The Washington herald., 1919-11-23

trees are found In the dense jvnrles
and the work is done along lines de-
yeloped by the Indians and little i'm
proved upon. In the Far East train
ed business men and scientists have
brought all their skill into play, In
Brazil the worker cuts his way
through the jungle to a tree. and
theu to another and another until he
has laid out a path which he can
travel day after day to tap the trees
along the route. In the Far East
vast areas are laid out like great
orchards. the weeds are kept down,
every tree Is carefully nursed, and
the stately plantations are among
the Horticultural wonders Of the
world.
Not Trained Workers.
On the Amazon the rubber collector
works on shares with the man who
'grub-stakes" him. He is not a train
ed or careful worker. and his biscuits
may include leaves. sticks and dirt.
due to carelessness, and have been
known to include old nails. stones.
Jumps of wood and axe heads. deliber-
ately introduced by the worker to
make his rubber weigh more But
iuoOCis ln6 SUPER
vision of experts. is placed on the
markets in such form that the manu-
facturer can send 1t direct to his mills
so free Is il from impurities.
In Brazil most OF the areas richest
n rubber trees are swanpy. fever
breeding spots. The rainy season cuts
the working season down to seven
months, but the average working
capacity of a collector is only 10 DAYS,
chiefly as the result OF sickness. In
many places sickness is the normal
condition. Speaking of one OF the
principal areas. a Brazilian tropical
expert declared there were no natives
there. ''aIl children born there die"
In the Far East the trees are tapped
ell the year round. and modern medi-
cine is at hand TO fight disease.
Unable to Compete.
Before the days OF its great pros
perity the Amazon rubber district
grew much of its own food. but the
rubber boom brought about almost a
complete cessation in agriculture and
today the prices paid for necessities
is fantastic. Prices are from double
to five times as high as at Rio jan
eiro. The price to be received for the
ruuueT Is 10 u COIlSlueFaDie extent
gamble, dependent on the market
prices in Europe and America, and
the storekeepers, who usually grub
stake the collectors. cannot be blamed
much for getting high prices for their
commodities.
With the cost OF labor very high, the
cost OF food many times what it is in
other points and production methods
crude, Brazil has been unable not only
to compete with the plantations but
even to develop the industry to its
full possibilities. Her jungles are
filled with trees that have never been
touched, and the increase rate OF
growth Of the output has been negli-
gible lately. although in the past year
there have been evidences OF efforts
toward larger production.
Among all the plantations in the
Far East the great tract of the
United States Rubber Company with
more than 20 square miles OF grow
ing trees stands out as by far the
largest. Twenty thousand workers
care for its trees, collect its Iatex and
prepare the crude rubber. Its scien-
tific stan has studied exhaustiveIy
the problem OF preparing the rubber
in the manner that will make the best
tires and as a consequence have made
IL possible for United States tires to
possess uniformity and high quality
to degree never before attained.