The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-19
HARVESTING ERUDDBRCROP
rruoDS or COLLECTING TIE
cUw IN AMAZON FORESTS.


smok,ng the Milk-Whito Juice.
Very little has been accurately known
80, the methods OF collecting rubber
-. forests Of Brazil II 10 said that
the facts published by such we'll
80 Amazon travellers As Soh0tz and
u.,,bausen have been confusing; and II
nd certainly not be possible TO derive
-Srrsct ideas from their reports when both
Os,hsm confounded Para rubber with ordi-
w, caoutchouc and treated the rubber
D-,duc, OF Brazil a. though It all came
from one species OF plant
AZ the yearly harvest Of these two great
..d..iss Of rubber has reached the aston
ssne quantity Of s7.0o0.Oo0 Kilograms.
S.bch q oooooo come from Africa and
ann 600 from South America. these pro-
I,c,s are one Of the most important arti-
-. IN International trade. 7. will doubt
~ interest the readers OF The SUN. there
mre. 10 know what August Kahler has just
,ntten for Petermanns Mtteiiunoen az to
,hs methods Of rubber collecting In Brazil.
Mr.. Kahler has spent five years on the
,Jbutsries OF the Amazon. has made a
secial study OF the rubber industry. and
ss article he has written contains much
Information
He speaks Of the two chief kinds Of rubber
,rod,,ced in Brazil and then gives his atten-
,on first TO that kind which is OF the best
ouality and largest quantity and comes
into the trade under the name Of Para rub
her or Para-fna. In Brazil 1t Ia known
A. borracha or eeringa: Q man who spends
Nj. time collecting this rubber Ii known
n seringueiro.
The Para rubber tree (Siphonia eiasticd)
ia found almost everywhere in the Amazon
lovlands in greater or less quantities. IL
psrticulary favors the very low lands which
during the rainy season are almost com
petely flooded. 1t In also found In the north
Of Brazil, in the south Of Colombia, in the
east OF Ecuador and Peru and In the north
Of Bolivia.
The Siphonia has a straight slver-col-
ored trunk and attains q height OF from
40 to 80 feet. It's crown OF foliage
is not large In comparison with the size OF
itstrunk. II has a brilliant dark green leaf
and the tree Is a really beautiful specimen
OF vegetation.
When the seringueiro has found sum-
Gent number Of siphonias to begin work
he has no great preparation to make before
rubber collecting begins. The only pre-
limnary labor consists In clearing narrow
path leading from tree to tree.
He requires two groups. each containing
from 10 to 100 trees. He calls these
groups his estradas. He works the estrada
alternately, 80 that while he Is collecting
sap from one Of them the other Ia having
DAYS rest. The rubber IL gathered only
In the dry season. which lasts from May
till October
The seringueiro leaves his hut before
sunrise or between 4 and s o'clock In the
morning and goes to one Of his estradas.
Reaching a tree he cuts little slit in the
bark with a Ratchet, whose cutting edge
is only three to four centimeters long. The
wound penetrates only slightly into the
trunk beneath the bark.
He makes from four to ten Of these In
cisions. the number varying according to
the thickness of the trunk and Its richness
in SAP. Under each incision he presses
into the bark the sharp lip Of little tin
oup, which catches the sap that oozes from
the opening. The sap has . sweetish taste.
is white in color, resembling COWS milk
in this respect and also In It's fuidity.
When the collector has fastened his tin
cups around the trunk OF the first tree he
goes to the second, where he repeats the
operation, and so on to the last tree In the
estrada. The incisions he has made CON-
pletely close in about two hours. and BY
that time the seringueiro returns TO the
first tree and empties the contents OF each
cup into large tin pail.
By o'clock in the afternoon he returns
TO his hut and the sap collection OF the
day is over. The next day but one the
same set Of trees will yield another supply
Of sap.
The afternoons are devoted to the second
part Of the operation. which Is the smok-
ing process The smoke Is obtained from
the fruit Of a certain palm as dry and hard
a. a stone, which in Brazil goes by the
name Of shevon.
The collector kindles fire Of dry wood
and over it places . large inverted tin
funnel Through the small opening OF
the funnel he drops the fruit upon the fire
until he has filled the funnel. He stimulates
the ERE with pair Of bellows and In few
moments thick cloud Of smoke Is emerg.
ing from the small end OF the funnel
The fruit chars. but does not burn. though
h emits great quantities Of smoke. few
minutes later when the smoke has become
perfectly white and Is very hot. the smoking
process begins.
The seringueiro bias placed the rubber
sap in a great bowl beside him. He hold
In his hand a very stout. round stick. ovel
which he pours from little cup quantity
Of the sap. He waits q moment to permit
the drops to fall back into the bowl. ane
then holds the stick, which retains mos
Of the sap poured over 1t, tn the whit
smoke as il pours out OF the funnel. rotating
the stick between his hands.
1t takes scarcely fifteen seconds for tn
nap to become coagulated and yellow u
color This is the first layer OF rubber OF
the stick. and the process Ia repeated agail
and again. layer succeeding layer, unit
the stick holds all the cured rubber tina
can conveniently be handled.
Then the man puts the big rubber bal
into a clamp and pulls out the stick. no
without much muscular exercise. A rule
one OF these balls Of Para rubber weigh
about fifty Kilograms and has diAmste
Of eighteen inches.
The rubber 10 also prepared In anothe
iorm by smoking II on . small woodel
shovel, the gum taking the form Of squares
or plates. as they are called, each plat
Weighing about two Kilograms. In Thu
form the r,,hher In IN hptter ahQpe Tor sal