May I, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



'279 



Americans Planting "Manicoba" in Brazil. 



A RUBBER plantation, now becoming productive, and which, 

 considering its extent and potential importance, probably 

 has been less written about than any other in existence, 

 is located in the inland Brazilian state of Piauhy. It will be 

 mentioned here in some detail (i) because it is a Xew York 

 enterprise and (2I because it is devoted to two species of 

 Miinihot, which only recently have come to notice— those known 

 locally as "Remanso" and "'Jequie." and admitted to be superior 

 to the longer known Miiiiilwt ,(jl<i:i"':''i (Ceark rubber). 



To reach this plantation one had best start from the seaport 

 of Bahia (Sao Salvadoi* do. Bahia), a city of over 200,000 in- 

 habitants, far down oi) "thfe coast south of Para. Here one takts 

 a train for about 360 miles over the government guaranteed rail- 

 way to Joazeiro, on the important river Sao Francisco. Belo^.' 

 this point navigation is impeded by the Paulo Alfonso rapids, by 

 some considered the greatest in the world. Above the rapids are 

 regular services of steamers, some of them up to 2,000 tons. 

 Proceeding upstream, say to- Remanso, one debarks and travels 

 overland for about 72 miles, until Sao Raymtnido is reached. 

 This is in the little grazing state of Piauhy — except that it 

 wouldn't be a "little state'' outside of Brazil. 



Here, beginning some four years ago, a Xew York firm trading 

 in hides, rubber and other Brazilian products, with a house at 

 Bahia, acquired 54,000 acres of land, covered with rubber and 

 other forest growths, and -began systematically to lay out planta- 

 tions of "manigoba" rubber. First of all, they considered the 

 most desirable conditions for the- growth of this species. Dif- 

 ferent areas have been planted for different reasons. One plan- 



tation has been made at the foot of the mountain range back of 

 Sao Raymundo, with the idea that the drainage from the moun- 

 tains might prove of value in otherwise dry seasons. Other sites 

 have been chosen on account of the apparent superiority of the 

 soil in them, account being taken of the soil, subsoil, and ths 

 underlying rock. One reason for planting on detached areas is 

 that, should fire break out on one, it may expend its force with- 

 out spreading to another. The number of trees now under cul- 

 tivation is about 2,500,000, all grown from the seed. 



This large number of trees does not imply any such area as 

 would be the case with a similar number of Hevea trees — the 

 rubber planted in Malaya. The manico beira is, relatively, hardly 

 more than a shrub; it occurs naturally closely grouped, and may 

 be planted at very short intervals. In this case about 1,300 trees 

 to the acre is the average and about three square miles have 

 been planted. Tapping begins at three or four years. There are, 

 as a rule, in addition to the top root — which points downward 

 until moisture is reached — three lateral roots, which are short 

 and stocky, and it is these which yield the latex, under the prac- 

 tice on the plantations at Sao Raymundo. The Xorthway tapping 

 knife has proved less satisfactory here than the crude appliance 

 which the natives form by bending a section of barrel hoops and 

 sharpening the edges of the metal at the bend. ' Tlie natives co- 

 agulate the latex in holes in the ground, without the addition of 

 any coagulant ; the planting company will, of course, adopt 

 methods better calculated to yield a clean product. 



Manigoba rubber trees are tapped at two seasons in the year, 

 about 15 days in each season. While two pounds per tree have 



■•M.\NICOB.\" RUBIiER {MANIHOT PIAUHYENSIS) UNDER CUI-TIV.VTION. IN 1!R.\ZIL. 

 [Plantations of the Brazilian Rubber Plantation and Development Co., in Piauhy.] 



