164 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept. 2, 1901. 
The following is a brief sketoti regarding Mr. Max- 
well Riddle who is now acting as general manager 
and treasurer of the Republic Development Co., which 
is engaged in planting a large property for the 
Obispo Rubber Plantation Co., on the isthmus of 
Tehuantepeo. 
Mr. Riddle was born in Ravenna, Ohio, where his 
father has been engaged in the manufacture of 
carriages for nearly half -a century. On leaving 
college Mr Riddle entered his father's office and 
started to learn the details of carriage manufactur- 
ing. Daring the course of the six years which he 
devoted to this business, he became much impressed 
with the increasing use of rubber in rubber tyres, 
which led him to a study of the sources of supply 
for the crude product, aud then to the question of 
rubber planting, in the investigation of which he 
was assisted greatly by the Bureau of American Re- 
publics in Washington, the varion^ foreign coutuls, 
and the late Minister Romero, After studying the 
question for more than a year, he started on a trip 
through Central America to learn for himself the facta 
regarding this interesting question. 
After a long trip through Central America he visited 
various localities in Mexico, making a particularly 
thorough examination of the plantations in the states 
of Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco. He 
found that the true rubber belt in Mexico was a nar- 
row strip of land following the border of the states 
of Vera Cruz and Oaxaca and continuing along the 
border of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco. This 
narrow strip having been enriched for centuries by 
the wash from the mountains behind it, and being 
drenched by the continuous rains due to its prox- 
imity to the great plateau, made it ideal for the 
cultivation of tropical products. He decided to pur- 
chase a property near the border of Oaxaca and Vera 
Ornz. After. returning to the United States for a short 
trip, he went back to Mexico and started planting 
his property in earnest, and has now set out more 
than 100,000 trees, which he reports are doing magni- 
ficently. During the year 1899 he became interested 
with Chicago capitalists, chief of whom was Mr Alfred 
Bishop Mason, president of the Vera Cruz and Pacific 
railway, in the purchase of a tract of 2,500 acres in 
the state of Vera Cruz to be planted in rubber and 
sugar oane and pasturage for cattle. This company 
have already succeeded in putting their plantation on a 
dividend-paying basis and are anticipating very large 
returns when their rubber is in bearing. 
Some months ago some capitalists in New York, 
recognizing the value of Mr Riddle's practical expe- 
rience as a planter, induced him to become associated 
with them as general manager of the Republic De- 
velopment Co., now planting about 1,590,000 trees 
on their Obispo plantation in Oxaca. Mr Riddle is 
compelled to make frequent trips between Mexico 
and the United States, and the proper management 
of this plantation, as well as his private place, keeps 
him very busy. He reports that they have hi,d no 
diiEoulty in getting all the labor they could use up 
to the present time, and anticipates no difficulty in 
the immediate future, as the large town of Tuxtepec 
is within walking distance of the plantation, and the 
men much prefer to work on a place where they can 
get into town to see their friends on Sunday. He re- 
ports also that the town of Tuxtepec ships a large 
amount of crude rubber every ye ir, much of it coming 
from the region immediately adjoining their planta- 
tion. Although their system of planting requires the 
burning of the timber and the underbrish. they are 
in hopes of saving many of the wild trees, the returns 
rom which will assist materially in paying dividends. 
It is encouraging to see people of Mr Riddle's busi- 
ness experience engage in this important undertaking. 
The question is becoming recognized as of vital im- 
portanof: to the rubber manufacturers, and when rhea 
of training and experience take hold of it, its ultimate 
success Bfioms mamQA,— India Uubbcr World, June 1. 
AFTER CROCODILES IN CEYLON. 
[By Tom-Tit.) 
To the sportsman who lias time and means to 
spend amongst elephants, buffalo, and deer, the 
attractions otFere'l by the crocodile will perchance 
not be very great. Unt, a.s elephants and buffalo 
are scarce, and the pursuit of them an enjiynient 
entailing great expenditure and much equipment, 
there are many who are sjiad indeed to spend a 
tlay or two after the crafty saurian, especially as 
these days are usually attended by a little diversion 
among the innumerable v\ IM i,wl which share 
their haunts. The two species that will most 
interest the sportsman in Ceylon or India are the 
estuarine and the marsh crocodile. The tormer 
are ferocious brutes, which frequent the mouths 
of rivers and salt-water lakes hy tlie sea, feeding 
on anything from a bird to a imllock, and only 
too often on human beings. The mar.sii crocodile 
is very common in Ceylon, and is to be found 
in most rivers and lakes all over the country. It 
grows to an enormous siz<', though to shoot any- 
thing over 15 feet is noc common. The " mug- 
ger," as it is often called, seldom attacks man, 
unless it is wounded or its nest molested, whea 
it becomes a savage and dangerous customer. 
Most crocodiles feed and roam at night, re'urning 
to the water before dawn, and leaving it again 
to bask when the sun is at its hottest, about noon. 
Their favourite basking haunt" are on shelving 
rocks anil mounds of sand or mud that have silted 
up during flood time ; and in tidal waters on 
mudbanks left by the receding tide. In unfre- 
quented localities it is easy to approach crocodiles 
in a canoe at mid-day, as they are then usually 
asleep or dozing on the sand spits and rocks, 
and can be shot before re-.ching the water. They 
become very wary, however, if often molested. 
Crocodile shooting, if not the highest tonn of 
sport, is at least exceedingly good fun The 
outfit required for an expedition of a few days 
is by no means extensive ; a folding canoe, a 
double or repeating rifle, a tent, some rope, and 
a sharp grappling iron, skinning knives, food and 
cooking apparatus about make up the list. 
When staying with a coconut planter near Batti- 
caloa some years ago, I was much attracted by 
the wonderful lake or fresh water lagoon which 
extends over thirty miles along the coast — a 
perfect chaos of islets, river mouths, and nian- 
grovfe swamps, This lake teems with fish and 
wildfowl, and some parts of its serrated edges 
literally swarm with crocodiles. Cranes, pelicans, 
duck, snipe, and endless varieties of aquatic 
birds find sanctuary on the many islands and 
swampy nooks : while at night the place is alive 
with crabs, crocodiles, and snakes, which seek 
their food to the tune of mysterious " nuisical 
shell fish," which live at the bottom of the 
lagoon, and tinkle away all night, the effect in 
toto of these myriads of tiny voices vibrating to 
the surface of the still watet being very im- 
pressive. 
But to return to the crocodiles, which range 
in size from a few inches to twenty 
feet. I soon found out the whereabouts 
of some of the monsters— the old ones fre- 
quent the same spot for years — and we decided 
to have a good try for some of them. My host, 
who was an old hand at the game, sent a couple of 
coDlies on with our tent etc. in a bullock cart 
giving them some instructions about mosquito netg 
