4 
As to Castilla in Costa Rica, Mr. T. F. Koschny states : — 
“ The safest and most productive rubber plant is the Castilloa 
elastica of Centra^ America. Its tenacity of life and adaptability to 
soil and climate are seldom exceeded by other trees ; the same is 
also true of the quantity and quality of the rubber.” 
“ It requires a humid, warm climate, and with respect to 
rainfall le$s depends upon the amount of precipitation than upon 
the distribution of it. The shorter the dry season and the more 
the rain extends over the entire year the better will the locality be 
adapted for rubber culture; regions with a long, absolutely dry 
season are unsuitable for this culture. In the valley of San Carlos, 
Costa Rica, upon the Atlantic sjope, it rains occasionally also in 
the dry season, and even in the two dryest months, March and 
April. The Pacific slope of Central America has, on the contrary, 
a completely dry season of four Months, and two months at the 
beginning and end with little rain. Both the wild and the planted 
rubber trees die there at the third tapping at the latest, in case this 
takes place in the dry season.” 
Colins writes in his Repo# on the Caoutchouc of Commerce, 
in regard to the occurrence of Castilla in Nicaragua : — 
“ The basin of the Rio San Juan is where the Ule tree grows 
to perfection. This river is the' natural vent of the two vast basins 
of the lakes of Nicaragua and Managua, receiving numerous 
tributaries, which have all their sources in the innumerable tracts 
hitherto virgin and unfrequented, and where the trees abound. 
The ground is very fertile. The district is very unhealthy.” 
Rubber Planting in Central America. 
Throughout the Central American republics very little has 
as yet been done towards planting rubber. In most of these 
countries there is a great unstability of government, and foreign 
capital is not attracted upder such conditions. Labour conditions 
are also very unsatisfactory „ on account of the frequent revolu- 
tionary movements, which sporadically crop up and draw the 
greater part of the able-bodied men to the ranks either of Govern- 
ment or rebel armies. Transportation also offers a serious 
drawback, and many prospective planters are deterred from settling 
because of the reported unhealthfulness of the climate. This latter 
is not worse than in other tropical countries, and with the advent 
of the Pan-American railroad, which will connect the south with 
the north, the country will be opened. In Central America there 
is plenty of land suitable for rubber planting. A year ago I rode 
for days through good rubber country in Guatemala. 
In this latter republic very little planting of rubber has so far 
been done. In Northern Guatemala there is only one plantation of 
any account devoted to rubber. In the other Central American 
States, rubber cultivation has been commenced on a small scale. 
In Nicaragua there are a number of plantations, especially near 
the Pearl Lagoon, on the Bluefields and Escondido rivers. In 
Panama rubber is being planted, in Costa Rica there are a few 
young plantations, and in Honduras rubber has been planted 
