The Republican journal., 1898-02-03
Understanding in Costa Rica.

bananas. Cotton, Tobacco and other
PRODUCTS.
dial Correspondence of The Journal
FAGI>MINA, Costa Rica, Dec. u. have
-..a making a study of the profits in
tael- farming, to one who will come
t4ral bonus offered by the government.
BESIDES the free gift of a considerable tract
and, to anybody who will engage in the
.r.ustry, and exemption from taxation for
rm of years, the Costa Rcan govern
.,at pays premium in money on every
adred rubber trees planted, and grants
.rralD other important favors and con
.sss1ns. In Nicaragua a bounty of 10
a,s native currency, is paid for the
tu-ng of rubber tree, and in Costa
the bonus, in pesos, per hundred,
UNITS to about u cents a tree. AS
worlds supply of rubber is rapidly
shing, while the demand for it is
n sing by leaps and bounds, it natural
.aws that there is a great opening for
Gnemployed. Certainly, unless the
is soon increased, manufacturers
er goods will presently have to
Is upon substitutes. The wasteful
of irresponsible rubber hunters
c-troyed millions of the valuable
the first tapping; whereas, with
care they might be tapped again
lain, at intervals of six months,
effect safety. In Southern Mexico
English and American companies
" operating in rubber culture on
-Xtensiye scale In the Chontales
ii Nicaragua two companies are
Shed, and one or two in Honduras;
tar, there are none in Costa RIGA.
is authoratively stated by those who
ait know, that neither coffee, cocoa.
bananas, indigo or hemp, pays as
ISL. Ia the cultivation of rubber trees.
.-'er IN acre of government land and 1913
uus planted upon it, (placed the usual Is
,l- spart), it is estimated that when the
the owner eight cents, United States
Iency, and will yield six pounds of
t rubber. Others state the yield at
.r1rity, as high as IA pounds per tree.
depends upon whether the season has
t5 unusually wet or dry; and of course
..Hewhat upon how we'll the trees are
I
~ae and allow wide margin for all con-
-encies, let us say that at the end of
aI, wears each tree has cost Is cents,
lH. it- yield of rubber for that year is
.4y I'VE pounds. The standard market
,tl for rubber at Graytown. is 2s i'd.
pei sound. reckoned in the Queen money,
h. Englishmen are the purchasers.
assl1 our calculations on only Is. per
la and deducting the cost of tapping
a. INVESTING, the result at the end of
I.t hit years, from one acre only, in
.l[ the government premium, on 1913
IS a clear profit of little more than
But supposing that the plantation
SEES 100 acres, and it would rarely
. less - the profit mounts up to a very
-e-table sum. The yield increases with
eat, where the old cuts are properly
over with mud, and there is no
Naateyer except Tor wedding and
ua. 1t is an easy matter to mix a
ay and water together; ana " hen
e.p Aas ceased to run, the channels
Of. the bark should be filled, or the
..ts =al dry up and remain sapless. 1t
-tl rlat a kind Of wood leech attacks
0e apled castilloa, introducing itself
M -n the cuts, and SO Injuries the tree
ause its eventual decay. The clay
vents this and at the expiration of six
0'l BIS the tree may again be tapped with
much profit as at first.
chit years seems long time to wait
enc first crop; but it should be borne
mad that meantime coffee, sugar cane,
900, cocoa and other shade loving
ants may be grown between the rubber
.-s that are planted Is feet apart, and
Ar- yearly crops maintain the planter
ai,e lie IS waiting for his wealth to roll
l With the maturity of his castilloa grove.
t the above reckoning | have placed the
market price of the rubber as low as that
g. .le poorest Central American product.
4 Para rubber often fetches as high as
i'd. per pound-simply because it is
eean- There is no reason why Costa Rican
lihbef should not bring as much, if gath
rLrl and coagulated in the same cleanly
amer While the slovenly yuleros
merely dig hole in the ground for the
SAP to run into, the Brazilians place a tin
mr. earthenware receptacle at the foot of
.he tree to prevent the admixture of grit
aud other foreign matter; and they also
strain the "mi.k through coarse muslin.
gain in the matter of coagulatiny it,
'hiIe the happy go-lucky Central Ameri-
'iN depends upon nature 10 partially evap-
nate the water, and then mixes with it a
sort of tea made from . wild vine. which
instantly haTdens it, The Brazilian sees
rat the water is all taken out of it by
Artificial heat; and then he solidifies il bv
spending it in kettles over "a gentle wood
IL. a