i8l 



Up to the present time the business of ' La Caisse Populaire de 

 Levis' has been conducted almost entirely by Mr. Desjardins him- 

 self. He has given his services gratuitously and has had the office 

 of the society in his own residence. For the convenience of the work- 

 ing classes, an office has been opened on Saturday nights in a cen- 

 tral part of the city, at which office, deposits are made by working 

 men after the receipt by them of their weekly wages. The busi- 

 ness of the society has grown so considerably and rapidly that 

 the necessity of having a regular office with paid assistants is be- 

 coming more and more urgent. 



OTHER CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES. 

 After the formation of ' La Caisse Populaire de Levis', a 

 similar co-operative savings and credit society was organized at 

 St. Joseph de Levis, an adjoining parish. This society, which is 

 in a rural parish, has been formed on identical lines with * La 

 Caisse Populaire de Levis,' and has at the present time about lOO 

 shareholders. In September, 1903, a third co-operative credit 

 society was organised at Hull, Que., also after the model of ' La 

 Caisse Populaire de Levis.' It has at the present time about 80 

 shareholders. The last society to be formed was organized in 

 January of the present year at St. Malo in Quebec East. Notwith- 

 standing the very short time since its establishment, this society 

 has already a membership of over 200. 



THE CULTURE OF THE CENTRAL AMERICAN 



RUBBER TREE, XII,* 



( Continued from Bulletin for July. ) 



By O. F. Cook, Botanist in charge of Investigations in Tropical 

 Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



METHODS OF COAGULATING THE LATEX OF CASTILLOA. 



COAGULATION BY CREAMING. 



The separation of rubber from the latex, a process commonly 

 called coagulation, is in a somewhat more advanced state of 

 investigation than the subject of tapping, if, indeed, the recent 

 experiments of Dr. Weber do not mean that a final and satis- 

 factory conclusion has been reached. Dr. Weber finds that 

 by the simple expedient of diluting the fresh latex of Castilloa 

 with five times its volume of boiling water and adding 8 ounces of 

 formaldehyde to each barrel of the resulting fluid, all the 

 impurities to which the inferiority of Castilloa rubber are due can 

 be removed, since they will remain in solution, while after twenty- 

 four hours the clean rubber will be found in a "snow-white-cake" 

 which can be lifted off the top. Dr. Weber contends that rubber 

 prepared in this way is " absolutely free from solid impurities of 

 any description. * * * either soluble or insoluble, organic 

 or inorganic," and that it is equal or superior to the finest brands 



• Extract from the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bull. No. 49. Bureau of Plant 

 Industry. 



