The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-03-27

through the bark to the camblum lay
err without touching or rupturing this.
The rapidly flowing milk-like emulsion
IS conducted through improvised fun
nelS made of leaves or of bark into
hemispherical basins made of one-half
OF the oval of spherical fruit Of the
gourd-bearing tree (calabaZas), Cucur-
bita lagenarica, crecentila species, cap
able of holding four to six pints each.
In the case of the Ficus elastica, which
sometimes is a congregation of stems
and not all sides are equally accessible,
a long perpendicular incision should be
made from near the base and extend
ing high up the trunk. On each side
of this line and meeting it, numerous
small oblique cuts should complete the
operation. For the Castilloa kind the
best and most advisable system to be
adopted Is to make double incision
low in the trunk in the form of two or
three VS. connected together, according
to the size of the diameter of the tree,
| The cut is made with small blade OF
a sharp knife by imbedding it obliquely
| into the bark without touching the
cambium layer, and cutting off the
loose bark by another incision an inch
above the first These missions must
meet at the base all the way through.
The knife used must have blade of
such shape that it will not hack the
bark and injure the wood so as to en-
able the wound to heal and cicatrise
soon after the sap is collected. II the
tapping is performed carefully, scen-
tifically, not allowing the tree to over
bleed-and that can be obviated by the
basal incision lastly mentioned-the
process can be repeated every year for
fifty years or more; more so if the
wound is covered with wax or clay I'M
mediately after the sap ceases to run.
The next day after tapping the sap Is
collected placed in earthen or ironware
vessels, whipped with weed called
coyuntia which is an astrigent and
causes the milk to curdle, thereby sepa-
rating the crude rubber. This can also
be disunited by heating the milk grad
ually in the vessel to about 165 degrees
to ITS degrees Fair, and adding and
stirring while hot the expressed juice
or the decoction of the leaves or vine or
joamole, the morning glory (binweedD,
of sweet potato and of Llama (caloyn-
ton specosum), in the proportion or
one pint of same to one gallon OF rubber
milk. This decoction coagulates the
rubber juice and separates the crude
rubber. The coagulated emulsion is
then dumped into barrel vertically To-
Gated, having a faucet two-thirds full
of a solution Of five pounds of chloride
or subcarbonate of soda in the above
quantity of water The whole mass Is
then agitated every now and then. At
ter a lapse of twenty-four to thirty-six
hours the water is allowed to run out
through the faucet this operation of
washing is done, about three or four
times, until the crude rubber becomes
white The crude rubber is heated
gradually again, in sufficient amount of
water to cover it, until it is softened,
when it is placed on moulds having nu-
merous small holes, one inch in depth
inside, of a size to allow the top OF a
regular size letter press to go in tight,
and the inside covered with loose muslin
or white lining. The mass is pressed
for three days when it becomes a rec
tangular cake. Several of these cakes
are placed in clean sack, weighing
about a uuintal GOO lbs) each. BY this
process of preparation about 40 per cent
original amount of milk after the wa
ter and other ingredients have been
eliminated by evaporation and absorp-
ton.
AS to expense and cost, the prepare
ton and cultivation of an acre for ten
years will require the services of a Ia
borer working sixty-two days, or It's
equivalent Of sixty-two laborers each
working one day. The work consists
of clearing the ground so as to render
it fit for general crops, but leaving three
hundred forest trees per acre as shade.
requiring twenty days, holing and
stalking, two days; collecting the seed
lings or cutting, two hundred trees, two
days; planting same, two and a half
days; sowing corn, one and a half
days; harvesting same, one and half
days; establishing nursery, two and
half days; planting cacao trees TWO
days; and ten years cultivation, thirty
days. Estimating each days LABOR at
81, it is seen that two hundred trees
on an acre of land will have cost the
planter at the same they were ready
for tapping not less than 81 cents
apiece. OF course this amount can be
reduced to about so per cent from re-
suits obtained by raising side crops. III
a plantation of one hundred thousand /
trees is wanted 525 acres will be requir-
ed five hundred for the rubber and /
Twenty-Five for house sites, gardens, |
etc. the total exact cost at the end OF
ten wears, including first cost of the !
land, will be as follows:
525 acres of land at $40 per acre. $5,250 .
Cost of clearing same..... 4,300 7
Cost of LOG. 900 plants. $500 /
Stalking, holng and planting..... 1000 /
Cultivation first five years. .... 10000 /
Cultiyat ton second five years.. 5000
Buildings, tools, etc.......... 5000
Administration ....... . 1900 .
crop, 100000 pounds 5
cents each Observation-Disclosures. 75O0
Total, Mexican currency. $50, 450
The crop can be sold at the planta-
tons for so to rs cents pound, and at
New York for an average of IS cents
gold per. pound, and at an average of
six cents gold, leaving 81 cents net
The price at the plantation will average
50 cents a pound, hence the net profit
IN the investment Of S53, $50 will be $780,
$50. For the next ten years the annual
expense will not exceed IL cents per
Tree, which will yield every year 20
Der cent more, and at the end Of the
second ten years will give a handsome
'eturn of four and a half pounds of