154 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
as Par^ rubber, and is obtained from several species 
of Hevea. The India-rubber plant of our green- 
houses is Ficus elastica of India, generdly epiphytic, 
the seeds germinating at the top of forest treesi 
whence are sent down numerous aerial i orts. Rubber' 
or caoutchouc as it is called commercially, is also 
obtained from species of Manihot, Landolphia, 
Willughbeia, <fec., in addition to the subject of this 
paper, the Castilloa elastica of Mexico and Central 
America. 
The Castilloa grows to an average height of sixty 
feet, and throws out its huge branches, many of 
them a yard in diameter, at a considerable eleva- 
tion. The bark is of a dark slate or ash colour- 
the leaves measure from ten to eighteen inches 
long, are elliptical, glossy, closely veined, and paler 
beneath than above. They usually grow at the end 
of the boughs in compact groups of tree. The fruit 
consists of a capsule comprising three divisions, each 
containing a large seed, white, irregularly marked 
with black. 
The best season for tapping is from August to 
February; and the operation should be performed 
early in the morning, before the daily rain, or in 
the evening after the rain has fallen. In the latter- 
case the milk should be coagulated as soon after- 
sunrise as possible next morning. 
The milk, or sap, is white, and of the consistency 
of cream. The tree thrives best in moist but not 
marshy forests on a warm sandy clay. It seeds in 
the tenth year, and ought not lo be 'tapped before 
its eighth year, or its growth may be much retarded, 
On reaching the group of trees, which numbered 
seventeen of various sizes, my Carib friends first out 
away the twining creepers that almost hid the trunks, 
and then carefully removed a couple of buruchas| 
natural ropes of rubber, formed in the following man- 
ner. From incisions in the bark, possibly caused by 
woodpeckers or some insect, the juice often exudes, 
trickling down the trunk, in and out of the encircling 
creepers, and sometimes reaching the ground. The 
milky stream coagulates and turns black as it runs, 
forming a long strip or cord, with which the hnleros 
often tie up their bales. 
The parasites removed, Pete and Jose strapped on 
their aspuelaa Cclimbing spurs), fastened at the knee 
and ankle, and having dug a small pit or basin at the 
foot of each of a couple of trees, passed a ring of stout 
rope round the trunks and their own waists, and walked 
up with their machetes between their teeth. By lifting 
the rope at every step they were enabled to stand almost 
erect, and when lying back in the ring both hands 
were at liberty. 
Jose, whom I watched closely, commenced opera- 
tions immediately before the first branch. With his 
broad-bladed sword he cut in the bark a horizontal 
canal which almost encirc'ed the trunk and termi- 
nated in a V-shaped angle. From the point of the 
V downwads he next out a perpendicular canal about 
two feet in length, which joined another horizontal 
channel ending in a V, and so on to the ground. 
In the last cut he inserted a large green leaf to 
serve as a funnel and guide the milk into the basin. 
The Brazilian rubber collectors always place a 
receptacle of tin or earthenware in the hole at the 
foot of the tree to prevent the admixture of grit 
or other foreign matters; they also strain the milk 
through coarse muslin; hence the greater value of 
Par^ rubber. But Nicaraguan methods are primitive. 
The sap runs down the incisions to the basin, 
where the water evaporates. Artifici il heat is em- 
ployed to hasten this evaporation in Brazil, but 
happy-go-lucky Nicaraguans leave the process to 
nature. When the hulero is of opinion that no water 
remains, he makes a decoction of lima vines, or 
of a kind of convolvulus, and adds it to the juice 
in the proportion of one pint of the form.er to a 
gallon of the latter, when the sap immediately coa- 
gulates and forms india-rubber. 
When the sap had ceased to run, my Carib com- 
panions ought to have filled up the canals carefully 
with mud or clay. There was a stream close at 
hand, but they did nothing of the kin.d Consequently, 
when nest they passed that way, the trees would 
[Sept, i, 1897. 
probably be dried up and sapless. It is said that 
a kind of wood-leech attacks tne tapped Castilloa, 
introducing itself through the channels, and so 
injures the tree as to cause its eventual decay. This 
the clay would prevent, and at the expiration of 
SIX months the tree might be again tapped, with 
as much profit as on the first occasion. I took 
Jose to task on the matter. 
j ^^®pty hule I'leah, sab,’ he answered, grinning. 
Me find ten — twenty mo' trees while ‘uiu doin’ 
d it. An’ what gool? Perhaps I ueber come heah 
no mo.’ 
To that I had nothing to say. The forests are 
No Man’s Land, and another hulero would probably 
have reaped the fruit of his labour. 
The heated air speedily evaporated the water 
from our rubber milk, and the necessary coagulation 
did not occupy much time, though the process 
appeared to me very wasteful. With this I will 
deal presently, however. While the evaporation 
was taking place other trees were being tapped. 
When the sun sank the Caiibs left off work. We 
slept beneath the rubber trees, as is the hul^ros’ 
custom. All the day following the Caribs toiled, and 
at sunset we returned to the dug-out, Jose and Pete 
carrying about forty pound of rubber each. The 
Indi.i'.s, who had been less successful, were await- 
ing us. Next morning we ascended the river still 
farther and again entered the forest, leaving two 
men with the boat to take care of the rubber and 
pack it in bales. 
Dishonest hule'ros frequently put stones and pieces 
of heavy wood in the middle of the bales to increase 
the weight. But the merchant usually pierces every 
package with a sharp-pointed steel rod, so the rogues 
seldom escape detection. 
At the expiration of ten days, being then four 
days from the mouth of the river, we commenced 
the return journey, towing i he bales of rubber behind 
the dug-out. We did not escape the usual capsize; 
but as e.ach man had a life-buoy in the shape of 
a waterproof bag, and, besides, could swim like a 
fish, nothing more serious than a wetting resulted, 
and that we could not avoid on land. 
These rubber bags, which a native of this coast 
is seldom seen w-ithout, are made by the huleros 
as they go along, so to say. A sack of unbleached 
calico is sti-etcbed on the -.round, and painted over 
with rubber milk, a coco nut husk serving for a 
brush. When the first coat is dry the operation 
is repeated, three coats being necessary before the 
bag is fit for use. The result is a waterproof article, 
rather heavy, but in every other respect far superior 
to any manufactured in Europe. Before setting out 
in their trail canoes, the natives take care to inflate 
their bags and tie up the mouth. Thus the sack 
forms a receptacle for clothes, a pillow on land, 
and a life-buoy in the event of an accident upon 
the water. 
On arriving at what was left of Mr. Hayes’ 
bungalow, for the hurricane had not spared it, I had 
several discussions with that gentleman in reference 
to the practical cultivation of Castilloa elastica. 
The result of my inquiries on the Mosquito Coast 
and in other parts of Nicaragua are here summarised 
The subject has been ventilated by many private 
persons in addition to the various Central American 
governments, and in Nicaragua a bounty of ten cents 
native currency is paid for every tree planted. As 
the world’s supply is rapidly diminishing, while the 
demand is increasing by leaps and bounds, there 
appears to be a magnificent field for Englishmen 
with capital. Certainly, unless the output is soon 
increased, manufacturers of rubber goods may have 
to fall back upon substitutes. In Mexico there are 
English and American Companies already at work, 
but, except two plantations in the Chontalrs district. 
I am not aware of anything of the kind in Nicaragua. 
That the industry would be exceedingly profitable 
has been demonstrated by the results' of many 
experiments ; and when I say that neither coffee, 
tea, cocoa, sugar, bananas, indigo, nor hemp growing 
would pay so well as the cultivation of india-rubber 
