,Tan. 1, 1904,] THE TROPICAL 
THE AMEEICAN BUREAU OP TIIOPICAL 
AGRICULTURE. 
The bureau of tropical agriculture, since our acqui- 
sition of extensive possessious in the East and West 
Indies, has become an important feature of the 
department of agriculture, and the studies of tropical 
growths made by its experts sent out to the various 
colonies promise to add enormously to the resources of 
our new domains, There is in the tropics a great 
diversity of trees and plants of much ecouomic value, 
«a yet but slightly utlized, but of laige commer- 
cial possibilities if systematically cultivated and 
exploited. 
THK TIIOPICAL FKUIT TRADE. 
The enormous business developed in the cultivation 
of the banana in the West Indies and Central America 
for export to this cocintry, mainly through the enter- 
prise of Boston capitalists, indicates what may possibly 
be done with other tropical fruits. The or^mge and 
the pineapple, together with the coconut, are tropiorl 
products that have been staples louger than the 
banana has. But there are various other fruits, com- 
paratively little known here, that might achieve high 
favour if systemadc efforts were made to introduce 
them. Chief of these is the mango, which easily, bears 
transportation and commends itself by its extraordi- 
nary delicious qualities. Its bearded pit (seed) makes 
it objectionable to many on first acquaintance, for it is 
difficult to eat the fruit on that account. But there 
are some varieties which have litte or no fibre attached 
to the seed, and the bureau of tropical agriculture is 
eneouraging the cultivation of these in Porto Rico for 
the American market. Another tropical fruit that is 
gaining favour here is what is popularly known as the 
alligator pear— a corruption of the Mexican name, 
agnacate. It makes a line salad, and is served in 
various other attractive ways. A fruit that bears 
transportation admirably is the sapodiUa, exceedingly 
Bweet and rich fia>-ourad. This is borne by the tree 
which produces chicle, now the principal basis for 
chewing gam^ 
CASHEW NUTS AND OIL, 
The experts sent from Washington have been 
greatly impressed with the remarkable combination of 
economic properties included in the cashew tree and 
its fruit. The cashew is a native of India and is now a 
familiar growth in the West Indies. Its fruit is pal- 
atable and makes a good preserve. Bat better still is 
the nut, which as a seed projects from one end of the 
frait. It is one of the finest flavoured nuts in tha 
world, and produces an oil superior to olive oil and 
equal to that of the almond. The tree belongs to the 
same family as the poison sumach, but the poisonous 
properties are confined to an aorid oil contained in the 
shell of the nut. Persons susceptible to ivy poisoning 
have constqaently made the acquaintance of the raw 
nut greatly to their sorrow. To eliminate this poison 
it is necessary to roast the nut. The bark is valuable 
for tanning, and the trunk yields a gum so obnoxious 
to insect life aB to be of great potential value for 
entomologists and horticnituralists. Other oils and 
also acids of diverse medical and chemical value are 
obtained from various parts of the tiee. These 
possess stimulative and anaesthetic properties. Alto- 
gether the cashew tree promises great commercial 
"possibilities. 
Groat industrial results are expected of a widely 
distributed tropical shrub, the emajiigua, which yields 
a very strong fibie that has the remarkable property 
of increasing in sLrength when submerged in water. 
It is easily cultivated and has a value for paper 
making as well as for fibre. 
A tree that is strongly recommended for cultivation 
in Porto Rico is iho litchi chiuensis. It is urged that 
it be planted by the thousand, tor its fruit would be in 
great demand in this mirket- The dried fruit, known 
AGlilCULTUKlST. 4:5T 
as the litchi nut, resembles a raisin inclosed in a thin 
shell. The Iresh fruit is deliciously acid, and, raised 
in the West Indies, could easily be seat to this 
country in that condition— jBosiow Herald. 
* 
RUBBES3 CULTUKE AND FINANCK. 
AN ACCjUNX of a MEXICAN KUBBEE COMPANY 
AND ITS PLANTATION. 
l?rom an irapDrtant source at Chicago the following 
information with reference to rubber culture has 
bsen issued, and is published in a financial contem- 
porary : — " That the rubber industry will soon 
become a most important one admits of no doubt. 
As yet it is comparatively new ; for it was only about 
tlie year 1810 when Goodvear discovered the process 
of vulcanising rubber, giving it its varied and almost 
innumerable uses. 
"Since then the commercial value of rubber has 
enhanced rapidly, until now fortunes await those 
who can raise this precious product successfnlly. 
The rubber bicycle tyre alone doubled the demand for 
rubber, and the many new uses such as tyres for 
automobiles and other vehicles, electric iusalation, 
and ocean c.ible^, are doubling and trebling the demand. 
With this increased demand the supply of rubber 
is constantly decreasing, owing to the destructive 
methods used in gathering. 
A PREDICTED ADVANCE IN TIME. 
As the rubber tree is a tropical growth, and the 
native of the tropics is often a slothful worker, he des- 
troys where no easier method is found, cutting down 
tha tree or ringing it with |outs, and millions of trees 
are thus destroyed, which will require the planting of 
thousands of acres to replace. So, with the deinand 
increasing and the supply decreasing, the present price 
of rubber will not only be maintained, but ,will surely 
advance. The cultivation of the .rubber tree will 
nevL-r be followed extensively ; for rubber is grown 
in the tropics where few civilised white men can be 
induced to go, irrespective of the prospect of great 
fortunes which are being made there now, and will 
be made there in the future. 
" The natives of Africa, Brazil, and the Indies are 
indolent and slothful, an example of which was shown 
when the f'rench Government in Central Africa 
supplied the natives with seeds and young shoots of 
rubber trees to plant and cultivate ; but no planting 
or cultivating was ever done, they preferring to carry 
on their destructive methods of gathering the rubber 
milk, having neither the patience nor energy to 
plant and cultivate trees, which require tirae and 
attention before the young seedlings will bear. The 
Para rubber tree of Brazil is another instance ; while 
it produces a very tine grade of rubber, it is a 
swamp growth. It requires twenty years of growth 
before yielding its rubber, which is no inducement 
for cultivation. [This is evidentlv not a practical 
grower's remark.— Ed. T.A.] The Mexican rubber 
tree (Castilloa) requires only six years of growth 
before yielding, and grows under climatic con- 
ditions more favourable for cultivation than the 
jungles of Africa or the swamps of the Amazon. 
These advantages have been brought about by a 
peculiar condition of the country physically, which 
condition lies largely in the arrangement of the moun- 
tain rangeii lying north and east of Soconu^co, keeping 
out the coH winds of the north and condensing the 
moisture of the Pacifi; into rain. From this condition 
there has been formed a very limited district from 
which the yield of rubber will never form more than 
a comparatively small part of the en-ire output of 
the world. While many rubber companies have 
been started up in the cast few years, encouraged by 
the large profits in rubber, most of these have simply 
turned oat stock-selling schemes, with apparently little 
