The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-10-14

plant in the center of this. The plant.
are placed in rows ten feet apart, ant
from ten to twelve feet separates the
rows. This means that each acre o.
land will accommodate about 400 rub
Der trees.
The land between the trees is mo-
cultivated, on account of the fact thai
the trees seem to thrive and do well
under the method in use and the cost
of cultivating the entire space OF
ground which will ultimately be COW
cred by the trees would be excessive
1t has become the custom of the
plantations to have the rubber plants
set out by contract, and at the Nahiku
| plantation this plan has been very
| successfully followed. Last year the
contracts called for the plants to be set
out and cared for and to be accepted
! by the plantation if two feet high at
| the end of six months. For each plant
| SO grown, the sum of ten cents was
paid. This price has been brought
down this year. and eight cents will
| be paid for plants under the same gen.
eral rules.
RATS ARE ENEMIES.
Rats are one of the greatest enemies
which the rubber planta tons have.
The rodent family delight in the ten
der morsels which they find in the
young shoot and make habit of living
in colonies in the gulch and doing their
work of ravage at night. After the
plants have grown to a height of sew
eral feet they are free from this pest,
against which all possible precautions
are taken in the meantime. Numer-
Gus attempts have been made with
various kinds of poison, and dogs of
rat-killing species have been used with
considerable success, and the managers
of the plantations around Nahiku have
been able to drive away or kill so many
of the pests that they believe that
they have the situation well under
control
Three kinds of rubber trees have
been tried on Maui. The most import
ant of these is the Ceara, which has
proved to be the most rapid grower
and has in this Territory far out
stripped all known records for 1uxuri-
ant and healthy growth. The second,
in the minds of the rubber growers, is
the Hevea, which has not grown so
well. and is what is sometimes called
the Brazilian. or Para, rubber The
third is the Castilloa, or Central Amer
lean, rubber, which is called the black
rubber, in commerce.
BY far the largest number of trees
on Maui are of the Ceara variety, and
its rapid growth has exceeded all ex-
pectations. The seed is oval in shape
and about the size of a kidney bean |
1t is covered with a very hard shell. |
and in order that it may sprout more |
quickly and in the right direction, the |
corners are slightly filed before plant |
ing When first appearing above the !
ground it appears very much like a
bean which is sprouting, With two
or baby leaves on top. Fol-
owing this three more leaves appear,
and with the Ceara the leaf is almost
invariably composed of an odd number
If points, three, five, or sometimes
seven.
FAST GROWTH
In the first year tree of average
Height and in good condition may be
to reach five feet at least,
While eight feet is by no means ex-
raordinary. In the second year the
owing the odd numbers as in the
caves, either three or five. The tree
t the end of it's second season will
be from twelve to fourteen
eet in height and from six to eight {
aches in circumference. This rapid !
rowth continues, and a size of near
' twenty inches in circumference,
nth height of twenty-five feet, is
y no means extraordinary at the end
f the third season. l
On the Maui plantations the rubber
rees are spread over an area of coun-
~ which covers all attitudes from
evenly to 1000 feet, the highest plan I
alton being on what is known as the :
colt lot. belonging to the Nahiku I
.ubber Company. which consists of {
bout 100 acres of land, the majority I
f which is rough and full of ridges
nd gullies. The rubber trees seem to
row better where there is not too
luch water, though they demand a
cry high rainfall to do we'll The