March i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



631 



other native rulers, who, for the most part,' for there 

 are honourable exceptions, look only to iiiuiiediate 

 returns, aud lose sight altogether of future benefit 

 to the States. Ky letting or "farming"' out these 

 forests for the colleetion of gutta and other products, the 

 working expenses of conservancy would be secured, and 

 by a small royalty-charge ou export au a^ldition to 

 the revenue obtained. A clause, to be stringently 

 enforced, should be inserted in all such contracts, to 

 the effect that for every tree cut down, four to six 

 should be planted in the place thereof. I am tlie 

 more anxious that the question of guttapercha, 

 amongst other spontaneous forest products, should re- 

 ceive t'ue attention, from the opinion I have formed 

 that Singapore will not long retain in the face of so 

 many direct shipments, her position as a great East- 

 ern entrepot, unless new fields are opeud up by (com- 

 mercial enterprise, and this can only be done by util- 

 ising the undeveloped resources of the great JUalayan 

 Peninsula. 



THE CCLTIVATION OF GtJTTAPEECHA TREES AND IJI- 

 PROVEMEXT OF THEIR PRODUCTS. 



Mode of Obtaining Guttapercha. — As is the case with 

 a great number of other products, the trees are 

 destroyed to obtain the Guttapercha. In my report 

 on caontchouc, to the Indian Government, I strongly 

 recommended '* tapping," and I think that it is now 

 proved beyond all doubt that if the process is carried 

 out as I there indicated, it is not only practicable, 

 but all a vast saving, and a most economical method 

 of working a forest of such trees. 



"With regard to guttapercha, I am, I must con- 

 fess, somewhat in tioubt as to whether *' tapping" 

 or only cutting through the bark to cut tlirough 

 the milk-bearing vessels as the tree is standing, is 

 practicable ; whether, indeed, it is possible to get a 

 sufticiency of gutta to repay collection without cutting 

 the tree down. A reference to the woodcuts will ren- 

 der this method more easily understood. 



The '.\ativc evidence is nearly overwhelming; still 

 this mofj arise from indolence — a wish at one oper- 

 ation to obtain the greatest possible quantity \vithout 

 a thought to future supply, or from the absence of 

 a sufficient aggregation of the trees within a reasonable 

 distance to obtain a sufticient quantity to repay 

 collection. (Juttapercha does not flow so readily as 

 caoutchouc does, but concretes more rapidlv. T he 

 yield in the rainy season is nearly double that of 

 the dry season, due, possibly, to two reasons : First. 

 that nature ba,s not yet been called upon to use 

 up the guttapercha in the elaboration of new tissues ; 

 or, secondly', the greater amount of moisture causing 

 greater tiuidity in the milk. The Dutch Government 

 tried to induce the natives to practice '' Tapping," but 

 without effect. " Boring,"as practised iu America, in pro- 

 curing maple-sugar from the Acer sacchonnum^ and 

 other 8i>ecies, has also been tried, but without 

 success. However, "tapping" guttapercha trees can 

 only be properly tried iu a well-regulated plantation, 

 and, if successful, will be a great saving, as the 

 quantity obtaiued by successive tapping far exceeds 

 in the aggregate, that of the single operation of 

 cutting the tree down. 



I'uplcmcnts and i'ofh'cting Vc^scJx. — If it be proved 

 that nothing short of the death of the plant will do 

 in onler to extract the gutta, then at least a third 

 more gutta can be obtained by providing wedges, roll- 

 ers, or other simple niechauica) contrivances, in order 

 to allow of the extraction of the gutta on the sicle 

 of the felled tree next the ground. The beliongs, 

 pirang.H, and pans are well adapted for their purpose, 

 and, being cheap, need not be superseded, as natives 

 are as equally prejudiced against new tools as against 

 new customs. 



I'rcp-1 ration of the GvAtapevcha. — The utilisable pro- 

 duets existing in plants suggest a moiit important 

 (|uesfcion in phyto-cheniistry. As to what their use 

 and characteristics are whilst in the plant, we know 

 little, and that little is almost entirely limited to, and 

 inferred from the products after they are taken//-"»i 

 the plant. Thus indigo does not exist, as such, iu 

 the plant itself, but is the result of fermentation (xftt^r 



the juice is extracted from the plant. Sugar-cane 

 juice furnishes us with another illustration of the 

 rapid change of a product alter it leaves the plant. 

