The government encourages the cultivation of rubber, a decree having been issued in 1899 which provided that for every 20,000 rubber plants of four years of age and planted after the date of the decree the owner should receive one caballeria (112 acres) of uncultivated national land. The government, however, does not endorse nor recommend the promotion of rubber plantations by stock companies which seek chiefly to sell the stock among small investors in the United States. All such schemes should be carefully investigated before the shares are bought and the leading facts in regard to rubber production, including the necessity of a period of at least ten years for the successful development of a plantation, should be kept in mind. BOUNTY FOR HENNEQUEN. The soil of Guatemala in the opinion of experts is especially adapted to the cultivation of fibre plants of which the most valuable is hennequen or hemp. Maguey or wild hennequen grows in various localities, particularly in the eastern districts, where there is a large area which it is believed can be brought under profitable cultivation for commercial purposes. President Estrada Cabrera, in order to encourage the cultivation of hennequen, has provided that a bounty shall be paid to the cultivators of the plant, the scale of payment being graduated according to the size of the plantation. Since it takes from four to five years for the plant to mature the cultivators are allowed to receive one-half the bounty two years after the hennequen is planted and the balance at the end of the four years. A bounty is also to be paid for the exportation of each 100 pounds of hennequen and the machinery necessary on the plantation is to be imported free of duty. As a further inducement to engage in the cultivation of the fibre the natives who produce hennequen are to be exempted from military service in a proportion fixed relatively to the number of acres under cultivation. This experiment with hennequen is especially important in view of the fact that soil which is not suitable for coffee, sugar cane or cacao is thought to be especially well adapted to this plant. The number of medicinal plants produced in Guatemala is infinite. One scientist gives a list of 339, which includes many balsams and the aromatic plants, such as sarsaparilla and vanilla. The conditions of vanilla cultivation are similar to those in Mexico. The vine after five years is in full bearing and will produce from 15 to 40 beans. It is estimated that a five-acre vanilla plantation will yield sufficient income to render its owner independent, but this is only by the most careful attention in cultivation. MANY VARIETIES OF VALUABLE WOOD.