Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-22
HARVESTING RUBBER
METHODS OF COLLECTING THE
GUM IN AMAZON FORESTS.
Tree Yielding Para May Be Tapped
Many Years, but Ordinary Tree
il Cut Down.

NSAy AtNiC HdS Uccu accurately AuOWH
about the methods Of collecting rubber in
the forests of Brazil. 1t is said that even
the facts published by such well-known
Amazon travellers as Schultz and HOLY
hansen have been confusing; and 1t would
certainly not be possible to derive correct
ideas from their reports when both of them
COMPOUNDED Para rubber with ordinary
caoutchouc and treated the rubber product
of Brazil as though 1t all came from one
species Of plant. AS the yearly harvest Of
these two great varieties of rubber has
reached the astonishing quantity Of $1,000
600 Kilograms. of which 100000 come
from Africa and 100000 from South
America. these products are one Of the
most important articles in International
trade. 1t will doubtless interest readers,
therefore. to know what August Kahler
has Just written for Petermanns Mitteilun-
gen as to the methods Of rubber collecting
in Brazil
Varieties Of Rubber.
He speaks of the two chief kinds Of rub
Der produced in Brazil and then gives his
attention first to that kind which is of the
best quality and largest quantity and
comes into the trade under the name of
Para rubber or Para-fina. In Brazil it is
known as borracha or seringa; q man who
spends his time collecting this rubber is
known as seringueiro. The Para rubber
tree (Siphonia elastica) is found almost ev-
erywhere in the Amazon lowlands in greater
or less quantities. The Siphonia has
straight silver-colored trunk and attains q
height Of from sixty to eighty feet. It's
crown of foliage is not large in comparison
with the size Of its trunk. 1t has a brilliant
dark green leaf and the tree Is a really
beautiful specimen of vegetation.
When the seringueiro has found a suf1-
cient number of Siphonias to begin work
ne has no great preparation to make be-
fore rubber collecting begins. The only
preliminary labor consists in clearing a
narrow path leading from tree to tree. .
Taper at Work.
The seringueiro leaves his hut before sun
rise, or between and o clock In the morn
ing, and goes to one Of his estradas. Reach
ing tree he cuts a little slit in the bark
with Ratchet whose cutting edge is only
three to four centimeters long. The wound
penetrates only slightly into the trunk be-
meath the bark He makes from four to
ten of these incisions. the number varying
according to the thickness of the trunk
and Its richness in sap Under each in
cision he presses into the bark the SHARP
lip Of a little tin cup, which catches the
sap that ooZes from the opening. The sap
has a sweetish taste is white in color,
sembling cows milk in this respect and also
in it's f1uidity.
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
completely 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 1 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
samo 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
as a stone, which in Brazil goes by the
name OF shevon.
Smoking the Juice.
The collector kindles a fire of dry wood
and over 1t places a large inverted tin fun
mel. Through the small opening of the
funnel he drops the fruit upon the fire TN
til he has filled the funnel. Ho stimulates
the fire with pair OF bellows and in a
few moments thick cloud of smoke Is
emerging from the small end Of the funnel.
The fruit chars, but does not burn, though
1t emits great quantities of smoke. A few
minutes later, when the smoke has become
perfectly white and is very hot, the smok-
ing process begins.
The seringueiro has placed the rubber
sap in great bowl beside him. He holds
in his hand very Stout, ROUND Stch' over
which he pours from little cup a quantity
of the sap. He waits moment to permit
the drops to fall back into the bowl and
then holds the stick, which retains most
of the sap poured over it. in the white
smoke as it pours out of the funnel ro-
tating the stick between his hands.
It takes scarcely fifteen seconds for the
sap to become coagulated and yellow in
color. This is the first layer of rubber on
the stick, and the process is repeated again
and again. layer succeeding layer. until the
stick holds all the cured rubber that can
conveniently be handled Then the man
nuts the big rubber ball into clamp and
pulls out the stick not without much mus
cular exercise. AS a rule. one of these
balls of Para rubber weighs about fifty
Kilograms and has a diameter Of eighteen