Evening star., 1942-05-13

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pound beyond 10000 tons exported
to the United States a premium of
5 cents per pound will be paid.
The premium for quality puts
money right into the pocket of the
small producer. He will be paid 3
cents more for every pound of rub
Der rolled into sheets instead of a
dirty brown, smoked ball of rubber
full Of sticks and tones and moisture
This premium for quality is really
bit to make the "seringeiro" (rub-
Der tapper) change his rudimentary
habits. For years now the "serin-
geiro" has been working about as
follows: A haphazard slash at a
rubber tree and the latex oozes
slowly into small cup attached to
the tree. The "seringeiro" dips a
stick into the latex and laboriously
twirls 1t over smoky fire. The latex
coagulates slowly as the ball grows
digger. There Is some resemblance
to the old New England system of
dipping candles. Every time the
latex Is sprinkled over the ball 1t
grows IN size. It takes "a hours to
make q fair-sized ball of rubber.
New System Quicker.
The rolling Of rubber sheets, de-
vised In the Far East is a smoother
ana quicker system. 1t consists of
pouring latex into vat divided by
Stats and coagulating it with acid in
about five hours. Coagulated latex
between the Stats looks rather like
buttermilk and holds together pretty
well. This glue-like mass is pushed
through a wringer rather as house.
wife puts a wet sheet through a
wringer. Moisture is squeezed out
IN both cases. The rubber sheet.
white, or yellowish. is then simply
hung on a line and dried. It can
be hung IN q smokehouse where it
acquires golden brown color and
one OF the worlds worst stenches.
This sheet, conforming more or
less TO Far Eastern standards, is
easily packed, doesn't collect twigs
and stones and does not need the
elaborate washing process required
by rolled ball" rubber. That's
where the 3 cents comes in. One
has to spend almost that amount
per pound to wash present Brazilian
produced rolled ball" rubber.
Furthermore, producing sheet rub
Der Is quicker. AS soon as the
"seringeiro" gets onto the system he
can spend more time finding his
wild rubber trees and tapping them
and less time twirnng his ball of
rubber, spitted on a stick.
Braxifs Rubber Heyday was 1910.
BY putting premium on quantity
and quality, experts believe Brazil
can speed rubber production for
1943 to 5000 tons. BY 1914 it should
hit 10000 tons and continue up
ward.
And that's where the long range
program comes In.
Brazilian economists look back
on their heyday in 1910, when rubber
accounted for 80 per cent of Brazil's
exports. Prices were fantastic and
quality poor. Brazilian production
slumped in 1882 to its all-time low
OF $3.50 tons, accounting for !O4 per
cent OF the country's exports.
For. in the years from 1910 to 1882,
revolution had taken place IN
rubber production. Seeds taken to
the Far East had been grown and
high-yielding strains developed so
that hevea braziliensis in Malaya
was producing four and five times
as much as its wild cousin In the
Amazon. Far Eastern sheet rubber
and liquid latex, scientifically pro-
duced on scientifically managed
plantations, standardized, pure,
clean and easily worked, resembled
It's prototype in the Amazon about
as much as Seabiscuit resembles
the original Mongolian pony ridden
by the great-great-great-granddad-
dies Of Ho dynasty bandits.
Tree Disease Must Be Combatted.
How to stage a comeback? This
was the question Brazilian agricul-
tural economists asked themselves.
Obstacles were several.
/. A tree had to be developed by
science, which would be a high
yielder of latex and also be resistant
to the leaf spot, deadly disease
attacking the rubber tree. That
problem is practically licked. Dr..
Felisberto G. Camargo told me
triumphantly the other day that at
the Ford plantation near Santarem
clone has been developed which
is completely resistant to the COM
mon rubber tree diseases. The Ford
clone" DR.. Camargo called it.
2. Some less cumbersome system
had to be devised for the "serin-
geiro" than wandering about the
Amazonian jungle looking for oc-
casional trees. Since large planta-
tions require much capital, Bra
lillian experts have now decided to
foster small holdings. This system
works well in the Netherlands East
Indies where it provides most Of the
rubber. Briefly, it consists in
family owning and working any
sized patch Of ground planted with
rubber trees from l to 100 acres.
And the Brazilian government is
now determined to assist any one
to own a small patch Of rubber
trees who cares to ask for the land
| and the shoots.
To assist in that program, the
United States Export Import Bank
at Washington has offered a loan
Of 5000, ,000-to aid in every way