Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-04-29
Rubber is One of the Most Useful
of ALI Products.
METHODS OF GATHERING TIE GUM
There is Profit in the Cultivation
Of the Trees.
MANY VARIETIES KNOWN
From Self-Culture.

| From Self Culture
Few articles are more Indispensable to
| modern life than those into which india
rubber enters as a whole or a part. 1t
| touches US from the cradle 20 the grave.
| furnishing the nipple for the baby's nurs-
| ing bottle and the water bed for the sick
man to die on. intermediary scarcely a
| day goes by without its use in promoting
! our comfort or pleasure. or in alleviatlug
| our necessities. Yet there are people not
very old who remember when the substance
| was more of a curiosity than a useful COM
| modify. In 1874 Charles Goodyear's French
| patent. and in the next year his United
| States patent. for the INFLAMMATION OF the
| gum were issued, and it is since then that
the nnumerable Industrial applications OF
! india-rubber became practical
| AT that time the familiar form IN which
the gum was known in this country was
! that Of heavy. ill-shaped overshors. These
| were low shoes nearly a quarter ~ an inch
| thick. and having pointed toes. They were
of a leaden hue that turned 10 yellawiSh
| brown when the material was stretched,
| and consisted entirely Of the gum IL
| came out OF the rude mojs Of the Rubber
| gatherers in the Para province q Brazil.
| For the boys Of that day an old Para over
| shoe, even a part of one was a delight
| full possession. for they used to cut Il into
1 long strip to be wound tightly together
| Tor the core or a Dall Tor the playground.
| A thick layer of wooden yarn. unrdveled
/ from knit sock Of the times. covered the
| rubber core, and the whole was iEcasol in
leather, or with Irvine sewed an by chain
| stitch and the lad whose ball would bounce
| highest was the envy Of his comrades
| Centuries Ago.
| This use of rubber seems to have been
| that by which IL became known to Euro
peans for. although the product has an in
| dependent origin in Asia and Africa il tirst
| attracted the attention of early Spanish ex-
! plorers in America. The companions OF
| Columbus his second voyage observed
that the Indians of Hispaniola played with
| ball made from the gum of "A tree"
! which was lighter and bounced better
| than the wind of balls OF CASTLE"
| Caoutchouc is the name given to vegetable
| products having certain qualities of eias-
| ucity, insolubility in water alcohol and
| most acids and alkales. and obtained from
| the inspissaton of the milk OF trees and
| creepers. 1t is word received from Gem
| trail American Indians. and, in lis present
! large application, covers products from
| scores of trees and plants not related 10
| each o,her. and not Indigenous 20 the same
| continents
| Para rubber. which is the best. and is
collected all over the Amazon valley. even
| along its remotest continents. Is converted
| from milk to gum the day ii is gathered,
| by holding films Of it, coated on molds
or paddles by dipping, over the smoke pro-
[
| some instances the milk is allowed TO dry
| and harden as 1t trtckes down the bark
| from an incislOn; sometimes. as in Central
| America, IL is poured over mats or received
| on leaves, and when firm enough, which is
| a matter Of days. the sheet is stripped of.
| In parts of Africa the gum gatherers wound
| one of their giant creepers and receive tie
| oxidation on their arms, whence thAy roll
! il off soon as il has due coHsis- sncy.
| Again, the milk is coaeulated by the use OF
| alum. of the use Of certain plants. OF boil
| ing water, as in Assam. and of salt in Bor-
| neO. But the use OF saline solutions rem
| ders the commercial gum porous ana Wet.
! The addition OF ammonia retards coagula-
| tion until It is evaporated.
Tapping the Trees.
There are several methods of tapping
| employed. on the Amazon the Indian col
| hector penetrates the overfowed land OF
| the forests when the water has subsidized
and there builds his camp. Thence he goes
| to find his Hevea trees. a low branching
! tree that attains "A height Of sixty foot.
These do not grow in clumps, but are spO-
| radically scattered Having chosen his
| ground the collector SiaShes out n path
through the dense underground from tree
| to tree. Then with a collection OF clay
| cups he goes the round. making Two or
| three incisions on the stem Of the tree as
| far up as he can reach. and under each
cash he luteS a cup with a moist
kneaded clay. Again he makes the rounds
and empties the cups. which VIII contain
an average Of tablespoonful, into a Courd,
for the milk does not How long. He then
takes his Eourd to the camp to supoko ard
dry the contents. The next Gay The round
is repeated, only new incsions are made
few inches below those of previous days,
and the process is kept up until the base Of
the stem is reached. 1t is necessary that
this work be done in the dry season, and ia
the morning early. before the rain falls,
for water Injuries the milk Or the collec-
tor may smooth away a ring Of bark
around the tree and twist about the ring,
in sloping direction. a stem OF some
climber, in which the forest abounds Then
with soft clay. he stops the interstces be-
tween the band and the bark. fastening his
cup at the most depressed point. Incisious
are now made above the band and the eN-
udations from them flow along the clay
luting and drip into the cup.
Other Methods
Again, in Ceara, the collector brushes
away the ground at the base Of the plant
and covers it with palm leaves. He then
proceeds to strip off the outer layers of the
bark of the tree to a height OF five or six
feet The exudations trickle down the OK
posed surfaces and make their way to the
leaves After several days the hardened
sap is stripped away and collected. In Gem
trail America common process with the
| Castilloa is to make slanting missions oppo-
site each other for some distance up the
stem, like the barbs on a feather, and 10
connect them with a groove wedge
shaped channel. at the bottom of which a
spout Is nAe0 10 conduct the mix into q
Calabash pail
Considering the ease with which rubber
plants may be propagated from seeds and
cuttings, and their adaptation to a large
variety of soils and climates, it is a matter
Of surprise that the supply Of the gum is
not better artiticially provided for. The
process Of acclimation in India, with the
exception of the Ceara tree, has not been
very promising; but in its own habitat al
most any caoutehouc yielder is readily cul-
tivated.
In Ceylon a tree has attained the height
of twenty-three feet in TWO years. Tap
ping may begin in from five to seven
years from the cutting. superb creepers,
like the Urceola of the Malay lands and the
African Iandolphia, grow to The size OF a
mans body, and in two three years are
mt TO tap. They Will Irvine .lbout any tree
in moist secluded and rocky place. grad
ually smothering the life out of their host,
and covering its dead branches with alien
verdure and blossoms.
A ParasiticaI Wonder.
Most remarkable Of all the rubber trees
is the 'Ficus elastica" of Asia and Africa
r.