130 
RUBBER PLANTING ON THE 
THIRD LETTER. 
Clearing and Burning by Contract — Danger From Fires — Gathering Cas- 
tilloa Seed — Testing Seed — Costly Seed Failures — Track Walking Under 
Difficulties — The Boston Rubber Tree — Morning Glory Vines — Arrival at 
Santa Lucretia — A Condensed Milk Lesson — Coatzacoalcos — Sleeping in the 
“Bird Cage” — Up the Usapanapa and Chichigapa Rivers — Plantation 
Rubio — A Fine “Bodega” — On Horseback Through Miles of Rubber — The 
Tapping Problem. 
T HE planters in the Trinidad River district were so well informed, 
and so ready to impart their knowledge to one interested, that 
I felt as we journeyed back to La Buena Ventura that I was 
getting a pretty good grasp on the rubber planting situation. I 
had learned, too, specifically, what clearing, burning, planting, lining, 
staking, and cleaning involved. Indeed, as luck would have it, I ran 
across some of the men who take the contracts for cleaning, at various 
times during my journey. In certain cases the planters clear their own 
land. They prefer, however, to let it out by contract, as it does not cost 
so much, and is one less burden for them to bear. In Vera Cruz, clear- 
ing is usually done between the middle of February and the last of 
April. The contractor brings a large force of men who fell everything, 
the axemen handling the big trees, and the many machete men lopping 
branches, cutting vines, and arranging all for a good burn. If the work 
is well done, and at the right time, the mass of fallen litter gets at least 
a month of hot, dry weather, which dries out the fallen timber almost 
beyond belief, and gives weeds and climbers no chance to spring up. 
This part of the work is very important, because if a poor burn takes 
place, it involves the cutting and piling up of half burned tree trunks, 
and a second burning, which is costly. It is figured that in this work 
twenty-five men will clear about half an acre a day. 
During the burning the planters are always on the watch to keep 
the fire from spreading, not only into the virgin forest, but into adjacent 
plantings. The danger from fires carried by subterranean roots which 
may smoulder for days, and then burst into flame, is no slight one. 
Indeed, several cases have occurred where the fire has spread into cleared 
land, and destroyed many hundreds of valuable rubber trees. To cite 
one case in point, it might be well to recall the loss of the Varney Rubber 
Co., who had a plantation on the Tehuantepec Railway, and who lost 
