June 1, 1900.] THE TROPICAL AGEIOULTUEIST. 
837 
To the Editor. 
RUBBER YIELD IN NICARAGUA. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " INDIA RUBBER WORLD.'- 
Bluefields, February 9, 1900. 
Sir,— I have returned to my plantation on the 
Bluefields river, in Nicaragua. You may be in- 
terested in the result of my experiment in bleed- 
ing one of my cultivated rubber trees (Castilloa 
elastica), at the age of five years and two months 
from the seed. I extracted from this tree 12 ounces 
of pure marketable rubber, without apparently 
injuring the growth of the tree. At the present 
price here of 60 cents per pound, the 12 ounces 
would be valued at 45 cents, gold, on the planta- 
tion. Tlie yield will increase, of course, as the 
tree grows older. 
William S. Armstrong. 
COCONUT CULTIVATION. 
Franklands, Veyangoda, April 11. 
Dear Sir, — Mr, Cochran's farewell gift to the 
Island- not final, I trust — is not the least with 
which his powers of observation and patient 
investigation, have endowed it. His researches 
into the constituents of the various parts of the 
coconut tree, of the nut and its difierent compon- 
ents, from the husk to the water, have helped 
to correct information previously available, and 
to bring within reach of the intelligent planter 
scientific facts of the highest value. His last 
letter published in your issue of the 29th ultimo 
has brought together a mass of information of the 
greatest interest, which ought to help planters to 
revise pre-conceived notions, and to stimulate 
inquiry and experiments. 
In responding to your request for information 
from this estate, I wish it to be distinctly understood 
that I am myself a learner, and that what I note 
down, as having come under my observation and 
experience, are matters which may be further 
elucidated, and in respect of wiiich I am open to 
correction. There are, however, 
TWO ARTICLES OF THE AGRICULTURAL FAITH 
to which I am irrevocably committed 
— that coconuts respond appreciably to li- 
beral treatment, and that the proprietor 
who neglects to keep his plantation clean and to 
manure his trees in all but exceptionally rich 
soil, denies himself a sale and legitimate source of 
income. It may seem superfluous to record state- 
ments which are regarded as axiomatic by the 
seientifte agriculturist ; but I have often marvelled 
at the conservatism of intelligent men on the 
subject of manures. I mean, not as regards its 
uselessness or wastefulness on rich soil — of which, 
by the way, the Island canuot boast much — or as 
regards its inetticacy on stiff', hard, irresponsive 
soil. In dealing with average soil, they admit 
that manure will inciease the yield ; but they 
object that there is danger in accustoming the 
tree to manure, and that the effect of the stop- 
page of manure will be to throw the trees back 
dangerously. They are not clear why one should 
stop manuring one's trees, when an average ex- 
penditure of, say RIO an acre a year, will ensure 
an average increase of income of R20 per acre 
per annum — or, say RIO per acre net. Nor do 
they insist that unmanured trees v/ill never deteri- 
orate, or that they bear as well as manured trees 
103 
on similar soil. This distrust, or suspicion, of 
manure is a curious fact ; but it must not be 
supposed that it is confined to Coconut Planters, or 
to Ceylonese. Similar conservatism and scepti- 
cism have found expression in the Press from 
Tea Planters ; and although more enlightened 
views are gaining ground, there seems to be much 
confusion yet, as in matters affecting the animal 
kingdom, so in matters relating to the vegetable 
kingdom, between stimulants and food ; and ob- 
jection is raised to substances which aie intended 
to -build up a plant, or to restore to it what is 
taken from it in crops, which would be applicable 
only to stimulating substances which may force 
unnatural crops and leave the tree exhausted. 
I do not pretend to be a scienlist; nor can I 
claim the wide and prolonged < . 'oerience which 
finds expression in Mr. Jardina's interesting 
letter in your issue of the 6th instant, but such 
experience as I have had, encourages me 
TO CONTINUE THE USE OF MANURE, 
and to counsel its use by friends. The 
special manures to be used and the 
system of application, must depend on the 
varying conditions of soil and climate to be dealt 
with ; and Mr. Cochran's letter indicates gener- 
ally the direction in which information may be 
sought and applied. Those who have no faith in 
the scientist, or who distrust artificial manures, 
may yet be guided by observation and tlie ex- 
perience of their neighbours, and find abundant 
materials on and about their estates wherewith 
to maintain their trees in heart and increase 
their crops. 
Mr. Cochran's reference to some information he 
obtained from me on application, calls for a 
sligiit correction. He is probably under the im- 
pression that I dig in the droppings of the 
grazing cattle — which are tied, two and two, over 
night, under each tree, for a week or ten days 
according to circumstances — wit.icut any further 
application. Such is not the case. Three lbs. of 
bone dust are sprinkled round the stem of each 
tree and dug in with the droppings, and the clods 
are covered up with fallen branches, — ashes, if 
available, being previously sprinkled. Generally, 
the ashes are applied to the trees whenever the 
fallen branches, &c. are burnt, under each tree. 
Mr. Cochran's calculations show that the drop- 
pings—one advantage of which is that but litil3 
of their ammonia is dissipated — possess sufficient 
manurial substance for the needs of the tree ; but 
as the grass under coconut trees steadily grows 
less under the influence of the overhanging shade, 
it is impossible to maintain on a cultivated estate 
grazing cattle enough for all its manurial wants. 
At least one half of this estate is manui ed with 
cattle-manure from road-side sheds and chekoo 
yards ; and although this stuff ouglit to be 
richer, from the-poonac, &c. on which working 
cattle-are fed, much of its value is lost by expo- 
sure of the heaps to sun and rain. About 
a cwt of this road-side manure I apply to each 
tree, with bones and ashes iu similar quantities 
as before mentioned ; and the results seem about 
equal, In a young plantation in which new trees 
are constantly coming into beaiing, it is difficult 
to compare field by field with absolute accuracy ; 
but both in the appearance of the trees and in 
the crops gathered from them, the results are 
practically the same. 
About the end of 1897, Messrs. Freudenberg & 
Co., kindly placed at my disposal certain artifi- 