 The juice, whilst in the cut cane even, does not 

 change, but as soon as it is expressed it .speedily 

 ferments and changes into uucrystallizable sugar, and 

 to ret^ird tins action lime is often added. 



With milky juices the so-called milkiness is only 

 brought about by exposure to atmospheric influences, 

 and as soon as such exposure takes place, a new 

 set of chemical combinations are inaugurated. 



tiuttapercha, as it flows from the tree, is a viscid 

 fluitl, acquiruig milkiness and coiicreteuess on exposure. 

 As is WfU known, it splits up or is resolvable into 

 two resins, viz., alhin< and Jh'uvUe, and is, like 

 caoutchouc, a hydro-carbou, iiaving a formula of 

 carbon Si'SOand hydrogen 12*20 



In commercial gutta-percha we have this hydro- 

 carbon or pf're (pitta, p/us a soft resiu, a resultant 

 from the oxidation of the hydro-carbon. M. Payen 

 gives the following analysis of commercial gutta- 

 percha ; —7 



Per cent. 

 Pure gutta (milk white in colour and 

 fusible) ... ... ... 78 to 82 



Resins soluble in boiling alcohol, and con- 

 sisting of two parts:— 

 1. Crystalbine or albine (C^q Hg., 0.^), a 

 white crystallized resin, crystallizing 

 out of the alcohol as it cools . . 10 to 14 

 •2. Fiuavile (C„g H.,„ 0), a yellow amor- 

 phous resin, falling as an amorphous 

 powder on the cooling of the hot al- 

 cohol in which it is soluble . . <> to 1 i 

 It is thus apparent that the change of pure gutta 

 into a resinous-like mass takes place naturally if 

 means be not taken to stop it. This resinification I 

 have often witnessed and tested. If two bottles of 

 e(iually pure and identical gutta milk be taken, and 

 the one bottle be hermetically sealed and the other 

 left exposed, the first will retain its goodness and 

 the second will become resinified and as brittle as 

 shellac. Agiin, iu all sorts of raw gutta or " Getah 

 Muntah" if these be kept for a certain period with- 

 out being used up, they become resinous-looking 

 masses, losing all the qualities of guttapercha— being, 

 in fact, like so much kowrie-gura, but lackuig its utility. 

 This change I am sure can be lessened, retarded 

 or altogether obviated, if the gutta be thorouuhh/ i>rli 

 hoiltd inoiirtfiotrh/ aft(;r colhction. This should always 

 be done, ancl through the nou-attention to this, many 

 an otherwise good parcel of gutta his deteriorated 

 in quality or become useless. 



There is also another fact to bear in mind with 

 regard to this proueness to chemical activity of 

 guttapercha. In cutting through the bark to arrivo 

 at the laticiferous vessels or tissues, many other vessels 

 and cells become rupture^, containing tannic, gallic 

 and other appoximate principles, andt he preseuce of 

 these no doubt accelerate oxidation. In opening bottles 

 of milky juices a turbidity and effervescence \s often 

 noticed, owing to the formation of a b.ownish liquid, 

 the colour due, probtbly, to the presence of gallic 

 acid, and gallic acid has been found to exi.st natur- 

 ally in parenchymal cells ar.d milk ducts. In blocks 

 of {ijutta, which have not been properly prepared, 

 these foreign substances induce the presence of a 

 brown fermented and putrid li<|uid, which gradually 

 decomposes the inertnal part, if not the whole ma^s. 

 Many of these substances are soluble in water, and 

 in the process of boiling wouhl be removed. 



Pnrit'/ of I'ari'tie.^. — As will have been seen thero 

 are many varieties of guttapercha, differing most 

 materially from each other in character and value. 

 These varieties are almost invariably mixed together 

 by the natives, au<l great barm is done thereby. 

 This is practised for two reasons, first that natives, 

 when collecting, regard quantity more than quality; 

 j and a second, and wor.sc reason is, that Chinese either 

 acting on their own discretion, or possibly at times 



