378 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September i, 1907. 



't /I ^ 



Rubber Yieldinc; Mistleiof.. 

 \Strutant\nis syringifolius. cr large berry mistletoe, showing tlu- nlntivt: 

 size of berry, leaf. anH blossom. Sections of the berry show the rubber 

 wrapping about the seed.l 



from the fruit. Later researches point to the fruit as the source 

 of both. Some authorities regard the Karite giitta as of good 

 quality, being 92 per cent, pure ; while others, like Fendler and 

 Heini. seem to consider the gum worthless as a substitute for 

 gutta-percha. The butter gutta-gum forms about 30 per cent, 

 of the fruit, and contains, on the average, 25.20 per cent, gutta, 

 57.13 per cent, resin, 5.04 per cent, water and 12.63 per cent, im- 

 purities. When fresh it is yellowish, smells and tastes like cocoa 

 butter, and is extensively used as food by the .\fricans. The 

 edible fruit ripens in June or July, and looks much like a green 

 pltuu, having one large seed, from wdiich the butter is made. 



Two shrubs, Abractylis gummifcra, of Sicily, and Alstonia 

 Durklu-lmiaiw, of New Caledonia, yield a remarkable amount of 

 rubber like material in their blossoms, but nothing is known about 

 the fruit of Alstonia. though every other part of the tree is milky. 



Encomia ulmoides, sometimes called a Trochndendracca and 

 sometimes a Hamamelidacea, and even classed as a Eitf<horrhiacea. 

 is a hardy Chinese shrub, which appears to be an extremely promis- 

 ing source of a gum having some of the properties of both rubber 

 and gutta-percha. The plant is called "tu-tschung" in China, 

 where it is cultivated for certain medicinal purposes. The shrub 

 has been known in Europe for about 15 years, and grows out 

 of doors through the winters of northern France. The whole 

 plant is saturated with latex, and the fruit contains 27 per cent, 

 of the gutta like gum. Under a system of careful selection this 

 plant should become a valuable plantation crop, if numerous 

 reports are to be trusted. Its capacity to bear a temperature 

 of 18° F. should suit it for cultivation over a large part of the 

 temperate zones. The best method of propagation is from slips 

 or cuttings, seeding being rather uncertain. 



We might now speak of the very considerable rubber content 

 of the fruit of better known rubber trees, especially Hevea. Han- 

 cornia, and Castillna: but these species are of far more import- 

 ance for tapping. The fruit crop is too small in proportion to 



the size of the tree, the tree is too large to be handled as a 

 fruit or orchard tree, and besides that the present purpose of the 

 writer is to eliminate the tree as far as possible. 



Several other tropical American trees yield fruit rubber, and 

 it may be worth while to mention a few of these. "Pepino do 

 mato" bears great numbers of cucumber like fruits, which are 

 full of milk and yield an inferior rubber like material. The 

 tree is rather small, which is well. "Coxinduba" is a middle 

 sized tree, which contains milk in both fruit and trunk. 



"Ucuhuha branca" or Virola Surinamensis, and "ucuhuha ver- 

 nielha," or Virola sehifera, two trees of the Myristicacca family, 

 contain an abundance of thick, reddish milk in their bark, and 

 tlie fruit yields a valuable wax, when chopped and boiled. "As- 

 sacu-miri'' or "arvoeiro," is a small, thorny tree, whose trunk, 

 riowurs and fruit yield a poisonous milk containing an inferior 

 gum. 



Some of the South .American mistletoes have lately attracted 

 considerable attention for their rubber bearing fruit. These 

 Loranthaceae include several genera, scattered over all tropical 

 America, and growing at all altitudes up to 5,000 feet. Warburg's 

 classification, according to the size of the berries, has been quite 

 generally accepted. 



Strutanthus syringifolius (Mart.) has the largest berries and 

 is the richest in rubber. The berries are about half an inch 



;\X(1THER SrECIES OF MISTLETOE. 

 \l'hlhini.«i tlu\'hromac- (Kichl.), or mirkUesized berry, showiuK benie.-. 

 tciulrils and seizure, of a boucb. This mistletoe ranks next m import- 

 ar.CC to Stnttanthiis syringifolins.l 



