The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-24
CULTURE OF RUBBER in BRAZIL
Primitive Methods Used in Collecting
Milk From Trees.

Primitive Methods Used in Collecting
Milk From Trees.
From the New York Evening Post
In the forthcoming volume of Com
mercial Relations for 1898 the most in
teresting report thus far prepared for
publication is that made by Consul
kenneday at Para, Brazil, on the rub
Der industry. Mr.. Kenneday treats of
the rubber tree under thename he
vea," given it by the French botanist
Aublet, who made the first scientific re-
port upon it in the latter part of the
last century. The name by which it is
most commonly known in this country,
"caoutchouc" is the one applied to it by
the Maina Indians. The English name
rubber grew out of the fact hat an
English artist in 1910 discovered that a
new gum, which had been intro iuced
into Europe from South America vas
admirably adapted for rubbing out
pencil marks. Incidentally it is inter-
esting to know that he recommended
the use of this substance on account of
its cheapness. because a piece a cubic
inch in size would last for years, and
would cost only three shillings, 10 cents
in our money. Later in the same GER
fury rubber was manufactured into
waterproof clothing in France. They
Macintosh house in Manchester, Eng
land, afterward went into the manufac-
ture of waterproof clothing on a large
scale and the firm name still c,ings
to this class Of garments everywhere
in Great Britain
The heVea tree is so inconspicuous as
to pass unnoticed by strangers in the
rubber region, who are always looking
for a stalk with glossy dark green
leaves. 1t actually resembles the Eng
iish ash more than anything else and
| grows to be more than go feet high
| The poisoning season Is in August and
| the fruit ripens in December and Janu-
airy, but the seeds lose vitality unless
soon planted. The tree thrives best on
islands and low lands near rivers,
| where the banks are periodically mum
| dated. Neither ground that is always
| above water nor that which has no
drainage is suitable. The hevea will
| not grow satisfactorily on cleared or
| open ground, but requires the shade
| of other trees and still air until it ma
| lures.
Under other conditions the supply of
| milk is very much affected; indeed,
| the tree has been known to die soon af-
| ter the clearing of the ground around
| it. The Amazonian forests, showing no
| signs of exhaustion. little if any artiti
| eial cultivation of the tree has been at
| tempted in that region. The hevea re-
| quires about Is years to mature. The
| explored area known to produce pure
| miles and further exploration will prob
| ably extend these figures. One group
| of 200 trees in favorable region yields
| three tons of rubber a year.
The collecting season in the lower
Amazon region begins when the water
| has subsidized in July and ends in Janu
airy or February. The collectors en-
| ployed are principally Brazilians, with
| some Portuguese and half-castes, the
native Indian being of little use as
| laborer. A collector carries a wood
| knife, an axe, large gourd, some little
cups, big clay bowl and few minor
| utensils, usually made from the re-
| sources of the forest and in a primitive
fashion. The knife is used to cut his
way through the underground and to
| gather fuel for the preparation of the
rubber. The axe is required when he
4 reaches a rubber tree and has to cut
away the rough parts of the bark and
| make small, clean cash through
| which the sap can flow, He repeats
| this process in line around the tree,
attaching below each cash cup to
| catch the sap. He puts six or seven
| cups on one tree, and then proceeds to
| the next and does the same thing. If
| the trees are not too far apart he may
| tap from rs to $50 in day. The tap
| ping is usually done in the morning
| and the collection of the sap in the
| evening or vice versa, and the next
| in each tree trlfie lower down than
the first The amount of rubber gain
| cred daily differs in different regions.
| In the lower Amazon an expert can
! gather seven pounds, in the upper Am
azon three times as much
When he has accumulated enough OF
the sap or milk-usually in three or four
days-the collector builds fire in a
hut he has erected in the meantime and
places over the flame clay funnel, IN
shape very much like a toilet water
lug without bottom or handle. The
fuel used for the fire is believed to have
some virtue in curing the rubber. The
nuts of certain palms are considered
the best fuel, but bark and tWlgs are
used where these canot be obtained.
The sap, having been gathered in cups
of clay or in tin attached to the trees,
has been poured into the gourd which
is large and light enough to carry the
contents of from 500 to 700 cups. The
gourd is used because it is the highest
receptacle obtainable, but for more per-
manent storage large clay bowls are
provided A broad bladed wooden pad
die of local make is used as mold.
When the fire is ready and the smoke
ascending from the funnel his paddle
is given a thin coating of the milk and
held over the smoke until the surface
has coagulated, then a new coating is
put on, and this process repeated until
large cake is formed. To release the
cake from the paddle a slit is made
down one side. AS the paddle molds
are uniform in size and shape the Para
rubber collectors are able to market
their production in a much more bust