The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1884-10-02
Gathering Rubber in Brazil.

export Of rubber in Brazil, Consul
General Andrews says: "Tho rubber
tree requires growth of twenty to
twenty-five years before it begins to
produce, hence little or nothing has
been done for its propagation. The
milky sap which forms rubber is taken
from tho wild tree, which grows
scattered through tho forests of the
Amazon and many of its aflluents. The
industry. being principally in the
hands Of an uneducated and half civil
lied nomad population of Indian
mixture, is of crude character. Moth
ing has been done to improve the
system of labor. A wasteful and ex-
haustive system of labor has been fol-
lowed for half,a contury, and the COLI
sequence is that millions of rubber
| trees have been destroyed and many
others abandoned from premature and
| excessive 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 arc in good producing e
condition; but the common practice is
so wastcful that many wcll-informed
people apprehend that, unloss somo
remedy is applied, this rich resource
will before long suffer serious and
perhaps fatal decline.
"Iho rubber tree thriYeS only On soil
which is annually ovcrflowed to o
depth of throo or moro feet, and pre-
| ters tho lowest and most recent river
deposit. The rubber gathorers are
temporary squatters, and their dwell
ing is hut with low roof of palms,
beneath one end of which there is q
raised floor OF framework of lath, one
or two yards from the ground, to
which tho occupants retreat at high
water"
The following description of tho
process of gathering rubber was writ
ten by Mr.. Franz Keller: Marrow
paths lead from the gatherer's but
through dense underwood to each
seperatc tree, and rs soon as the dry
season sets in he betakes himself with
his hatchet to the tree to cut littlo
holes in the bark. The milkwhite sap
immediately begins to cxudo into
pieces of bamboo tied below and hay
ing their ends in the little clay cups set
under the gashes to prevent its trick
ling down the stem. Ho travels thus
from tree to tree. On tho return visit
he pours tho contents of the bamboo
into largo earthen vessel provided
with straps, which he cmptics at homo
into largo turtle-shell. Without de-
lay ho sets to work to coagulatc it with
smoke of palm nuts, and pours little
of tho milk evenly on light wooden
shovel, which he 't4rows ipto the thick
smoke issuing from little narrow
chimney made by the neck of an earth
en- bottle. He moves the shovel sew
cral times to and fro with great
rapidity, whom the milk is seen to con-
solidate and to take a grayish-yellow
tinge.
'Thus he puts layer upon layor,
until ut last the rubber on both sides of
the wood has reached thickness of
two or threo centimcters. Cutting on
one side, he takes it off tho shovel and
hangs it in the sun to dry. A good
workman can thus prepare five or six
pounds of solid rubber in an hour.
From It's initial color of clear silver
gray it turns shortly into yellow, and
finally becomes the well-known dark
brown OF the rubber, such as is export
ed. Tho moro uniform, the denser and
froer of bubbles tho whole mass Is, the
higher the price it brings. Almost
double the value is obtained for the
iirst-rate article over that of the most
inferior quality, which is nothing but
the drops collected at the foot Of tho
trccs.n