The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-11-27

. ME learned IldC L uc1l4 SOIIlt hnOWlSQGe
of the cultivation of rubber.
AS the interest seems to be so gem
eral. and having been asked to do so.
I have promised ito tell the story" if
the editor will have it:
Contrary to the general idea. a
swamp. instead of being essential is
sure death to the trees. An ample
amount of moisture is niece sary. but
it is more important to have it in the
air then in the soil, which must have
good drainage and should be fairly
fertile and porous. Pray, then. for a
protracted rainy season and a short
dry one The trees will survive a
| drouth but it retards their growth so
that it requires the most of the rainy
season following to get started again.
There are many good trees scattered
throughout the Territory, some Next
| can and Indian varieties, and nearly
| all seem to be in a thriving condition.
! At the request of the owner of a clump
| of six-year old Ceara trees, I tapped
| one and obtained ten ounces of coagu-
| lated rubber which he sent to New
York to be ''assayed." He also had
! some three-year olds which had reach
ed the tapping size, which is eight
inches in diameter, whether the tree IL
three years old, or thirty.
, I should say that the ideal conditions
exist on the southeast sides of Maui
and Hawaii. Probably there are other
places in the Territory, but I am only
writing of the places that 1 have seen.
AS regards the varieties; the Ceara,
native of Brazil, is by far the most
hardy of any that are worth consider
ing from a commercial point of view.
1t will grow in dry, sterile soil, at high
elevations and will stand a great deal
of exposure to the wind
Under these conditions it is worth
less commercially as the struggle for
existence is so strenuous that there
is no sap to spare. From the fact of
it's being so frequently found in such
places, the Ceara has a ''black eye
usually being considered a dry tree.
However, if given the same conditions
as the CastillOa it will yield nearly the
same amount of Iatex, with the adj
vantage of being self-coa gulating, and
making a better grade of rubber
A good percentage of the Para rub
Der is collected from Ceara trees; most
of it, however. is from the Hevea,
which is the best tree for cultivation,
as far as l have seen. 1t is an old ex-
ploded idea that the Hevea does not
yield until it is fifteen years of age.
In Ceylon it reaches the tapping age
in from four to six years AS with
the papaya, there are male" trees,
which do not yield milk in apprecia-
BILE quantities. AS these male trees
are so much like the "'milkers'' that it
takes very close observation to note
the difference, careful watch should be
kept for the first two years, or the
planter may find that he has grown a
grove of barren trees
AS there are many cultivated planta-
lions in Mexico, Guatemala and Cey-
Ion that are on a paying footing now,
with their trees yielding for the first
and second years, and with the price
of the product advancing as rapidly as
some of your Hawaiian sugar stocks,
the men engaged in the business are
more than satisfied with it.
I would give the names of some of
the plantations. and experts engag ed
in the work. for the benefit of those
who would like to learn more by cor
respondence, but 1 am afraid that the
editor might stand me up for adj
vertising rates.
Without a doubt, many of the rub
Der companies" of Mexico are fakes, |
either by intention or through ignor-
ance of the business, on the part of
the promoters. Yet many of them that
ere managed by men thoroughly under |
the business, and conducting
it on business principles, are MAX |
ing good their prospectus prom |
ises, which certainly look like gross |
exa ggerations to the uninitiated.
You will be told that rubber cannot |
be collected at a profit. In that case, |
there must have been a lot of money |
sunk since rubber became an article of |
commerce-there has been a terrible |
sight of the product collected since |
that time. With the instruments now
in use, it costs about fifteen cents per |
pound for collection on Mexican planta- |
tons. The older the trees the larger |
'9.0~0~9~0e0~0.0~0~0~0.0~0