150 



COAGULATING — NATIVE INDIAN METHOD. 



When the milk is brouglit in from the forest it is thinly spread 

 on the long, palm-shaped leaves of the oja blanca, which have first 

 been laid on the ground in the hot sun. Toward the stem, where 

 the milk lies thickest, it is necessary to stir it while drying; other- 

 wise it would coat over thickly on the outside and be full of the 

 residue fluid, bringing a lower price in consequence. When the 

 leaves are coated evenly, a quarter of an inch thick, they are piled 

 one above another and pressed hard enough to cause the rubber 

 strips to adhere closely. Then by a dexterous movement, the 

 tough leaves are pulled off and the thin layers are rolled into 

 slabs ready for packing. 



CLEANSING THE RUBBER. 



The slabs of dried rubber are packed in bales of 150 pounds 

 each, covered with the native-made matting, sewed up in sacks, 

 shipped per steamer to various countries and sold to the rubber 

 manufacturers. The first process in the manufacture of crude 

 rubber — necessary on account of its being prepared by the native 

 method— is to pass the slabs through large corrugated steel rollers, 

 water falling from a reservoir upon the rubber as it passes through. 

 This is repeated a number of times until all the dirt and foreign 

 matter is eliminated, and the rubber rolled into thin perforated 

 sheets having a rough surface. These sheets are from eight to 

 twelve feet long, and eighteen inches wide. They are then hung 

 in the dry room, where they remain until all the moisture has 

 evaporated. The rubber is then ready for the next process. 



WASHING THE RUBBER. 



By the methods now adopted the foreign matters are washed 

 out of the latex before coagulation takes place, thus producing a 

 very high grade of rubber from the Castilloa, having a marketable 

 value equal to that of Para. 



Until now it was generally assumed that the Central American 

 rubber was of much inferior grade to that of Para. It has now 

 been proved, however, that the actual difference is very slight, if 

 there is any, and resolves itself into the question of preparing it 

 for the market at the time of tapping. During the past few 

 months the best qualities of some rubber from cultivated Castilloa 

 trees brought $1 .54 and $1.56 gold per pound on the London 

 market. This price was higher than that of best South American 

 Para sold at the same time. Mexican rubber from wild Castilloa 

 trees and shipped in the old way already referred to was quoted 

 at 60 and 65 cents per pound, or less than one-half the price ob- 

 tained for the same rubber prepared according to modern methods. 

 As it is necessary to treat the latex as soon as possible after it is 

 collected from the tree, receiving stations should be established 

 on a large plantation, such as La Zacualpa, so as to avoid the 

 transportation of the latex to any great distance. 



