Oct. 1, 18SO.J 



THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTUKlSfo 



^i' 



rauging from Jamaica ami Trinidad to Venezuela and 

 Guiana. He refersjt to JlimK^ops halata, and says — 

 " Tkie vernacular name appears to be applied to two 

 species or sub-species which are unit d by Grisebach, 

 in his ' Flora of the British West Indies.' Young 

 plants of Mimnso'ps j/lobosa, of Jamaica and Trinidad 

 growing in the Gardons, seem to be distinct from 

 the Ciuiana type. The tree giows to a height of 120 

 feet, and has a large spreading head. The trunk is 

 nearly cylindrical. The bark is about half an inch 

 thick, with deep paralled fissures an inch or so apart. 

 The hard reddish-coloured wood is one of the densest 

 in the colony, and is used for all sorts of purposes 

 where great strength and durability is required. The 

 tree is more plentiful iu both the eastern and western 

 parts of this colony than in the intermediate region. 

 From tl)e east bank of the Bcrbice river to the 

 Core^ntyn is the region of its greatest plentifulness 

 in the colony, but its distribution extends still east- 

 ward beyond the Oorentyn into Dutch Guiana, where 

 a grant of several hundred thousands acres has recently 

 been required by an American firm for collecting 

 balata. The trees are more plentiful in this region 

 in the depths of the forest than near the rivers, 

 hence the creeks form arteries to the balata grounds. 

 Several of the creeks on both sides of the Canje are 

 instances of this. The wood cutters of this district 

 regard the tree as inexhaustible; in the interior of 

 the forest it exists in profusion and abundance, and 

 lies beyond the reach of the balata collectors as they 

 at present conduct their operations. As the trees near 

 at hand become exhausted, they will no doubt alter 

 their habits, and make clearings as drying places in 

 the heart of the forest ; but now they are under the 

 obligation of returning to the settlements on the 

 creeks with the milk they have collected to dry. 

 Under this necessity they can at most only peuetrato 

 about two days', journey, but, so far as they have 

 explored, they report there is no diminution in the 

 abundance of the trees. The forest at this depth, 

 of course, has never been touched by woodcutters, 

 as, for convenience in getting their timber out, they 

 have to confine their operations to the banks of the 

 river and creeks, rarely going in more than a mile 

 or two.'' 



Regarding the character and value of balata, Mr. 

 Jenman says its streiigth is very great, and as it does 

 not stretch under tension, for special appliances, such 

 as bands for machinery, it is imequalled. It has re- 

 cently been pronounced by an American firm of 

 mannfacturers as " the best gum in the world." 



Dr. Hugo Miiller, v. R. s., in a report on the sub- 

 stance says : " It seems that balata is by no means 

 neglected, and in fact it would find ready purchasers 

 if more of it came to the market ; as it is, the supply 

 is very limited, and generally it comes only once a 

 year. It commands a higher price than gutta-percha, 

 and this in itself is a proof of its usefulness. It is 

 used almost in all cases in which gutta-percha is 

 used, but on account of its higher price only for 

 superior purposes. It seems that balata is treated by 

 the manufacturers simply as a superior kind of gutta- 

 percha, and, therefore, its name disappears when 

 manufactured. Nevertheless, balata is distinctly differ- 

 ent from gutta-percha, and this is especially mani- 

 fested iu some of its physical characters; for instance, 

 it is somewhat softer at ordinary temperatures, and 

 not so rigid in the cold, 



"In one respect balata shows ;i veiy marked and 

 important ditt'ereuce from gutta-percha, and that is 

 its behaviour under the intluence of the atmosphere, 

 whilst gutta-percha, when exposed to light and air, 

 soon becomes altered on the surface, and changed 

 into a brittle resinous substance, into which the whole 

 of the ma.ss is gradually converted in the course of 

 time. Balata, on the other hand, is but slowly acted 

 Upon under these circumstances. The electrical insul- 

 ating quality of balata is said to be quite equal to 

 that of gutta-percha," 



Mr. Jenman says that the collecting of balata is 

 an open and recognised business, is carried on only 

 in te bice, l)ut he proceeds to show that the greater 

 part of that so collected is not obtained from trues 



n w iQimM i viatm i n ii i ig 



on Government grants, but surreptitiously fi-om Crown' 

 lands; and Mr. Jenman further says that much 

 damage is done to the Grown lands by the depred- 

 ations of collectors, and " that it is desirable, in the 

 interest of the colony, till effective rules are devised 

 for the protection of the forest and preservation of 

 this valuable wood, that the trade should be dis- 

 continued." 



