noted as being che 
home ot cacao — " theobroma cacao"— the soil 
and climate being particularly adapted to its 
culture and I have found many trees growing 
wild and bearing a good crop in this land. The 
local method of planting is to clear the land, 
plant the cacao madre 20 by 15 feet or there- 
abouts and maize the first year, and the second 
year, or so soon as the shade from the madre 
is sufficient to ;)lant cacao |)lants 15 feet apart 
between the row of madre. The only cultivation 
it then gets is two weedings a year with mache- 
tes and the greater part of the year there is a 
heavy carpet of weeds three feet high, which 
shuts out all ventilation and in consequence 
there is great deal of moss on the cacao trees. 
The cacao bears in live years, and the pods are 
gathered in the roughest manner, being torn off 
the tree by a blunt hook or forked pole generally 
destroying the eye at base of stalk and conse- 
quently much future blossom. The shrub is never 
pruned, but notwithstanding all this, it bears 
good and paying crops, about 50 pods per tree. Of 
course, there are some few plantations where better 
care is tiken and ©n these the yield is larger : 
on some trees in the district of Macuspana 200 
pods have been gathered from trees. 
The cost of land, clearing, planting and weeding 
for five years, if properly done, is about $200 (two 
hundred dollars silver) .say £20 for each hectare 
■{24- acres). The cost of gathering, curing and 
sacking the crop is about |4'00 (four dollars) 
per carga (60 1b.) say 4,500 to 5,000 1b. per 
hectare ; value of crop on tlie plantation 40 cents 
per pound leaving a net profit of some $1,250 to 
^1,500 per hectare. Besides this, vanilla can he 
grow n on same land as a side crop which makes 
quite an addition to the profits. 
Rubber ((-'astilloa elastica), like cacao, is in- 
digenous to the soil and is found growing wild here 
and when cultivated there is no more profitable 
tropical product or one so easily and cheaply pro- 
ducer! ; and some attention is now being paid to its 
its cultivation by Mexicans and Americans. It 
may be planted in the open clearing or under 
shade : it appears to thrive and grow equally well, 
under both conditions. Seed may be planted at 
stake, plants, or stumps, all have done equaily 
well, planted by me. The cheapest way to form 
a plantation is to clear out the underbrush and 
any decaying trees likely to fall, and plant 
through the jungle 12 ft. apart Another way is 
to clear and burn oft' and then sow maize, planting 
rubber seed at stake 12 by 12 or 15 by 15 ft. 
Maize can be grown for two years making four 
crops which will pay for keeping the land cleai. 
A plantation cf 100,000 rubber trees so planted 
will cost at end of live years, including price of 
land, some $15,000 or $]'6,000— say £1,000. The 
tiftii year a tree here, if properhj taken care of 
and properly tapped, will yield from five to six lb. 
of juice equal to two lb. : pure rubber which at 
SI per pound is worth at least 8200,000 from 
100,000 trees. I have seen trees mat have been 
tapped for 2 J years still yielding and the tapping 
had been done most barbarously. The cost of 
upkeep and production is smnll ; one man will tap 
20 trees per day. The juice is then put in a barrel 
and a solution of five oz. of sub-carbonate of sodium 
in water sufficient to cover the whole mass, 
which is churned up with a paddle every once in 
a while, and after 36 hours the water is run 
off : this is repeated until the rubier becomes white. 
This certainly is the enterprise for the small 
capitalist in Mexico. 
Sugar Cane, — There are many fine plantations 
on this river. The yield on some is 60 tons per 
acre. I have seen some cane-fields which I was 
assured by their owners were 35 years old, still 
yielding handsome returns, and they had had little 
or no cultivation all those years. From the best 
information I can get the average yielding here 
about is 50 tons cane per acre, which yields 
70 per cent, juice in cane, 15 per cent, of sugar 
in juice, besides the molasses whi-3h is made into 
rum, white sugar is worth eight cents, per pound, 
molasses one cent per pound. 750 lb. molasses 
make otie barrel rum worth $10. So that taking 
the product at only 45 tons per a^re and upkeep 
and expenses of making sugar and rum at $2i),000 
for 100 acres, it leaves a profit of some 136,000 per 
loO acres. The cost of machinery is considerable 
and for that reason the small capitalist can- 
not enter the field as he can in rubber and 
cacao. 
Coffee produces heavily and there is no leaf 
disease, or any other so far as I can see. There 
are also many other products that can be grown 
with profit, as side crops on cacao or rubber 
plantations ; but I will not enter into them in 
this letter, as I feel I have already trespassed too 
muchon your valuable space — Yours very truly, 
E. O. DARLEY. 
CEYLON GREEN TEAS. 
Toronto, Dec. 8. 
Dear Sir, — We note your comments in refer- 
ence to our letter to you, in the weekly issue of 
the Overland Observer of Nov, Gth ; and we beg 
to say that Ceylon is exporting Green Teas to- 
day, we have them on hand, we have sold a 
considerable lot, and we have more close to hand 
and still more on order for regular shipments 
from Messrs. Wliittall & Co., of Colombo, who 
will be glad to give you any information, we 
have no doubt, about what is being exported in 
Ceylon Green Teas. 
We believe there is a big market here for those 
teas, otherwise we would not have commenced a 
canipaign in their favor. We believe tlie Ceylon 
Greens are well-worthy of the planters' attention. 
—Yours truly, 
P. C. LARKIN & Co, 
