The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-09-12
Gathering Rubber in Brazil

Writing about the production and ex-
port of rubber IN Brazil, Consul Gem
eral @. @. Andrews, formerly of Mime
sofa. says; "The rubber tree requires q
growth of twenty to twenty-fv years
before it begins to produce, hence little
or nothing has been done for its propa-
cation. The milky sap which forms
rubber is taken from the wild tree,
which grows scattered through the for
ests OF the Amazon, and many of its
ahuents. The industry, being princi
pallyin the hands Of an uneducated and
alf-civilized nomad population of In.
dian mixture, is of 8 crude character.
Nothing has been done to improve the
system Of labor. A wasteful and ax-
haustive system Of labor has been fol-
lowed for half o century, and the con-
sequence is that millions of rubber treea
have been destroyed and many others
abandoned from premature and excess
i've use. There Z 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 80 waste
full that many well-informed people APP
prehendthat, unless some remedy is APP
piled, this rich resource will before long
suffer q serious and perhaps fatal de-
cline.
"The rubber tree thrives only on soil
which is annually overaowed TO a depth
of three or more feet, ana prefers the
lowest and most recent river-deposit.
The rubber gatherers are temporary
squatters, and their dwelling is a hui
with a low roof OF palms, beneath one
end of which there is q raised floor o,
framework Of lath, one or two yards
from the ground, to whichthe occupant.
retreat at 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, anda
soon 81 the dry season seats in he be,
takes himself with his Ratchet to til,
trees to cut little holes in the bark
The milk-white sap Immediately begin.
to exude into pieces of bamboo tied be
low and having their ends in little clay
cups set under the gashes to prevent it,
trickling down the stem. He travel.
thus from tree to tree. On the return
visit he pours the contents OF the BAN.
boos into o large earthen vessel pro.
vided with straps, which he empties q,
home into o large turlle-shell. With.
out delay he sets to work to coagulate
it with smoke OF palm nuts, and pours
a little Of the milk evenly on = slight
wooden shovel which he throws inte
the thick smoke issuing from q Little
narrow chimney made by the neck Of on
earthen bottle. He moves the shovel
several times to and fro with great ra
pidity. when the milk is seen to consoli
date and to take q grayish-yellow tinge
Thus he puts layer upon layer, I'M
til at last the rubber on both sides o
the wood has reached thickness oftws
or three centimeters. Cutting on on,
side, he takes it off the shovel and hang
1t in the sun to dry. "A good workman
can thus prepare Eve or six pounds o
solid rubber in an hour. From its mi
tial color Of clear silver-gray it turn
shortly into q yellow, and finally be
comes the well-known dark brown
Of the rubber, such as is exported. tn,
more uniform, the denser and freer o
bubbles the whole mass is the highe,
price it brings. Almost double the VA
ne 10 obtained for the As4A rate artist,
lover that Of the most inferior quality,
which is nothing but the drops collected
at the foot Of the treeA