The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1853-10-22
.gnr the Buqs anh &irIg.
Where do thew get India Rubber ?

So inquired chubby looking girl one
morning as she pulled on her rnbbers, before
going to school, And so, dare say. many
Of our readers have asked. Here is an an-
swer to the question =
The caoutchouc tree grows, in general, to
the highth of forty or fifty feet without
branches; then branching, runs up fifteen
feet higher. The leaf is about six inches
long, thin, and shaped like that of a peach
tree. The trees show their working by the
number of knots or lunches made by tapping
and a singular fact is, that when most tapped,
they give more milk or sap. As the time of
operating is early day, before sunrise the tap
pers are at hand. The blacks are first sent
through the forest, armed with a quantity of
soft clay and a small pick-ax.
On coming to one Of the trees, portion Of
the clay is formed into cup, and stuck to
the trunk. The black striking his pick over
the cup. the sap oozes out slowly, tree Civ
inr out daily about a gill. The taper con-
tnucs in this way, tapping. perhaps. fifty
trees when he returns, and with jar pas
sing over the same ground. empties his cups,
SO, by seven o'clock, the blacks come in
with their Jars, ready for working.
The sap at this stage resembles milk IN ap-
pcarancc, and somewhat in taste. 1t Is also
frequently drunk with perfect safety, IT
left standing now. it will cur,lle like milk,
dscnraging watery substance like whey.
Shocmakers now arrange themselves to
form the gum Seated in the shade. with
larre nan Of milk on one side. and on
the other a nlgon. in which is burned nut
peculiar to this country, emitting a dense
smoke, the operator havn. his last, or form,
held bv lon. stick, or handle, previously be-
smearcd with soft clay Tin order to slip Oft
the shoe when tni>hcd), holds it over the
nan. and pouring on the milk until it is GOV
~ered, sets the coating in the smoke. then
giving it >ccord coat, repeats the smoking
and so on with third and fourth, until the
shoe is of the required thickness, avera aging
from six to twelve coats.
( When finished, the shoes on the form are
placed in the sun the remainder OF the day
to drip. Next day. if required. they may be
figured being so soft that any impress
sion will indcdiLly be received, The natives
are very dcxtcrous in this work. With a
quill and a sharp pointed stick they will pro
ducc finely -lncd leaves and flowers, such as
YOU NAV have seen on the shoes. in an in
credih! short space of time.
After remaining on the forms two or three
DAYS. the shoes are cut open on the top. al
lowing the last to slip out They are then
tied together, ready for the market. There
pc,llers and Jews trade for them with mcrch-
ants. who have them stuffed with straw. and
packed in boxes TO export. In the same
manner any shape may be manufactured.
Thus toys are made of clay forms. After
DRYING the clay is broken and extracted
Bottles. &C.. are made in the same WV. .Ac-
corling as the gum crows older, it becomes
darker in color and more tough. The mum
Der OF caoutchouc trees III the province i
countless.
In some parts whole forests cXi>.. and the!
are Frequently cut down for tircwoo1
Although the trees exist in Mexico and the
East Indies. there appears to be no iInporia
ton into this country from these places. Til,
reason, we suppose. must be the want OF tina
trutfuncss which is found in them here. TIN
caoutrhouc tree may he worked all tn" year
but generally, in the wet season, they hav
rest, OWN" to the flooded state OF the woods
and the milk being watcrv, requires NOR
trouble to manufacture the same article tina
in the dry seaSon.-LcnerJiom -ltricd.