215 



the trunk results in bad cankerous wounds, and with the system of 

 tapping employed the number of nails on each trunk would soon 

 be considerable. The cup is made with one side slightly curved 

 inwards to suit the trunk approximately, and from one side of the 

 edge of the cup a string is led round the trunk, and with a hook 

 fastened to the other side of the cup. The placing of a cup on 

 the trunk is done with less manipulation than is needed to press 

 the edge under the bark or driving in a nail and hanging a cup 

 on. 



The latex is emptied from the cups into small galvanized cans 

 holding 2\ gallons each. These are carried to the nearest collec- 

 ting depot, never more than 600 yards away, where the latex is 

 weighed and collected into big cans, somewhat like the large milk 

 cans used in dairies. From here the latex cans are transported 

 0:1 wagons to the rubber factory. All cans and cups are rinsed 

 with clean water at the depots, and at the end of the day's work 

 placed in a small shed, erected at each depot. Here are kept all 

 the tools needed, in order to save the transportation back and 

 forth every day to head-quarters. As the latex from young trees 

 is very apt to coagulate before reaching the factoryi a small 

 amount of formaldehyde is added to each can by the foreman in 

 charge of the depot, where collection has been made. One depot 

 is the central station for each series of four blocks, and thus the 

 depots are placed at every second crossing along alternate avenues. 

 Communication between the depots is made easy and one assis- 

 tant is able to supervise the work at a larger number of depots, 

 than if they were scattered about the plantation. In the office 

 every depot is known by a number, marked on the map, and dur- 

 ing tapping control can easily be kept of the returns from each 

 depot. 



The rubber plantation will further be divided into four fire 

 districts, each with a patrolling watchman, who by easily accessi- 

 ble field telephones can quickly report to head-quarters when 

 necessary. The labourers are at present divided into two camps, 

 one at the " finca" as the buildings of an estate are called in 

 Mexico, the other some 3^ miles distant in the middle of the 

 rubber plantation, in the future an electric tram system will be 

 laid out to facilitate transportation on the estate. The new Pan- 

 American railroad passes within a few miles of the plantation 

 buildings, and La Zacualpa station will mark the place of commu- 

 nication with the outer world. 



THE PREPARATION OF RUBBER. 

 At present the rubber factory is in temporary quarters under 

 the roof of the estate saw-mill. A proper factory building will be 

 erected next year. Briefly stated, the system of preparing rubber 

 which will then be adopted, is as follows : — The latex brought in 

 from the field is emptied into a collecting tank, where an equal 

 amount of water is added. Inside this tank is an endless screw 

 which slowly revolves and thus mixes the latex and the water 

 without causing a separation of the natural clumps of globules. 



