336 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1903. 



PIECE OF ROAD ON PLANTATION "RUBIO. 



and brought us safely through, and an hour later we were on 

 the launch steaming back to Minatitlan. The voyage was 

 without special incident, unless one were to cite the clouds of 

 white moths that tilled the air until it looked as if it were 

 snowing, and which finally drove us to cover in the cabin. 



The next day we took in a plantation far up the Coachapa 

 river, owned by a wealthy native, Sefior Sanchez. His inter- 

 ests were chiefly in cattle, although he had a little grove of 

 wild seedling Caslilloas about ten years old, which were [6 to 

 18 inches in diameter, and perhaps 30 feet high. These we 

 tapped in all sorts of ways, and 

 got an abundance of milk, and 

 incidentally proved that nei- 

 ther native nor white man can 

 tap a tree successfully without 

 much practice and skill. 



Indeed the next great prob- 

 lem that is to confront the rub- 

 ber planters is that of tapping 

 and preparing for market. One 

 has only to look at the wild 

 trees in the forest, and see how 

 they have been hacked and 

 scarred by the natives, to ap- 

 preciate the fact that the 

 planters will need better work 

 and greater care of their trees. 

 If all of the natives were ex- 

 pert machete men, and good 

 climbers, the problem would be easily solved, but the real good 

 men in this line are scarce. It is a most interesting sight 

 to see a really skilful tapper, armed only with a rope and 

 machete, beginning at the bottom of a tree, cut the channels 

 so that the sap runs from one to another with scaicely a drop 

 spilled, every stroke of the machete being just right, walking 

 easily up the smooth tree trunk, and even running the tapping 

 channels out on the larger branches. It 

 is also equally disgusting to see a native 

 who claims that he knows how to tap, 

 mangle the bark, and able to climb only 

 a foot or two without slipping down. The 

 practical solution is going to involve two 

 things: one is, the invention of a simple 

 tool that is foolproof, and that cannot in 

 any way injure the tree, and the second is 

 a light safe ladder that will allow the mozo 

 to reach the upper part of the trunk. Most 

 of the planters plan to bleed the trees 

 twice a year, in May and October. Some 

 however hold that they can stand tapping 

 much oftener, and some most interesting 

 experiments are being inaugurated in the 

 exploitation of this theory. 



The sap flows apparently as freely at one 

 time of the year as it does another, but 

 the dry season is undoubtedly the best for 

 tapping, as theie is no rain to wash away 

 the milk, and the tree is resting then. If A- B ' ' 



the cutting is done well, the scars soon fill in with new smooth 

 bark, which in no way interferes with later working. The nat- 

 ural way, however, will be to drain one side of the tree at one 

 time, and another at a subsequent tapping. The planters are 

 already planning as to the arrangement of gangs of men, and 

 the pay for tapping and coagulating. The favorite method un- 

 doubtedly will be to give each native a certain stint, measured 



by the amount of latex that he brings in. I got a number of 

 estimates as to the cost of tapping and coagulating, based on 

 actual work, and in no case was it more than 10 cents a pound, 

 Mexican. 



Another thing that the planters plan to do is to produce 

 clean dry rubber, and there is no reason why they should not 

 accomplish it. Of the various means of coagulating that are 

 devised by experts, the one that seems to appeal the most 

 strongly to the practical planter on the Isthmus is the use of 

 the juice of the " amole " vine, the Ipomoea Bona nox, which is 



most abundant everywhere, 

 and which apparently adds 

 nothing to the rubber, and 

 effects a quick and clean co- 

 agulation. 



After coffee at the Sanchez 

 abode, we returned to Mina- 

 titlan, retired early and at 3 

 o'clock the next morning were 

 awakened by Mr. Luther, es- 

 corted to the launch, bidden a 

 hearty goodbye and were on 

 our way to Coatzacoalcos, to 

 take the morning train for 

 Tehuantepec. We had planned 

 to take a river steamer the 

 Dos Rios, and visit the plan- 

 tations far up the river, of 

 which there are a lot, but a 

 snag having punched a hole in the boat's bottom, it was forced 

 to tie up for repairs, thus disarranging our plans. We there- 

 fore decided to go at once to the Pacific side, and "dry out" 

 and rest, and so it happened that at 9 in the morning we were 



again on the train, this time bound west. 



* * * 



On the train I had a good chance to sort my notes, look 

 over my photographs, and incidentally 

 plan for their later appearance in The 

 India Rubber World. Speaking of 

 photographs, it had been my intention to 

 stcure likenesses of all of the pioneers in 

 planting just as fast as I got them off 

 guard, but luck was against me and I was 

 unable to carry out this plan until I 

 reached " Rubio." There I secured Mr. 

 A. B. Luther's likeness, and I am glad to 

 introduce him here. It would have suited 

 me better if I could have caught him on 

 horseback, alert, energetic, cheerful, ad- 

 ministering the plantation affairs with 

 rare tact and wisdom, or even if I could 

 have had two photes of him, one, when 

 seven years ago he came to the Isthmus 

 and viewed the promised land, the second 

 being the Luther of to-day, full of experi- 

 ence, with the knowledge of difficulties 

 overcome in his eye, and the seal of suc- 

 cess on his brow. It is to just such spirits 

 as this hardy pioneer that the American Conquest of the trop- 

 ics is due, and as this goes to press I am mentally transferring 

 myself to his headquarters in Minatitlan to tell him again how 

 I appreciate his work at " Rubio," and by the way, I would that 

 I could be there in the flesh for the added reason, that on the 

 Glorious Fourth the Planters' Association, in which Mr. Luther 

 is a prominent figure, meet for a genuine American Celebration. 



UTHER. 



