Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-18
DORMANT RESOURCES
BIO
Rubber and Gutta Percha in
the Philippines.
W TASTEFUL M ETHODS
REGULATIONS FOR THE GATHER
ING OF SAP.
Work of the Bureau of Forestry Or
ganized Under Capt Ahern of the
9th Infantry and It's Effect
WASTEFUL METHODS

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago ord-Herald.
MANILA, May II, 1904
The most promising of the dormant nat
ural resources of the Philippines are rubber
and gutta percha, for which there is such
a worldwide and increasing demand, and
the forests Of the islands could almost sup
ply it. In the United States alone we are
consuming 1OO,O0O0o0 pounds of rubber a
year. and the valley of the Amazon is the
source of our supply, where, by the IMPROVE
dence Of the natives, the forests are being
destroyed and no thought is taken for the
future. The larger part of the European
supply comes from the East Indies, where
both rubber and gutta percha are cultivated
with great profit. The same might be done
IN the Philippines. where only a small
amount Is now produced 1t is practically
new field. Both grow wild, and only a
small amount of capital is necessary to
Fay the wages of natives who can be en-
ployed to gather 1t in the forests
80 far as we know there are no rubber
trees in the Philippines, but two vines,
when tapped. yield milk that is almost
Identical with the sap Of the rubber trees
In the Amazon valley and other parts
OF south and Central America. One, a
small, woody vine, with a grayish bark,
about one inch In diameter and from TWEEN
ty to sixty feet long. according to age. is
found abundantly in all the northern
islands It is known by botanists as Para
maria Philipinensis.
The other. known to botany as Aposina-
ceae Philipinensis. is found throughout the
forests of the southern islands, and the
natives call 1t dactang ahas-medicine for
snakes-because its sap is supposed to be
an antidote for the poison of the various
creeping things in which the forests
abound. 1t Is very much larger than the
northern vine and often grows to be 300
feet long and seven or eight inches in
diameter. The natives collect the Juice
with that of the gutta percha trees in a
rude way and mix them. They do not
know the difference. and they have to be
separated by the manufacturers. From 30
to so per cent of the sap is lost by the
primitive methods OF gathering and curing
1t. and the dirt and other Impurities that
are mixed in reduce IT'S marketable value.
The agricultural department here has
sent samples to rubber manufacturers In
the United States, who report that they
average 81. 81 per cent pure rubber. 3 10 per
cent of resin. 3. 76 of dirt and 11.51 OF water,
and 1t Is stated that an Unlimited quantity
can be utilized at once.
Better Method Needed.
Mr.. Lamson-Scribner. chief Of the bureau
of agriculture. who has been looking care
fully into this subject. suggests that to
get the full value Of the vine the sap must
be extracted from it by some other method
than that now used. and If it be cut off
at the root. divided into pieces and the
bark stripped off and dried. he thinks, the
yield can be more than doubled. This, of
course. will kill the vine. but he contends
that 1t is not an important condition, be-
cause 1t grows so rapidly from the same
roots again. Indeed. farmers who have
cleared ground of the vines and burnt 1t
over are compelled to keep cutting them to
prevent them from overrunning their crops
T,n yN,,l fy,a
ground from the trees to which they cling
tap them at intervals of three or four feet,
catch the sap in cOcoanut shells and coagu-
late it by pouring it into sea water. The
result is a mass of solid rubber. white
tough and very elastic. but upon exposure
to the air 1t turns black and decomposition
soon sets in.
The methods used by the people of Cen
trail and South America preserve it much
better. They dip paddles into the sap, and
then hold them for an instant in smoke
produced by burning the husks of cocoa
nuts. and keep dipping and smoking until
the mass of rubber that adheres to the
paddle becomes SO heavy they cannot han
die It, when they strip 1t off. While it is
still gummy they wrap it in large leaves.
which protect 1t from the dirt. The smoke
which contains creosote and acid fumes
destroys all fungus growth and bacteria.
which might cause decomposition. while the
heat abSOrbS the moisture and causes the
sap to coagulate.
few rubber trees which have been in
troduced from Brazil and the East India
Islands are growing in Manila for orna-
mental purposes. and the fact that they
flourish so we'll encourages confidence that
plantations similar to those of Java and the
Malay states might be started here with
profit, for the climate Is admirable. The
rubber groves of the East Indies were all
started with seeds and cuttings from the
Amazon valley. The bureau Of agriculture
here has distributed large numbers of seed
lings brought from Brazil for that purpose
{S ri IN INF
they are growing marvelously.
Demand for Gutta-Percha.
Gutta-percha is even more valuable than
rubber, and the demand for it Is increasing
more rapidly Until recently its principal
use was for wrapping cable telegraph wires
to secure perfect insulation. but the pop
ularity of the game of golf has furnished
a new demand for making balls, and thou
sands of tons are now consumed for that
purpose annually. The entire area of gutta-
percha production for the whole world Is
limited to the Malay peninsula, Borneo Su-
matra and the Philippine Islands. Singa-
pore Is the center of the trade. Curiously
enough. no trees can be found In Java.
They will not grow there, while several
other islands Of the East Indies are SIM
ilarly destitute. In the Philippines several
species are found, and it is believed that
careful exploration will discover still more.
Very few of them are realized. Only an
shipped and even that does not appear in
the exports, because it is sent in small
boats to Borneo or China and seldom passes
through the custom house.
Gutta-percho IS made from the milk or
sap secreted in the bark of tree known
to~botany as sapotaceo.g When the bark
Is cut or bruised and the capillary tubes are
ruptured 1t flows with greater or less album
dance and without injury to the tree unless
the trunk Is entirely girdled. These trees
are found wild in the forest of the Philip
pines and the Malay peninsula. In Su-
matra and Borneo they are cultivated with
great success. 1t has been demonstrated
there particularly in Borneo. where the
most practical experiments have been
made. that gutta-percha plantations can be
cultivated without much trouble or outlay
of money, and at present prices the profits
are enormous IL 4 =
The largest factory for reducing gutta-
percha to a marketable state is located in
the colony of Sarawak, North Borneo; OF
which 1 wrote you a few weeks ago, and 1
am told that the dividends are enormous.
Prices are regulated at Singapore, which is
the chief and practically the only shipping
point In the world, and they are arbitrary
and certain. They have increased steadily
since the industry became organized, and
the more gutta percha produced the higher
the price has risen.
Raonla+ino the Sap Gatherinu