758 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [May 1, 1900. 
THE RUBBER-YIELDING FICUSES IN 
NORTH AFRICA. 
[FROM THE REVUE DES CULTURES COLONIALES 
NOV. 5th, 1899.] 
(Specially translated for the " Tropical 
Agi'iculturist.") 
It would be a mistake to suppose that Al^^eria 
and Tunis had climates which would permit of 
a profitable cultivation of rubber bearing plants. 
It would be wrong to imagine that if the northern 
Sflopesof the Atlas Mts. were unsuited, tlie southern 
and Sahara slopes would be less so. The greater 
part of the Algerian territory is an elevated plateau 
with a severe winter, and desert region, gener- 
ally elevated, which refuses all cultivation save 
that of the date palm. More than 25 years ago 
attempts at growing rubber-bearing plants of all 
kinds in the open air were made. Repeated 
experiments have shown that these plants can- 
not stand exposure to the winter chills and that 
even in sheltered positions they do not yield 
rubber in any satisfactory quantity 
The following kinds cannot stand the winter- 
Bassia latifoUa and longifolia of India ; Mimusops 
Balata ((ima,\\n.]; Chrysopliyllum diversum ; Bevea 
guyanensis and hrasiliensis and Landolphia 
divcrsa ; Nor can the various artocarpi. The 
Castilloa elastica of Mexico the Hancornia speciosa, 
of South America and the Manihot Glaziovii 
thougii less delicate, can only rarely stand two 
or tliree winters out of doors. On the ooher 
hand the Sapotilla, Achras sapota of the Antilles, 
succeeds well on the A!ge>ian coast as to 
fructifying, but its vegetation is sluggish. The 
Alstonia Scholaris of tlie East Indies alone 
developes finely in the Hamma. This arborescent 
Apocipiea there attains uo more than 45 feet in 
height, but it does not yield any quantity of latex. 
Various Plumeria, in rich soils in wliich water 
does not remain through the winter, have a fine 
growth, but tiiey suffer from frost. Among the 
Artocarpw, the genus Ileus alone offers some 
fine s))ecimens among the latex-bearers, but 
these are strictly limited to the neighbourhood 
of the sea. 
At the Experimental Gardens of Algiers scien- 
tists have again and again experimented on the 
Ficus tiees growing tliere, many 40 years of 
age. Those richest in latex are the 7nacro- 
phylla, elastica, glumacea, tlie latter having a 
great resemblance to the macrophylla and then 
the ruhigmosa. Then among the kinds with 
small leaves, Ficus Icevigata, ■iiitida, etc 
(Then follow lists and descriptions of three 
groups of Ficus). 
The value of the latex of the Algerian Ficus 
has long been questioned. Repeated experiments 
under various conditions showed tliat incision of 
the branch or afirial root let flow abundant 
milk, especially ia the sunmier season ; that 
this latex, of a pure white colour, was glutinous, 
coagulating rapidly, and sticking to the fingers 
in long filaments when they were fresh ; but, as 
it got older, it lost all traces of elasticity and 
became a dry and powdery resin. 
The question had reached this point in 1890. 
The Ficus had grown much, and tlieir develop- 
ment was attributed largely to the frequent 
incisions tliat had been made. The late Aime 
Girard of the Institute, whom I still remember 
with affection, determined to intervene and de- 
fine the flow in the quality of the rubbers 
obtained. Later in 1896 Aime Girard resumed 
the same work more methodically ; he e.xamined 
all the varioua lubber-Iike latex, I could collect 
— which according to his directions underw.nt 
various preparations before they were sent to 
Paris. Death surprised this learned man in the 
midst of his labours, but M. I-indst has recently 
published a useful resume of them. 
I possess, however, the conclusions arrived as 
in private letters from M. Aime Girard who kept 
me informed of his experiments. 
He found the rubbers procured intere.sting from 
the anomalies they presented. 
According to the different experiments of this 
learned man, it is at Ijetween 0-980 and 0 990, that 
we must place the density of ordinary rubber milk. 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
That the importance of the Colombo inaiket 
is likely to be steadily developed in the near 
future goes without saying. As an illustration 
of this truth we may instance the opinion of 
Mr. V. L. Tissera who accompanied " Mr.'' John 
Grinlinton to the Chicago Exhibition, remained 
in the States, started and h.as run the tea- 
importing firm of V. L. Tissera & Co. for the la^t 
eight years, and returned recently to Ceylon 
by the German steamer " Priiiz Heinricli." He 
is of opinion that Americans i)reter to have tlieir 
tea brought to America direct from Ceylon and 
not via the home market. And Mr. Ti.ssera's 
))resent visit to the East is mainly with the 
object of estaolishing branch firms in Colombo and 
perhaps, in Calcutta, by means of which he could 
import direct, though not yet severing ills con- 
nection with the London market. Mr. '1 issera's 
chief associates in the tea business at Chicago 
are the firm of Walsh, Lang & Co., wlio a'-t as 
distributors tbrougli no less than 32 agents in 
the States. He finds that the American public 
are slowly, and by careful manipulation of the 
blends supplied, beint' brought to favour Ceylon 
teas, thougli the taste for China's is difficult to con- 
vert. Our visitor also does a certain amount of 
business with Ceylon cofiee which is much liked by 
our American cousin^. 
Passing through Paris on his way ICast Mr. Tissera 
had the good fortune to meet our Commissioner, 
Mr. W E Davidson, wiio showed him round some of 
the buildings of the coming " exposition.'' He is 
reported also to have met a number of gentlemen 
in Paris, with whom he has arranged to lun an 
" Oriental Booth," outside the Exhibition limits, 
for which unique depot he is shortly to send sup- 
plies of tea. 
Mr. Tissera received some help last October 
from the Planters' Association representative, Mr. 
W. Mackenzie, in the shape of 11 half-chests of 
tea (black and green) in recognition of his fur- 
therance of the interests of Ceylon tea since 1893. 
Our visitor is at present residing with his brother 
at " Tis Ville," Gregory's Road, Colombo. 
German Chemical Industry.— The approxi- 
mate number of chemical factories in Germany 
is 5,950, employing 120,000 working men and 
4,000 chemists. Heavy ciieniicals, sucli as soda, 
acids, &c, find employment for 16,000 work- 
men ; fine chemicals, i7,500 ; aniline colours, 
14,000 ; and fatty products, 9,0U0. Of the chemi- 
cal staffs, 220 are employed in heavy chemical 
work, 250 for fine inorganic chemicals, 90 for fatty 
products, 400 in the metallurgical iiidustrj, 300 in 
sugar refineiies, and 1,300 in aniline dye and organic 
chemical works. There are about 75 to 80 works 
in Germany devoted to the extraction of tar 
|)roducts and the manufacture of aniline colour^,— 
J^evue des Prod. Chim, 
