ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC 
Mi 
two hundred and fifty acres of two-vear-old trees by fire in the dry 
season, said to have been started by sparks from a locomotive. 
After the burn is finished, the ground is open and spongy, and in just 
the right condition for the reception of seed. If this seed is put in so 
as to catch the early rain, it gets a good start before the torrential rains 
come, when the soil is pounded down hard. This is the reason that seed 
planting the second year is not apt to prosper, and why it is better then 
to transplant from a well equipped nursery. The earliest bloom of the 
Castilloa appears about the first of March, the seed ripening within 
sixty days, and it is usually all gone thirty days later. The seeds are 
BODEGA OX PLANTATION RUBIO. 
gathered, as a general thing, as soon as ripe, and it is often a race 
between the planters and parrots to see which will get the most, as the 
latter are very fond of them. The seed is secured by knocking the cones 
off the branches of the trees with long poles. These cones are put in 
water, and allowed to stand over night, when the gluten surrounding the 
seed slightly ferments. The mass is then placed m a sieve, and the pulp 
is easily washed away. After a final washing, the floaters or unvitalized 
seeds are skimmed off, and the residue are dried on mats in the shade. 
As the vitahtv of the Castilloa seed is very slight, it is necessary to plant 
