346 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July 1, 1911. 



under the term negrohcad in the market, though its vahic de- 

 pends on the measure of its freedom from dirt or other sub- 

 stance having regard, of course, to the quality of the rubber 

 itself when clean. ... I regard tlie discovery of this tree of 

 great interest and probable importance, attaiuing. as it does, 

 such a vast size, and producing a material of apparently excellent 

 quality. The Indians know it under two names, the Carabisi 

 calling it Touckpong and the rlra'cacks Cumakaballi. Noble in 

 all its proportions, spreading and lifting its massive head above 

 its neighbor's, it 

 is one of the 

 largest trees of 

 the forest, and 

 has a wide and 

 general distribu- 

 tion over the 

 deep belt of low 

 country in the 

 colony." 



In 1903 con- 

 siderable planta- 

 tions of the Sap- 

 ium Jenmaiii had 

 been established 

 in the northwest 

 district of British 

 Guiana and there 

 is no reason why 

 tliey should not 

 be successful. As 

 a rule, the plant- 

 ing of this spe- 

 cies has been en- 

 couraged when 

 the trees are 

 found wild, and 

 where they ap- 

 pear to thrive the 

 best. The plant- 

 ers are also thus 

 able to secure a 

 good seed supply 

 close at hand. 

 Numbers of plan- 

 tations are to be 

 f o u n d in the 

 county of Ber- 

 bice, on the Dem- 

 erara river, on 

 the lower readies 

 of the Essequibo 

 river. The gov- 

 ernment is also 

 carrying on ex- 

 periments in tap- 

 ping on its for- 

 est reserve at 

 the mouth of 



Bonasika creek that will soon tell tlic whole story of yield by 

 a variety of methods. In addition to this at all of its experi- 

 ment stations, in the northwest district, at Issororo, at Onder- 

 neeming, Christianberg and Pomeroon the government has been 

 planting Sapium, and carefully tabulating every fact regarding 

 its growth, etc. 



Very little interest seems to be taken in Castilloa in the colony. 

 A few plantations have scattering trees, and they are to be 

 found in the Botanic Gardens, of course. But, as for any ex- 

 tensive planting or any likelihood of it, that is a vain hope. 



Ihe planters are not in f.iviir of it and the government experts 

 do not advise it. 



Speaking again of that indefatigable traveler, the late G. S. 

 Jenman, he believed that in the [-orsleroiiia gracilis, which he 

 found in abundance, he had discovered another valuable 

 source of rubber. He was camping far up on the Demerara 

 river at Malili, some 200 miles from Georgetown, when, in one 

 of his forest excursions, he cut deep into a festoon of bush- 

 rope and was surprised at the quantity of latex that gushed 



'" I le cut down 

 forest giants to 

 get at the whole 

 vine, spent days 

 in collecting latex 

 ,iiul in trying to 

 coagulate it, and 

 finally sent rub- 

 ber, flowers, 

 eaves, etc., to 

 Kew for identifi- 

 cation and valu- 

 ing. II is report, 

 which covers 

 pages, is full of 

 enthusiasm and 

 interest. The In- 

 dians called the 

 vine Macwarric- 

 balli. and the bot- 

 anists at Kew 

 said it was the 

 iForsteronia gra- 

 cilis. The ex- 

 perts at Silver- 

 town, to whom 

 the rubber was 

 submitted, said it 

 was too sticky 

 and soft to be 

 valuable. That, 

 however, was in 

 1888, when they 

 would have 

 turned down 

 guayule, for ex- 

 ample, and many 

 other lesser rub- 

 bers, as indeed, 

 would any rubber 

 manufacturer of 

 that period. Per- 

 haps, therefore, 

 it may yet appear 

 on the market 



Speaking of the 

 lesser rubbers, 

 and before begin- 

 ning en balata, 

 of whicli the colony ships large quantities, I want to refer again 

 to what is commonly known as brittle balata from the Humiria 

 Aoribunda. If it is as abundant as some think and can be cheaply 

 gathered, it should have a place. A British Guianian sent me a 

 sample shortly after my first visit to the colony. He had an 

 exaggerated idea of its value, however. The samples are before 

 me as I write. They arc plastic, brownish in color, and very 

 dense, and show but little elasticity. They look very much like 

 a low-grade gutta. I so wrote him, and his reply is certainly 

 optimistic, I .nppeiid it ;\s it has a certain value. 



T AI'I'lNn BAL.-\T.\ TREE. 



