The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-17

las about 100 trees. In the forests you
often find as many as 5000 trees to the
square mile. 1 have seen groves of 10000.
The trees usually grow in the valleys be-
low the eastern slopes of the Andes. They
are of all sizes, from as big as your leg
to the giant of the forest, $50 feet high,
and so large that three men could not by
joining hands. reach around it. The tree
which produces the best rubber of COM
merce is known as the symphonic elias
tica We have plenty of guttG percha trees,
but these have not yet been worked"
A CHANCE FOR CAPITALISTS.
rs there much profit in the rubber busi-
ness here?" / asked.
Yes, there is a great deal of money to
be made out of it, but only by the use of
large capital. No man can do much with
out twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars,
and he will make proportionately great
deal more if he has one hundred thousand
dollars. With this amount he ought to net
from go to 70 per cent. year. There is no
trouble for capitalists to get rubber forests
The best of the lands upon which such trees
grow are now in the hands of Cholos, or
Bolivians with Indian blood in them. They
have taken up the lands of the government
and have no money to work them"
How do you get the rubber from the
trees?"
1T comes out in the form of a milky
white sap" was the reply. "At the begin
ming of the dry season the trees are gashed
with a chisel about an inch broad. A little
tin cup is fitted to the tree under each cash
and the sap ooZes out and drops down into
the cup. Several gashes are made in each
tree. When the Indian has gashed a num-
Der of trees he stops and collects the milky
sap from the cups. He pours it into tin
pail and carries it to the headquarters of
the camp. He places it somewhere in the
shade and then builds a fire to smoke it,
This fire is made of wet wood or palm nuts
and it is so arranged as to give dense
smoke. Now the Indian takes a wooden
shovel or spoon and covers it with milk. He
then thrusts it into the smoke and rapidly
turns 1t about. AS the smoke touches the
rubber milk it coagulates and turns from
the color of rich cream to a light gray. He
coats his shovel again and again and at
last has ball of rubber upon it. This is
cut off and laid away to be shipped to the
markets. A number of the balls are put into
nets. These are slung on the backs of
mules or donkeys and are thus taken to
Chililaya, on Lake Titicaca or La Paz. We
have to watch the Indians that they do
rubber to make them weigh heavier. This
is the case when they are paid by the work
done rather than by the day."
THE LAND OF QUININE.
This is the land of quinine. The bark of
the cinchona tree, from which quinine is
made, is called Peruvian bark, but it would
be more in accord with the facts to call it
Bolivian bark. The best quinine of the world
is made from the bark Of trees grown in the
State of La Paz, and Bolivia far exceeds
Peru in the number of her quinine trees.
There are millions Of trees here growing on
plantations set out to make money out of
the quinine market. These plantations were
established when quinine was high and be-
fore some of the Bolivian trees had been
taken to India and Ceylon to start planta-
tions there AS a result of the Indian planta-
tons the market became overstocked, and
quinine fell The bark which, in 1882, brought
here in La Paz 1920 in Bolivian money a
hundredweight now sells for from SIG to SIS
a hundredweight; considering the difference
in the value Of the Bolivian dollar by the
fall of silver for about one-thirtieth what it
sold for sixteen years ago. The fall of prices
ruined a great many of the Bolivian capt.
talists. More than So 100000 were invested in
such estates by the people of La Paz, and
the foreign houses who had advanced money
on them were severely hurt. The bark at
one time was so low that it did not pay to
cut it and carry it to the markets, and to-
day, while there is somewhat of revival,
the margin of profit in the business is sTpall.
l see loads of cinchona bark here every day.
They are brought in to the exporters on
little donkeys or mules, each of which car
ries a bundle on each side of his back of
about one hundred pounds each. The most
of this bark comes from wild trees which
grow in the headwaters of the Benz and
MADEIRA rivers. 1t is carried for many miles
through the forests on mems backs, and
then loaded on the donzeys which bring it
to La Paz. AS far as can learn, there is no
money to be made in the quinine business
by foreigners. Any number of good planta-
tons can be bought A rich planter of in
terror Bolivia told me to-day that he could
buy me 100000 trees if I wished them for
less than cents of our money tree. These
trees would be from six to ten years of age
and in prime condition for cutting down for
quinine. This man said that the trees
would each produce at least four pounds of
bark. Quinine trees are planted nine feet
apart, and at five years of age an orchard
is ready for the market. The trees are then
CHOppeu uOWn anu SlFlppeu OI IHelr DARK.
Sprouts spring up the following season from
the stumps and at the end of five years there
is another crop. The cinchona trees grow
wild almost everywhere that the rubber
tree grows They are often very tall and
have magnificent crown of foliage, which
is of such color that the quinine hunter
can pick it out long distance in looking
over the trees of a forest.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.