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.Fortunately, wehave the benefit of hindsight; we know roughly where Hevea plantations were successful.Forexample, that map in CE also shows the major producing areas for plantation rubber in India,Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, and the Malaysian-Indonesian region.It is also extremely important that all attempts to transplant Hevea be made strictly withseeds, not with cuttings that might carry abroad the deadly fungus.Moreover, speed is of the essence.EB11 warns that "the seeds readily lose their vitality," andsuggests that they should be "loosely packed in dry soil or charcoal." According to Polhamus(273), in the open, the seeds are only viable for seven to ten days, but packed in charcoal orsawdust, they can be expected to germinate if planted within four to six weeks.Collecting Other Wild RubbersInformation is limited (and unavailable in 1632), but Treadwell says that in the BritishHonduras in the twenties, one man working eleven days in fifty acres of jungle could collect 700pounds of Castilla rubber. Rubber Plantation ManagementMost of Grantville's information concerning rubber tree cultivation relates to Hevea.EAsuggests that the Hevea trees be raised in a nursery for one year, then planted outside in rowsabout 15 to 20 feet apart.It says that, after casualties from disease, accident, and so forth, thereare about 150 trees per acre (see also Brown 104).The trees are mature enough to be tappedwhen they are five to seven years old; tapping can continue for another thirty to forty years.Theolder trees are more productive.It will be found that the trees vary in productivity.This variation can be exploited in a numberof ways, including cross-breeding and bud grafting.According to CE, "Bud grafting consists ofgrafting a dormant bud from a proved high-yielding tree to a seedling one to two years old.Afterseveral months the bud forms a healthy bud shoot termed a scion, which grows to form the newtree.The seedling is then cut off just above the bud patch." A photograph shows how the foreignbud has been inserted into a "bark flap."Hevea has been grown in African and Asian plantations alongside other crops, notablycassava, sesame, ground-nuts, tea, coffee, cocoa and tobacco.The EB11 advises against thisinterplanting, except in the case of cocoa.* * *The first rubber plantation in southeast Asia raised Ficus elastica (first planted in 1872),because at that time, before Ridley devised his improved tapping scheme, it yielded more rubberthan did Hevea brasiliensis (Joshi).The most successful Ficus elastica plantations have been inAsia, in the mountainous districts of Assam, Ceylon and Java.(EB11)* * *The "Angiosperms" article in the modern EB claims that Funtumia elastica has the advantagethat it will grow in parts of tropical Africa which are too dry for Hevea.It nonethelessdiscourages the cultivation of Funtumia elastica, declaring that it must be grown for twenty yearsbefore commercial yields become obtainable.However, this source is plainly in error; Christy'sAfrican Rubber provides ample data that Funtumia yields rubber even when it is just five yearsold, although he recommends that tapping not commence until the next year.It is regrettable thatthis specialist knowledge will not be available in Grantville, and hence the development ofFuntumia plantations in the new timeline may be delayed.* * *There is only limited information available to Grantville on the cost of production and, ofcourse, the old timeline data is of limited relevance to the hybrid economy created by the Ring ofFire.For what it is worth, EB11 reports that circa 1911, the cost of Ceylonese plantationproduction was about one shilling a pound, for a field planted at a density of 150 trees an acre.However, another source (unavailable in Grantville) pegs the Asian (Malaysian) plantation costsomewhat lower; just 0.75 shillings a pound.In contrast, the cost of Brazilian rubber was fourshillings a pound.(Coates, 156)The price of rubber was then about 2.5 shillings (US$1.25) per pound.For Castilla plantation rubber harvesting in northern tropical America in the Twenties,Treadwell says that the cost of production was 25 U.S.cents a pound.(32) The Geopolitics of Foreign RubberOne of the problems of developing a post-Ring of Fire (RoF) rubber industry was expressedin an aside to readers by Mike Stearns: "the natural resources were halfway around the worldunder the political control of other nations." (1633, Chap.34)Even the citizens of nations that are allies in Europe (the English and Dutch in the old timeline, "OTL") may take advantage of each other elsewhere.This is an era in which the term"cutthroat competition" is taken literally, and there is "no peace beyond the line" defining thebounds of Europe.Even if you didn't have to worry about the predatory habits of your fellow humans, there isthe question of disease.Up-timers are perturbed enough by the public health conditions of down-time Europe, but the rest of the world is worse off.The mortality rates are three to four timeshigher in the Indian Ocean area, ten times higher in the American tropics, and fifty times higherin West Africa.(Landes, 170)The New WorldLet us first examine the situation in the New World.The Castilla Rubber Tree grows in "NewSpain" (in Mexico and Central America) and in "New Castile" (which includes western SouthAmerica).All of these regions are claimed by Spain.Legally, there is a ban on immigration, andeven trade visits, by foreigners.All transatlantic trade leaves from Seville, takes cargoes ofmanufactured goods to specified colonial ports (Veracruz in Mexico, Portabello in Panama, andCartagena in Columbia), and brings gold, silver and other American products back to Seville.Only a Spaniard can buy a licencias de toneladas (the right to ship a certain number of tons offreight on a ship heading out to Spanish America).However, he could be acting as a front man(testaferro) for a foreign merchant.A particular kind of testaferro was the cargadore (the wordnow means a porter), who actually went on board with the cargo and made sure it was sold for agood price.A foreign merchant could also have a Spanish agent who was a resident of one of theAmerican ports of call for the Spanish trade fleets.Another trick was to sell a foreign ship (with acargo) to a Spanish figurehead, who would rename it, obtain a sailing license, include it in theSpanish trade fleet, and ultimately sell it back to the original owner (at a price which included aprofit on the cargo)
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