The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-09-12


Writing about the production snd OK
mort Of rubber in Brazil, Consul-den'
ersl G. G. Andrews, formerly OF Mlnne-
sota Saws: "Tbe rubber tree requires q
Growth OF twenty to twenty-fv years
before il begins to produce. hence Little
or nothing has been done for It's proPa-
| cation. The milky sap which forms
rubber is taken from the Wild tree,
which grows scattered through the Tor
ests of the Amazon, and many OF It's
afiuentS. The industry, being prlnci-
pally in the hands of a. unedueated n
half civilized nomad population OF In
| dian mixture, is OF o crude character.
| Nothing has been done to improve the
system of labor. A wasteful and ex-
haustive system Of labor has been fol-
lowed for half q century, and the con-
sequence is that millions OF rubber trees
have been destroyed and many others
abandoned from premature and excess
i've use. There are instances OF groves
| of trees, which, by careful use and by
not permitting them to be tapped In
the months of August and September,
in which they change their leaves, have
been yielding for thirty years, and still
are in good producing condition; but
the common place practice is so waste
full that many well-informed people ap'
prehend that, unless some remedy Is ap'
piled, this rich resource will before long
suffer O serious and perhaps fatal de-
cline. .
"The rubber tree thrives only on soil
which is annually overhowed TO q depth
of three or more feet, and prefers the
lowest and most recent river-deposlt.
The rubber gatherers are temporary
squatters, and their dwelling is q hut
with q low roof of palms, beneath one
end of which there is . raised floor or
framework Of lath, one or two yards
from the ground, to which the occupants
retreat OF high water"
The following description OF the pro-
cess of gathering rubber was written
by Franz Keller: Marrow paths lead
from the gatherer's hut through dense
underwood to each separate tree, and as
soon as the dry season seats in he be-
takes himself with his Ratchet to the
trees to cut little holes III the bark.
The milk white sap Immediately begins
to exude into pieces of bamboo tied be-
low and having their ends in little clay
cups set under the gashes to prevent its
trickling down the stem. He travels
thus from tree to tree. On the return
visit he pours the contents OF the BAN.
boos into a large earthen vessel pro.
vided with straps, which he emptles al
home into a large turtle-shon. With
out delay he sets to work to coagnlate
it with smoke of palm nuts, and pours
a little of the milk evenly on o slight
wooden shovel, which he throws into
the thick smoke issuing from a little
narrow chimney made by the neck OF an
earthen bottle. He moves the shovel
several times to and fro with great IA
pidity. when the milk is seen to c~onsoli'
date and to take a grayish-yellow tinge'
"Thus he puts layer upon layer, nm
til at last the rubber on both sides o.
the wood has reached q thickness oftwc
or three centimeters. Cutting on one
| side, he takes it off the shovel n dhangs
1t Iii the sun to dry. A good workman
can thus prepare five or six pounds O
solid rubber in al hour. From its ini
tial color of clear silyer-gray it turns
shortly into a yellow, and finally be
comes the well-known dark brown
of the rubber, such asis exported. The
more uniform, the denser and freer oi
bubbles the whole mass is the higher
price it brings. Almost double the val
ne is obtained for the first rate article
oyer that of the most inferior quality
which is nothing but the drops collected
at the foot of the trees"