The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-12-12
GATHERING RUBBER GUN.
4 GREAT INDUSTRY ALONG THE
AMAZON RIVER.

Tbey wal Yield MIX for Forty Years.
How the Raw Product IL HssdIed.
Trees Easily Ruined.
while tho India rubber Of commerce.
has been obtained from many different
parts of the globe, the world has been
compelled 10 look to Central and South
America, especially Brazil, as the terri
tory upon which the commercial world
relies, and when the statement is made
that there is great danger OF the diminu-
tion of the supply Of crude rubber from
the Amazon Valley it awakens thought.
Figuratively, the rubber trees OF the
Amazon are gold mines, which require
no shafts, no machinery, no costly ex-
perirnents, no gucsswork, and practically
no risk nor labor. The only thing to be
guarded against Is the killing OF the
geese which lay the golden eggs. All
that has to be done TO accumulate riches
from the rubber trees is TO hire the will
ing natives to enter the junglcs, tap the
trees and let the liquid gold run INTO
ones Golfers.
In the great rush for becoming sudden
Nv rich, however, In the lower Amazon
field-the delta many rubber forests
have already become exhausted.
- bub tHFcG ShShCs pei Aay hES iAha1 III
the rubber tree, and the Ratchet in the
careless hands OF the native does not
penetrate or strike the wood, the tree
does not appear to suffer from the treat
ment, except that the trunk grows thick
and the SCARED surface becomes irregular
and bumpy.
II will continue, however, in good
health, and yield milk in abundance for
thirty or forty years. II the blow from
the hatchet wounds in the slightest de-
gree the wood OF the tree ii dies. Decay
begins at this wound. AS the wood Is
soft, little weevil, called punilna, enters
the decayed spot, MS a worm does the
body, and hastens the destruction. The
tree may drag out a miserable, lf-dead
existence, but, as they say in Portuguese,
II is "candado.n
It will be seen how very easily the de-
struction Of even almost, !" inexhausti-
BILE forests may be completed by mere
blow of a Ratchet in the hands of a
fnarauding native. For this reason very
many Of the once inexhaustible rub
Der swamps Of the lower Amazon are al
ready wholly or partially abandoned, and
the same fierce onslaughts are being made
upon the virgin swamps of the upper
tributaries. Renters of swamps are ma
turalIy less careful of the trees than are,
the owners, who manage the property
from 4 central station. But the principal
forests are owned p in Para or Manaos
by those dealers who are interested only
in the present supply, and who have no
interest in the future production.
This carelessness with regard to the fu-
ture can be Offset with cultivation else
where, II begun at once, and those who
have investigated the matter believe that
the everglades of Florida offer the best
Inducements for experimental culture.
The conditions Of moisture, heat and soil
there are just about on par with the
conditions where the rubber tree -four
ishes, and as for the wonderful remuner-
alive returns there is no question. 1t is
simply matter OF time. Many years
elapse before the rubber tree produces
sufficient milk to justify its planting, but
after it does begin to do so the profit Is
sufficient to pay for much greater delay.
It is true, however, that Brazil is Hthe
land OF tomorrow" and If anything il
done Anglo Saxon energy must do it.
The rubber tree of the Amazon valley
grows spontaneously. A man can gather
enough OF the nuts in day to plant q
quarter section OF land They terminate
easily and grow rapidly. J3S trees Will do
well to each acre, the land needs no
preparation, and no cultivation or care is
necessary. Taking the most nnfavorabEe
figures OF the rubber swamp and apply ing
them to the rubber grove, the man who
cares for 100 trees III the swanp could
care for an acre with its 5SS trees. As
four kilos il an average yieid from the 80
trees, his 53s would yield him Gftesn tcs
per day. One dollar per kilo is an ayera e
price, and SO the laborer could make so
per day, with no outlay but bis ordinary
living expenses, during four or i've
months in the year.
In 1865 Joaquin Antonio da Silva. now
deceased, but then living on the R.ysr
Guiana, twelve miles above the city OF
Para, had 200OOl young rubber trees
planted on the low~11ffuvial island in the
river called BonY Intento, which formed
part OF his estate. He paid to Francisco
Rahia, the man(who did the work, the
sum OF sixteen cSnts apiece for the young
trees when planned. The 10000 Young
trees thus cost him total outlay OF 81
200. Unfortunately the trees were all
planted near the margin of the island on
its whole circumference, as only small
part Of the island was to be planted, and
1t was less trouble to plant near the shore
than to work his way through the jungle
further inland
The tide Gibbs and flows with tremeH-
dous power, and fears away and builds
up the island at one or the other end, AZ
ternating by periods of ten years. Con-
sequently only about LEGO 81 the or lc.i 81
1000 trees remain. These, however, IRE
in excellent condition, and yield soun-
dainty, though they have never cost d
cent for care or cultivation.
3ince am lir<e OF rubber yielding trees
viii yield between 500 and so pei
month, the 10000 trees mentioned, ecu
plying forty-acre tract, would mean an
income of s2o, 600 month for four or i've
months of every year. While twenty ~
twenty five years issquite while 10 Ysaai'
for the returns to begin to come IN. yet
the receipts are 50 great and the c2-
pense of such an enterprise SO little thai
Northern capital and energy will Proba-
bly, at no distant day solve the problem