The state herald. (Holyoke, Logan County, Colo.) 1887-1921, 1894-04-13
FROM THE RUBBER TREE
HOW THE MILK 10 GATHERED
BY HULERos.

l n
BY HULERos.
| ..-.ss.s
rhs BARK 10 Cached In Many Places an
the Liquid Rubber Gushss out-rhi
Method Destroys the Tree In Two Sea
soas-HArdsnsd Rubber.
proposed to accompany the rub
her gatherer on his rounds, and in
few minutes we were out OF sigh
and sound Of camp, in Wild tina
was. literally trackless, writes Ed
ward w. Perry In Outing, in an arti
Gle on how elastic gum is gathered
In Mosquitea Soon we came to
rubber tree, Its smooth gray trunl
rising slender and brsnchless fort,
feet Tho youth threw his burden Il
the ground, and looked about unit
he found q thicket Of cariso. with
stalks two inches In diameter aut
perhaps forty teet long.
The walls OF this BAN boo a,t
scarcely moro than an eighth OF q,
inch In thickness. and the joints
fully grown, are some two feet long.
They grow In thick clusters, fire.
quently 80 dense that no animal can
pass between the stalks. Archine
over they often droop until the topl
sweep the ground, and tho beauti
fully delicate foliage is so abundan,
as to form an apparently solid bank
OF green.
With blow OF his machete the
hulero cut down one OF these and
chipped OF three or four Of the
joints. >eachl forming long tube
closed at each end. With these we
returned to the rubber tree.
He then made small loop OF one
end Of the rope we brought with us,
and of the other ond a large loor
passing round both the tree and his
own body. He put both feet through
the smaller loop, so that his bare
soles grasped the smooth gray bark,
the rope about his ankles serving as
fulcrums to give his feet tight hold.
Then he throw the upper loop we'll
up the tree trunk, loaned back, and
brought his feet up till they grasped
the trunk eighteen inches or so from
the ground.
With quick motion. he brought
his body near tho trunk, and at the
same time threw up the loop again.
AT the instant OF Its highest rise his
shoulders settled back, and caught II
in place. Then his feet were hitched
upward again foot or more. Here
he leaned back in the upper loop,
bracing with his bare feet against
| the smooth tree, and with the
machete cut through tho bark two
gashes which converged about six
teen inches below the level at which
they started.
Cut after cut was made In this way
until he reached tho branches. Then
as the hulero descended no wetted
his fingers In tho milk, and drew a
straight line down from tho lower
part OF one pair OF V-shaped cuts to
another to guido the flowing milk by
the shortest way. In tho lower pair
OF cuts he placed piece OF leaf To
act as spout to carry the milk
from the tree TO tho open end of the
joint OF cariso standing beneath.
The first joint was soon full, and
another took Its place. A plug oi
leaves stopped the full one, and we
went on in search OF another tree,
which he soon found, and repeated
the operation OF bleeding. When q
number OF trees had been tapped in
the same way, tho operator carried
all tho cariso JOINTS filed with the
milk to n convenient spot. whore he
dug small pit In the ground.
After looking about bit he found
a vino ora kind wanted. and Cut
from II several tender branches.
These he crushed between two stones,
then washed the bruised pulp In d
painful Of water. making u grcenish
Infusion with which ho sprinklcd
thoroughly tho walls and bottom Of
the pit
Into this the rubber milk was
| poured. In IN instant that which
touched tho earth wet by tho infusion.
cosgulated. Then tho contents oil
the pan were poured into the milk
and mixed thoroughly with II. al
most instantly changing 1t to Il
white, spongy mass, This was lifted
out and carried to tho nearest brook,
where It WAS washed and kneadcd to
express the juice Of the vino. which,
the hulero explained. would soon
harden tho rubber so much that |,
would be little better than tune
gum. with which wicked huloros are
wont TO adulteratc their rubber
This mode OF gathering rubber de-
stroys the trees In two seasons, for
each cutting kills that side OF the
tree on which the incisions are
made. The government has enacted
laws for the protection OF tho trees,
but laws are ignored In these wilds
In n very few years all the trees
large enough TO bleed will bc do
stroyed. and fifteen or twenty years
will pass before the young crop now
growing will DO largo enough TO fur
nish milk at u profit
Yet these trees might be bled ycni
after year without serious injury. by
using an instrument that could moi
cut completely through tho bark,
and by leaving IN tho wound the
rubber which dries there. aad which
will. II allowed 20 remain, protect