The morning call., 1893-03-12
INDIARUBBER TREES.
Efforts of the Brazilian Government
to Bring Them Under Culture.


A recent report of the Brazilian Depart
ment of Agriculture deplores the rapid de-
struction Of what were at one time looked
upon as inexhaustible forests of indiarubber
trees, and suggests as remedy that planta-
tions for the cultivation of the tree be es-
tabished, showing at the same time by
statistics the enormo us profits that would
accrue to the planter. In view of the fact
that Central and South America, and espe-
cially Brazil. are the main territories upon
which the commercial world relies for its
supply OF crude rubber this official statement
from the Brazilian Department of Agricul-
tuTe becomes worthy OF consideration.
ihe large tracts of rubber forests in the
valley OF the lower Amazon have been, up
to the present time, especially profitable,
because they have required the investment
OF no capital and the employment of but
llule labor. The swamp land, where the
rubber tree thriveS, requires no cultivation
aud demands no care The tree propagates
Itself and grows rapidly. All that is re-
quired for the collection Of a harvest is to
send men into the forest to blaze the trees
and place receptacles at their base 10 catch
the milk. The causes assigned for the de-
pIetlon OF the forests are the greed OF the
lessees OF the trees and the carelessness of
the laborers. No tree should be blazed
more than three times in one day. and great
care should be taken in this so that the
hatchet may not cut through to the trunk
itself. IL the tree is thus wounded, il
slowly withers and dies. II the wood is
not touched, however, tile blazing OF the
mllk-ylelding bark does no harm, and one
tree Will produce rubber for fully fifty
years. III the yield is forced, however, by
too frequent demands upon one tree, the
crop becomes less every year, and In a short
time fails utterly.
1t Is thus evident that an almost mex
hon . Ia FaF,1wr II.
injured by greedy merchants and their care
less employees, for the dealer. as a rule,
rents his rubber-yieldlng land and cares
only Tor the present return. with no thought
OF future production. Another source Of
INJURY is the puaChing by the natives, who
wander through the Swamps of the uppei
Amazon, sapping rubber trees for their own
benefit and selling their stolen milk TO the
traders on the coast
The indialubber plant thriyes only In a
low and marshy country, and requires n
mean atmospheric temperature OF 80 de-
eTees. When transplanted TO 4 more tenn
pera'e cline the tree ceases to yield milk
and becomes merely an ornamental
shrub The great drawback to planting
IS that tree needs a growth of twenty.
five years before 1t will yield milk
In a virgin rubber swamp the tree prnws
among others Of different species, so
tEat one man can only care for about $50
trees. whereas, If it were planted in groves
by itself. one labOrer could attend 10 sew
eral acres, with an average OF $40 trees TO
tie acre. 1t IS estimated that $40 wild trees
yield seventy pounds OF milk per day.
This, when dried, gives thirty-iye pounds
OF crude rubber, which is worth SIS, so
that The annual yield per acre at this rate
would mount to $3.50
Senior Matias Romero. ex-Minister at
Washington, and the Brazilian Department
OF Agriculture are authorities for the state
ment that the indiarubber tree under eulti-
walton will yield twice what can be gath
cred from wild trees In the swamps. This
statement is based on experiments made on
the plantation Of SenOr Joachim Antonio
de sylvia, on the Island Of Buca Intento in
the Amazon River, twelve miles above the
clty OF Para. Here tract of forty acres
alter twenty years OF cultivation, gave a
first crop aggregating $500 per month per
acre. or total Of $4,000 for the forty acres
the hrst year that the trees were tapped
There was an interval OF two months al
lowed Tor the trees TO rest, so that the year
really counted but ten months.