458- 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTDRIST. (Jan. 1, 1904. 
thonght of the dnty of proper selection of land for the 
cultivation of rubber, ancl with seeming disregard 
of contracts with shareholders for conscientious 
planting and onltivating of rubber trees. Again, there 
are other rubber companies backed by men of good 
reputation; but many of these men, unfortunately, 
know nothing of rubber culture, and their lack of 
knowledge and experienoe can only be followed with 
unsatisfactory x-esults. To La Z icualpa Bubber Plan- 
tation Company belongs the credit of being 
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL COMPANY NOW ENGAGED IN THE 
CULTURE or RUBBER TREES, 
for their plantation has been producing rubber 
commercially for many years. They have now a 
grove of 5,000 trees, planted in 1889, producing; on 
an average over £3 to the tree — a production of 
30 per cent, in excess of tiie amount the company's 
figures of future profit are based upon. These are 
facts no other rubber company can show, and, with the 
plant of the past three years, the company has over 
1,000,000 trees under cultivation and 2,000,000 trees in 
the nursery. The Zacualpa plantation is situated in 
the department of Soconnsoo, State of Chiapas, Mexico 
— a locality where, as rubber experts have expressed 
itj ' the rubber tree grows spontaneously ' — which is 
largely accounted for by the splendid arrangement of. 
the mountain ranges, as before stated. 
MODE OF PLANTING OUT ON ZACUALPA. 
'• Conservative management and nearly four years' 
conscientious work on this plantation have placed 
La Zacualpa first on the list of plantations devoted 
to the cultivation of rubber, it being the only one that 
has solved the problem by actually producing rubber 
in commercial quantities from cultivatea as well as 
v?ild trees. Their trees are planted in squares of some 
28 acres, each containing 10,000 trees, with roads 
24 ft. wide between the squares. This plan allows of 
the most careful supervision, and the actual number 
of trees planted can easily be ascertained. 
" On September 8, 1899, La Zicaalpa Rubber Plan- 
tation Company was organised under the laws of 
the State of California, and purchased from Mr. 
O. H. Harrison 18,791 acres of land in the depart- 
ment of Soconusco, State of Chiapas, Mexico, the 
title to which is perfect and free from all encum- 
brance, Mr. Harrison becoming one of the company 
and its resident director. At the time of purchase 
M.r. Harrison was shipping many thousand pounds of 
rubber yearly from La Zacualpa to Cotesworth and 
Powell, 148, Leadenhall-street, London. The Com- 
pany at once made plans for the systemetio deve- 
lopment of the land, and set apart 12,000 acres 
suitable for rubber cultivation. Mr. Ashmore Russan, 
the English rubber expert, who paid a visit to this 
plantation, states in a letter to this company 
as follows : ' As regards the suitability of your land 
for the cultivation of the Oastilloa (or Mex,ioan 
rubber tree), I can only say that it is black alluvial 
of very great depth, and I know of none better. 
The location is all that could be desired for rubber 
cultivation, having all the conditions necessary as 
to elevation, depth of soil, rainfall and climate; 
the general surface is level, but sufficiently rolling 
for good drainage, and is intersected by a number 
of sanjones, or ditches for carrying off the surface 
waters. The titles to La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation 
were thoroughly investigated before the purchase of 
the property, and passed upon by Lhe best legal 
authority, everything being found in order aud the 
chain of title perfect.' Since acquiring title the com- 
pany has been shipping rubber regularly in com- 
mercial quantities from its own cultivated aud wild 
trees. 
U. 8. GOVERNMENT STUDENTS ON ZACUALPA. 
" its success has not only attracted the eyes of 
President Diaz, of Mexico, but likewise tho Secretary 
of Agriculture at Washington, D. C, the Hon. James 
Wilson, who has appointed Mr. O. P. Cook, botanist 
in charge, Department of Agriculture, and his chief 
asBistanli Mr. Q, M. Collins, to study rubber cultiva- 
tion on La Zacualpa. These gentlemen have Bpent 
some time on the plantation, making a careful study 
of the situation, and have returned with full 
material for a repori to be made to the Department, 
which will be puQiished in due time and illustrated 
with photographs taken during the trip. From 
letters received, their report, when issued, will be 
one of the most interesting bulletins published by 
the above Department. The management of this 
plantation have at all times courted a personal in- 
vestigation of their work, with the result that they 
are able to present an array of testimonials and 
endorsements regarding the merit of their plantation. 
It is the purpose of La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation 
Company to interest the outside public in their 
work. Shares in La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation 
are not capital stock of a corporation, and carry 
none of the responsibilities and obligations, or liability 
to assessment of capital stock, but represent an un- 
divided interest in the plantation itself. 
THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE COMPANY'S SHARES 
" The 12,000 acres comprising the plantation are 
divided into 12,000 shares, each share representing 
one acre of lana, aud the holders of shares in La 
Zacualpa Robber Plantation are the actual owners 
of one undivided acre of land for each share held, 
with a guarantee expressed upon the certificate by 
La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation Company, under 
its otlicial seal, to plant 200 (i}00 trees to the acre 
have been planted, aud belong to the shareholders) 
or more rubber trees pet acre for each share sold, 
and to care for same for a period of five years, and 
at the expiration of that time to gather the first 
harvest and deliver the net proceeds thereof to the 
shareholder. 
"In other words, La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation 
Company sells to each shateholder one undivided 
acre of land in La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation, 
with 200 or more rubber trees five years old, and 
their profits for all time, for each ^hare sold, and 
agrees to plant so that the first harvest belonging 
to a shareholder is the one to be gathered from La 
Zacualpa Rubber Plantation during the sixth year 
from the date of the certificate. A.fter the delivery 
of the first harvest La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation 
Company will care for the plantation, and harvest 
aud market the crop for 10 per cent, of the net 
proceeds therefrom. Out of this commission the 
company agrees to pay all costs of administration, 
includiug maiutoLance of its home and branch 
offices." — Home and Colonial Mail. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Tropical Products in Gebman East Africa.— 
Professor Zimmermann, Botanist to the German Bast 
Africa Government, has been stopping a few days 
in Zanzibar. He is on the scientific staff of the ex- 
perimental station, Amaui, founded in 1903, in the 
Usambara country. Among the various tropical pro- 
ducts under cultivation at Amani Dr. Zimmermann 
is paying special attention to cinchona which ho 
hopes to ^succeed in introducing on the elevated 
parts of the country. Considerable progress is being 
made in the cultivation of cotton : natives are in- 
duced to cultivate it and sell it to the Government 
who ship it to Europe, the [net profits being after- 
wards distributed among the growers. Attention haa 
so far been confined to Egyptian cotton, but ex- 
periments are to be made with the Sea Island variety. 
In connection with this subject we may remark that 
the Zanzibar Government have also been trying to 
introduce the cultivation of this important product 
in these Islands ; cotton seed has been distributed 
to all the Government plantations in Zanzibar with 
a view to giving it another and more thorough trial. 
Experiments will be m»de with both the Egyptian 
and Sea Island Yaristiea—Zanaibar Gazette. ' 
