The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-06-04
A pISIT TO INDIA RUBBER FORESTS.

AS result, have my fnfo2un4It0n-
have also my ounce Of rubber. II - good
figures on some other mans check. I
doubt whether I shall ever receive IN
adequate return for my money.
a Ride on the Anas0n.
We left In the evening and steamed al
night up the Ama1on. Our hammocks
wer6 slung 70 the roof Of the boat and we
lay there In our pajamaS. The air wag de-
lighffuily soft and just cool enough for
comfort It w1s moonlight. and the eQua-
torsaI heavens were dotted with stars.
Early the next morning We landed At the
house Of q big rubber planter. Our host re-
ceived u IN his bare feet on his veranda,
and gave US some coffee and q bit Of bread
for our breakfast Later on he brought In
his wife and two daughters and introduced
them to us. The old woman was - broad
a. she was long. and the two girls showed
marked signs OF negro blood. although they
we're BY no means bad looking.
The house WAS right on the banks Of the
river. 1t was . rambling one-gtOry struc-
ture. with . tiled roof surrounded by
porches. At one end was the store room
niied with supplies for the rubber en-
ployes and on the veranda were piles OF
rubber hams smoked and ready for the
markets When We went back we took
500 worth of these hams along with ".
towing them and their owner In canoe
behind cur launch to Para
what . Rubber Tree II.
After breakfast we walked about through
the forest and watched the process OF rub
Der gathering. First let me tell you just
how q rubber tree looks. Many OF you
think you have seen In our lighthouses the
plants from which our rubber comes. You
are mistaken. The rubber tree. with Its
thick. glossy green leaves. which you have
eeen Is that which produces the gutta
percha. 1t II nothing like the great tree
from which comes the best rubber OF COM
merce.
The real rubber tree Is not unlike other
forest trees. II II was not pointed out to
you you might travel throughout the ANA
xon valley. and without you saw the ruo-
Der hunters at work you would not kno"
what II was. II looks much like the En-
glish ash. and IL grows to heignt OF
more than sixty feet.
Its bark In silver gray where II mas nor
become black by tapping. The trunk OF
the tree In about as big around az q man
waist. Where IL has been tapped 1t often
sweIis out at the base. 50 that IL Is mucn
larger. II blossoms in August. being then
covered with little white Mowers. IL IS a
nut tree. and In December and January.
when the nuts are ripe, the sneHs Wnicn
contain them burst with noise like
~ YeCfaCkeT.
distance. There are so many nuts on each
tree that man could easily gather enough
In a day 70 plant a hundred acres OF land.
The trees can be easily grown In the
right SOIL and they thrive without cultiva.
ton II takes. however. from fifteen TO
twenty years before they are old enough
for rubber This IL too long for man to
wait on the Amazon. and at present the
trees which produce rubber are wild.
How the Trees Are Tapped.
The rubber comes from the sap OF thl4
tree. The tapping is done from the Efound
from the roots to as high as q man can
reach, and sometimes still higher. Vhe
trees are not bored with auEers. as our
maple trees, nor are they SCARED ike the
turpentine pine trees OF our Southern
states The tapping is done with toma-
hawk or hatchet which has a blade an
iEch wide The rubber gatherer makes a
light cash in the bark with this Ratchet.
Just deep enough to go through without
cutting the wood. As he draws out the
Ratchet a milk white nuid oozes out In
drops. The finid IL as thin as milk. It Is
much like the Juice Of the milk weed. The
Taper now takes a little cup OF tin or
clay about al big A. an after dinner conee
cup ana Ats il into smother cut which
he makes below the cash. so that the
drops Of milk run down into IT, He makes
three or four gashaa in each tree. hitting
each with It's cup. and then goes on to the
next. He continues his work until every
tree allotted to him has been tapped.
He does this early in the morning. when
the sap runs best. BY noon he has gone
again from tree to tree and emptied the
milk from the cup into a gourd-like bucket
Each cup will have a tablespoonful or so
OF milk and IL for his mornings work he
gets a gallon Of fluid he has done well. Tho
milk flows slower and slower as the day
goes on The air coagulates 1t. and after
few hours the sap has stopped up the
wound.
A rubber tree which has been tauped
looks like a mass OF fostering sores. The
bark which is OF a smooth and beautiful
silver gray where II has not been touched.
becomes SCARED and warty by the wounds
OF the hatchet. As the wounds close tears
OF yellow rubber sink down In the bark
about them. This comes out after the cup
has been removed. 1t Is carefully picked
on ana is sold as scrap. or second-grade
rubber. bringing from % 10 30 per cent less
than the rubber gathered in the cups.
which can be properly cured.
Rubber Paths and Rubber Roads.
neglected to say where the rubber trees
are found In the forests. There is no such
thing as A rubber grove or a rubber forest.
The trees 10 not grow in groups. but they
are scattered among the other trees so
that you often have TO so long distances
from rubber tree TO rubber tree.
The forests are divided up into paths Of
from sixty to 100 rubber trees. The paths
lead in and ont Of the woods. now crossing
streams and now going through swamns.
until all the trees On them have been
reached. Each path IL allotted 10 enc
man who gashes the trees and gathers the
rubber upon il. The size OF a pianta ,s0u
Is known by the number OF paths or roads
II contains. There are some plantations
which contain more than thousand roads.
l; was along such path as this that We
went from tree 10 tree gathering rubber.
I gashed one OF the best looking trees and
fastened the cup under II; Later on
gashed others. and in due time l gathered
my rubber and brought 1; back TO the
hcuSe.
Smoking the Rubber.
The next process was the smoking. To
produce tina best rubber. the sap must he
smoked the saysss day that IL is gathered.
The sap soon ccasuiaseS on exposure 10
the air. and hsrdens best under she insu-
az &A asfsN