June 1, 1900.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 853 
"CASTILLOA ELASTICA:" 
TKANSPORTATION OP SEEDS. 
BY FRANCIS CHILD NICHOLAS. 
Of the many rubber producing species, the Castilloa 
eZdstica appeals most strongly to the interest of the 
intending planter, especially in the United States, 
on account of its rapid growth in regions com- 
paratively accessible, and under conditions favorable 
for the settlement of white men. The tree is a 
prolific producer of seeds, but on account of their 
perishable nature plaatera have found difficulty in 
getting them to germinate except in the vicinity of 
their origin. . -, , , , 
During the spring of 1899 the writer undertook to 
establish a plantation of rubber on one of the pro- 
perties belonging to The South American Land and 
Exploration Co., Limited, on the northern coast of 
Colombia, within easy reach of the island of Trin- 
idad, whence it was proposed to obtain the seeds 
required. Before seeding time, however, the British 
govermment decided that no further sale of rubber 
peeda for export should be made from the gardens 
in Trinidad, and it became necessary to obtain our 
supplies elsewhere. The next nearest point was in 
Costa Rica, which involved a trip of three weeks, 
whereas these seeds, under the most careful manage- 
ment, rarely have been preserved for this length of 
time. 
My experiments with various kinds of seeds had 
convinced me that fermentation, mold, drying out, 
and germination before planting were one or all of 
them the cause of loss in shipping rubber seeds. Of 
these various causes, fermentation seemed likely to 
prove most disastrous, though I found later that ger- 
mination before planting caused the greatest percen- 
tage of loss. As a result of my experiments I have 
become convinced that the seeds of Castilloa elastica 
can be transported for long distances, making it 
possible to plant this species successfully where- 
ever natural conditions are favourable for its 
growth. 
Tbe Castilloa elastica is dioscious, and on the seed 
bearing trees a collection of compound fruits is deve- 
loped rapidly in May and June. These fruits are 
compact together on disks formed by leaf scales, set 
one over another. The disks appear at the leaf 
joints, face downward, setting close to the under 
side of the small branches, many of which fall to the 
ground after the seeds have ripened fully. The fruits, 
which are of a bright orange vermilion, in sharp contrast 
to the velvety green of the leaves, adhere to the disk, 
and the siioup, when secured, with the ripened center 
of bright vermilion fruits, surrounded by a margin of 
lighter colored leaf scales, is suggestive of a delicate 
confectioner's fart. The better formed fruits contain 
the seods, and a disk will bear from one to thirty or 
more, about the size of an orange seed with the outer 
skin peeled olf. The veins of the cotyledons contain 
a sffall quantity of bitter fluid resembling in ap- 
peiraBie the milk from which caoutchouc is obtained. 
The cotyledons are well developed and are folded 
together to protect the embryo and radicle, the whole 
being covered with a fine membranous skin. G->^r- 
mination is so rapid that I have often found seeds 
developed through their first stages, with rootlets 
and a pair of tiny green leaves, before the first disk 
had fallen to the ground. 
The fruit diak falls when fully ripened, sometimes 
bursting and scattering the fleshy fruits for a foot or 
two around, but oftener the fruits do not scatter, 
but form a sodden little mass among the fallen 
leaves and mosses, where the seeds ferment and soon 
decay. Where the ground ■ is favorable, and if the 
fruits be properly broken apart, the seeds begin to 
grow immediately, but more frequently, before the 
soil is reached through the carpet of leaves, moss, 
etc,, the roots lose vigor, dry up, and die. This 
is one reason why Castilloa elastica trees are found 
in groups, occupying the more favorable spots, 
instead of being distributed evenly throughout the 
105 
forests in which they exist. Once started, the growth 
of the Castilloa is most vigorous, but under 
ordinary conditions propagation is not very free, and 
unassisted, it is probable that rubber forests, once 
devastated, would never reproduce themselves. 
In operating in Costa Rica, I soon decided that 
it was useless to try to take any hut fresh seeds, 
secured from the trees or such as had not lain pn 
the ground for more than a day. All the varloiw 
plans for packing the seeds suggested by persona 
having any experience were tried. The seeds packed 
pulp and all in bags proved a total loss, the 
pulp fermenting freely and turning acid, and in- 
volving the decay of the seeds. Such seeds afl 
were separa.ted from the pulp and allowed to dry 
slowly in the shade gave somewhat better results, 
but mold developed in the particles of pulp that 
remained aud spread vigorously, oaoaing a heavy 
percentage of losa. Some of the seeds were packed 
separately in pieces of papsr and then placed in 
boxes, but they were a total loss. 
The plan that did prove a success was this : I lir^t 
selected fine specimens of fresh seed — for all are not 
of the same size and do not produce equally vigorous 
plants— bsiug careful to separate from them any that 
had sprouted or showed signs of decay. They were 
then cleaned carefully by washing away the parti- 
cles of pulp in cold water. Ttie cleaned seeds, 
looking like little nuggets of ivory, were spread on 
cloths and allowed to dry in a cool room ior six 
hours. They were then packed in sand, just damp, 
but nothing more, with which had been mixed wet 
charcoal in the proportion of IC or 15 parts to lOJ 
parts of sand. The object of the latter was to check 
fermentation and mold. The sand, by the vray, 
was carefully washed before use. About 1,000 seeds 
were packed in a tin box 4 x 3 x 2^ inches in size, bat 
they were rather crowded ; 5U0 seeds to the box 
would have been better. In packing the seeds, I first 
laid a piece of flannel at the bottom of the bos, 
then spread a layer of sand and charcoal, 
then a layer of seeds, covering them with more 
sand and charcoal, being careful that none of 
the seeds should touch the sides of the box. I found 
while transporting the seeds that in boxes where the 
sand was over-damp heating had set in, but thia 
was checked by making holes in tha lids of the boxes 
to admit the air. In these cases there was some losa 
ultimately., My experiments in Costa Rica have proved 
successful on the whole, since I have tens of thon- 
Binds of young rubber trees as a result of bringing 
seeds from Costa Rica. This brief record is offered 
here for the reason that the same methods may prove 
valuable in other cases. The principle upon which 
the whole is based is that the packing of the seeds 
for a long journey must be designed to assist nature 
in protecting the seeds, or perhaps to provide them 
with surroundings for their protection which, because 
of their superabundance, nature has left unprovided. 
The unfavourable conditions to bo overcome in 
handling the seeds of the rubber tree may be briefly 
summarized under the following heads : 
I .The tendency of the fruit to ferment, involving 
the seeds in the decomposition. 
II. The f'THientation and decay of the seeds them- 
selves, if piled together, even if freed from the pulp. 
Ill Pronsijtnre growth. If the seed does not grow 
it dries up, and the planter must retard the grqwth 
while yet providing moisture enough to preserve the 
vitality of the seed until it can be planted. 
IV. The tendency of the seed to mold. The ap- 
pearance of a dead white speck at the apex of the 
seed, in sharp contrast with the ivory like appearance 
of the outer skin, is a sure sign that it is lost, though 
otherwise it may appear in perfect condition. One 
bad seed will ruin a thousand good ones brought 
into oontact with it, 
V. The liablity of the seeds to dry up, the outer 
skin becoming separated from the cotyledons, after 
which the value of the seed is doubtful — The Indim, 
Rubber World. 