The life of the balata collectors is a very hard one. 

 The ground they h-tvj to traverse is generally very 

 wet and swampy. In many cases the traveller sinks 

 at every step up to hi.s knees, and this continues for 

 miles, and water often has to be waded through up 

 to the armpits. When the collecting ground is not 

 too far distant, women sometimes accompany the 

 men, and cook or assist in laying out the calabashes, 

 and collecting the milk while the men fell and ring 

 the trees. The collectors connected with a grant sell 

 the milk they collect to the agent on the grant, and 

 never dry it themselves. The price for pure milk is 

 four shillings per gallon, or occasionally a dollar, and 

 for clean well dried balata one shilling per pound. 

 Considering the circumstances of the people who follow 

 it, balata coliectinf;, if pursued with Industry, is a 

 paying busines''. The calling pays better, while the 

 season lasts, than the best mechanical trade; with 

 fair weather, a man can earn from one to five dollars 

 a day at it, and an exceptionally expert collector has 

 been known to make twenty dollars in three days. 



The instruments used in collecting the milk are an 

 axe for felling the trees,, a cutlass for making the 

 channels in the bark to cause the milk to flow, and 

 two or three gourds in which to collect the milk. The 

 collector commences operations by chipping a piece 

 of the bark from the selected tree, and if the milk 

 runs well he quickly shaves the moss and rough bark 

 from the side he intends to tap, then stooping down 

 with his back to the front of the tree, but on one 

 side of it, he cuts from the base of the tree obliquely 

 upwards towards himself, in the bark, a narrow 

 channel, then moving round the other side, a similar 

 one. These grooves are generally about eighteen inches 

 long ; they form an acute angle at the base, just 

 below which a niche is cut in the bark and is slightly 

 lifted with the end of the cutlass, and a calabash 

 inserted by the rim under it. Occasionally a piece of 

 palm or maranta leaf is inserted under the bark, and 

 the calabash is placed on the ground, the leaf con- 

 ducting the milk into it. The channels are then quickly 

 cut upwards parallel to each other on the opposite 

 sides, about ten inches apart, the operator continuing 

 them as far as he can reach, which is about eight 

 feet from the ground. The milk trickles from cut to 

 cut down this zig-zag line into the calabash beneath. 

 The best collectors cut the bark with much neatness 

 and precision, and do not injure the trees ; but little 

 care is usually taken, and the wood is injured with 

 every stroke of the cutlass, the result being that 

 numerous trees are killed, and left standing. Large 

 trees are always tapped on the opposite sides, careful 

 collectors leaving the intervening spaces or subsequent 

 years. It takes from five to ten minutes to cut the 

 channels in each tree, and the milk runs from forty 

 to sixty minutes ; at first it forms a little rivulet, 

 but after about twenty or thirty minutes, it only drips. 

 After a little use, the gourds become so coated on 

 the inside with dry balata, that they have to be 

 occasionally soaked in' water, when it peels off freely, 

 leaving them perfectly clean again. The yield of a 

 tree varies according to circumstances. If favourable, 

 a tree 15 inches to 20 inches in diameter, bled 8 feet 

 high, will yield 3 pints of milk. Trees are often 

 felled, and then tapped by ringing the bark in parallel 

 transverse lines, at intervals about a foot apart. 



To dry the milk, it is poured into shallow wooden 

 trays, the insides of which are previously rubbed over 

 with oil, soap or grease, to prevent the balata stick- 

 ing, and the substance is exposed to as much air as 

 possible^ and sometimes to the sun. In fine weather 

 it takes two or three days to dry, and in wet weather 

 a week or more; when it is sutliciently dry to be re- 

 moved from the boxes, the sheet is throwu over a 

 line or bar to drip and become bard. 



