822 
THE TKOPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST, (June 1, 1900. 
city and entirely free from leaf blights, 
the produce from which is valued by London 
brokers at an all round average of over £100 
per ton. 
Just now we are having a good deal of 
sickness in the district, for, in addition to the 
ordinary maladies prevalent at this time 
of year, such as malarial fever and dysentery 
amongst the native population, smallpox is 
rife and is claiming its victims from the local 
or indigenous tribes. 
RUBBER INDUSTRY IN MEXICO. 
The United States Oousul at Mexico in a r«- 
cent report on the rubber industry of that country, 
says that land suited to the growth of rubber can be 
had anywhere from 43 to 53 per acre. The titles 
will be found vested in private ownership : none 
are in the hands of the Government. The land will 
in all cases be a dense jungle. Cacao, pineapples 
and bananas can be gi'owu as wall as rubber. 
Prairie grass land is not adapted to this product, 
Kabber may be planted from bra,nch cuttings, root 
cuttings, and from trees grown in the iiuraery 
from seeds. From 150 to 300 trees are aet to the 
acre, and they are tapped anywhere from five to 
fifteen years after planting, according to the locality. 
Under the most, favourable conditions a tree v;ill 
yield an average of o-je to two pounds of rubber. The 
present market price at Fcontera ia about 23 9d per lb. 
The tree is long lived and the pi'oduction increases 
with age. No machinery is required for handling the 
gum. The rubber districts of Mexico, as a rule, are 
remote from centres of population ; they are always 
thinly inhabited. Oriental labour must be imported. 
The approximate wage is four slulliaga per day. 
Knowledge of the language of the country is desir- 
able for a person about to engage in the cultivation 
of rubber. As to the comparative cost of liring 
in the United States and Mexico, the Consul i3 of 
opinion that if a man is content to live in Blexico 
as the natives live, he can exist very cheaply ; but 
if he desires to live iu the manner to whioii he is 
accustomed in the United States— eat the same food, 
prepared iu the same way— it will cost iiim a great 
deal more than at home. 
The rubber tree of Mexico is found growing 
from the Guat-sraalan boundary as far north aa Tuxpan 
on the Gulf coast, and as far north as Ooliua on 
the Pacific coast. The maturity of the tree and its 
production are measured by the quantity and uniform 
distribution of the rainfall, together with high tem- 
perature throughout the year. In low altitudes, 
localities of 150 and 200 inches of rainfall distributed 
over eight or ten months in the year enjoy the best 
conditions, although rubber does grow where they 
have six months of rain and six months of dry 
weather ; but in these localities it requires from 
twelve to fiiiteeii years for the tree to mature, 
while iu districts with an ample rainfall it will 
flower within five or six years. — India-Ruhher Journal, 
April 2. 
— <!» ' 
GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR. 
AN EXPERT OPINION FROiM JAMAICA. 
To the Editor of the Times. 
Sir, — At the meeting of the Association of 
Clianibei's of Couinierce, reported upon in your 
issue of yesterday. Sir Nevile Luhboek said :— 
'' It was true that The 2Vmes Special Commissioner 
to the West Indies estimated that, by the use of 
seedling canes and improved methods of manufacture 
the co3t of producing (sugar in the West Indies might 
be reduced ."iO per cent. But, with all dus respect 
to the Commissioner of The Ti'iics, he was evidently 
not a gentleman of largo e.xperience in the nse of 
eeedling canes or sugar manufacture, and he did noi 
think ilis jvidonce yrm >yoi'thj' anything at rU," 
Perhaps Sir Nevile Lubbock micht be inter- 
ested in the following coinniunicatiiMi which I 
contributed to last week's Gardeners' Chronicle. 
The conclusion at any rate coincides with that 
of your special coiiiiiiissioner. — I have, &e., 
Robert Tfiomson, Late Supt. Botinical 
March 10, Dept., Jamaica, 
At pp. 127-128 in your issue of February 24, 1900 
you raproduced from American Gardening a remark- 
able article on the above subject. Thus : — " The 
average yield of sugar to the acre of cane is greater iu 
the Hawiian Islands than in any other cane-growing 
country in the world; and its position in this res- 
pect demands oiu- attention. The average yield of 
Maui, for instance, is about 3i tons of sugar to the 
acre ; Hawf^ii's average is lowered by the smaller 
producing qualities of her leeward or dry side, but 
would not go lower than four tons ; Kauai, from 
four to live tons ; and O vhn, six to seven tons. There 
are of course, pieces of ground, even entire planta- 
tions, on each of these islands, where the yield would 
greatly exceed the average of the island ; cue planta- 
tion of Oahu, for instance, yields 10 tons of sugar to 
the acre (it takes seven to eight tons of cane to 
produce a ton of sugar), and special yields of even 
16 tons par acre have been obtained from given sec- 
tions of the s tme Oahu plantation. " When we com 
pare with the fore,?oiug statement of results the 
average yield of sugar per acre from our West Indian 
colonies, including British Guiana, the latter are 
thrown completely into the shade. Thus the average 
yield per acre for a long period of years in Jamaica 
stands at less than one ton. British Gaiana, Trinidad, 
and Darbados yield an average of about one-and-a 
half ton. Under peculiarly favourable conditions of 
soil, coupled with most propitious seasons, as much 
3 8 five t ns of sugar are produced per acre from 
time to time in our West Indian colonies, but this 
only oii very limited areas — i.e.. from five to some 
teu acres. Three tons per acre are not, however, 
uncommon over somewhat larger areas. By way of 
further comparison, reference may be made to your 
leading article, dated February 10, 1900, p. 83, iu 
which you advert to the special efforts of Dr. Morris, 
Imperial commissioner of Agriculture for the West 
Indies, relative to the improvement of sugar produc- 
tions by means of new varieties of came — a new 
feature of cane cultivation. Thus, you say, " Several 
new canes, notably that known aa ' B. 147,' had 
maintained their position, and were regarded by the 
planters as most valuable varieties. The amount of 
available sugar was at the rate of 3^ tons per acre."' 
Of course, this does not mean the realization of a 
general average of 3^ tons ; but if the average yield 
from the new varieties amounts to two or 2i tons per 
acre, great benefit must evefntually accrue to the 
welfare of the West Indies. — Robert Thomson, late 
Supt. Botanical Department, Jamaicek. — London Times 
March 19. 
ESTATE OF THE LATE MR. A. C WHITE. 
CEVLON PROPERXy VALUED AT R821,850. 
At the Appeal Court today before the Hon, 
Mr. Justice Lawrie, Mr. Advocate Keppel Browne, 
instructed by Messrs. F J and R F de Saram, made 
application tor an order confirming sole testameut- 
itiy jurisdiction on tiie District Court of Colombo, 
with regard to the estate of the late Mr. Alexan- 
der Campbell White, of Weybourne, Chelteuhaiu, 
in the County of Gloucester, He submitted that 
Mr. White died on the 1st January last, leaving a 
will dated the 30th Nov. 1899, By this will he 
appointed liis live nephews — Messrs. William J 
Chrystal, John Chrystal, John Melville Stephens, 
Robert Francis Barclay and Fredrick Ticihurst— 
as trustees and executors of this will. Ail of 
them proved the will in the High Court iq 
