Evening star., 1942-03-16

Nations are looking not only to the
Ford plantation on the Amazon,
with its cultivated plants, but to
the wild rubber tree itself, inacces-
sible and scattered throughout the
dense Amazon forests. Many other
prospects for American-grown rub
ber are being investigated.
Belem, almost on the equator, had
been having one Of its regular after
noon rains the afternoon we landed
there recently on a flying trip to
the United States. Not only were
the narrow streets slippery and wet.
but the jungle, which crowded up
to the edge of the road from the
airport to the city. was dripping and
full of pools. 1t was just such
tropical rain, and the even heat of
the equatorial climate which had
provided such ideal weather for
growth of the great rubber trees Of
that region.
Traces Of Grandeur Seen.
Traces of its former grandeur
were everywhere about the old city,
which had been founded In 1915.
But there was an unkempt at
mosphere about it In unpainted pub
lie buildings, grass grown streets
and walks and neglected parks with
empty fountains. These reflected
the passing of the former heavy
rubber traffic. which had brought
glamour. wealth. art, music and
elaborate entertainment to the
ce-glorious city.
There were some fine homes,
where lived the best families of a
city which had dropped from a
population Of 100000 to about 15o,-
600.
Brazilians are aware of the diff
culties which beset the effort to in
crease wild rubber production. In
glancing back through Brazilian
wild rubber" history, said one re-
cent review of the rubber industry
there, zone is impressed by an al
most incredible truth-there has
never been made what might be
termed an appreciable improvement
In the methods of cutting, prepar-
ing and transporting rubber. Pro-
duction of rubber Is reduced to the
mere tapping of the wild growths Of
the jungle, without any special ef-
forts being made toward the trans
fer of cultures to the regions near
civilized posts where it might be
possible. that with the use of va
rious scientific tapping methods the
harvest might be more lucrative
and place the domestic product on
competing basis with that Of the
Orient"
Picturesque but simple is the jun
gle system of bringing out the latex
or liquid raw rubber. One of the
first and most difficult problems is
the onerous task of opening road
ways, or at least paths to the rub
Der trees, in the dense jungle.
Paths Hewn to Trees.
The usual method of collecting
rubber is for two rubber collectors
known as "seringueiros" to hunt
the trees. One goes into the jungle
to search for the trees. This serin-
gueiro, the drummer" or ''toqueiro, !"
drums on the trunk of the tree as
signal to his companion. the
woodsrnan clears a path to the
tree located by the drummer, who
now goes further into the jungle
in search for other trees. On re-
ceiving another signal from the
drummer the woodsman again COM
mences to open path to the next
tree.
The work continues untii 100 to
200 trees have been located and
connected with pathss through the
thick growth. The remaining work
is that of improving the provisional
path and erectins shed at the
point of departure. other paths are
opened, generally permitting one
seringueiro TO work three paths IN
regions where rubber trees are
plentiful. One path is rarely tapped
for more than 80 days. In regions
of upper Para, where rubber Is
abundant the distance between
trees is rarely more than 80 PAGES.
Before the tapping is done, the
custom is t, improve the path. clear
patch around each rubber tree,
and bleed" the tree in order to
tame" 1t. 1t is only after these
preparatory steps have been taken
that the incisions are made. The
usual tools are q hatchet, collecting
bowls, buckets, the chafing dish, the
smoking equipment, and the basin
The hatchet now generally used Is
an improvement over the former
which usually killed the tree due to
its crudeness. The knife in wide
use In the Orient is also used
throughout the Amazon region.
Smoked Over Open Fire.
Getting up before sunrise, the SER
ingueiro has a usual routine, for his
days work. He makes a weak coffee,
drinks 1t In one big gulp, lights a
cigarette of corn husks, takes up his
gun, hatchet, and bucket and starts
out on his path. On the first tree,
an oblique incision is made at the
highest possible point with the
hatchet. This cut must, theoret-
ically. be made deep enough to only
pass through the bark. The secreted
latex is caught in clay collecting
bowls which are fastened by clay or
by the bark itself to the lower ex-
tremity OF the incisions. II the tree
is old and large as many as six
bowls may be placed on 1t.
Having run the course OF the
paths, the seringueiro returns to his
tent vyx,tcl, In 1,xsYaJ1v AZ ft,e inter.