348" 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July 1, 1911. 



and of a reddish raw beef color; the inner one is thin, more 

 ligneous, a brown wood color and with fewer lactiferous vessels. 

 The outer layer is subdivided into several very thin lavers. 



Scene ox the Arra\v.\tt.\ B.\rim.\ River. 



They are of two kinds, and differ much in the density of their 

 cells. They alternate a dark brown and pale gray. In young 

 trees there are few, but they increase with age. I have counted as 

 many as twelve of each kind in the bark of a large tree. The 

 second primary layer is that which yields the balata milk, 

 though the inner, more ligneous layer is not devoid of it. These 



British Gui.\n.\ Gold Mining. 



two layers are homogeneous and adherent to the wood until it 

 is dry. The longitudinal fissures, which I have mentioned as a 

 prominent external characteristic of the bark, are not absolute 



divisions of the cortical tissue (or at least they only become 

 so eventually as the layers peel off) for where they occur the 

 outer layer dips into the thick lactiferous layer and so preserves 



Scene on the Demerara River. 



its continuity. The thin layers of the external primary layer 

 crack transversely in pieces an mch or two long, and by lateral 

 contraction eventually scale off." 



He had received a long letter from Sir Everard im Thurn, 

 who had penetrated to many remote places in the colony, in 

 which it was stated that many of the balata gatherers cut the 

 trees down to extract the milk. Jenman, as a servant of the 

 government, was anxious to protect the property of the crown 

 and hunted industriously for such violators of the laws, but 

 apparently found none. The use of the wood of the tree for 

 sugar rolls in the West Indian islands and for arms and shafts 

 for windmills in the Guianas is also noted by him. The trees 

 were found to vary considerably in the amount of milk they 

 gave. The collector would make a single cut in a tree, watch the 

 flow for a few minutes and if it was not satisfactory go at once 

 to another tree, claiming that it was a "male" tree and no 

 good. As an adulterant the collectors then and now often add 

 the late.x of tlie Sapium Jenmani, if it happens to be plentiful 

 in the vicinity of their camps. The methods of tapping, coagu- 

 lating and handling are exactly the same as those already 

 described in the story of balata in Dutch Guiana [see The 

 India Rubber World, March 1, 1911.] 



According to Professor Harrison and Mr. Stockdale, British 

 Guiana sent out its first balata in 1859, but rubber manufacturers 

 would have none of it. In 1862, however, another effort brought 

 it to the favorable attention of several British manufacturers, 

 and a market was created. Three years later 20,000 'pounds 

 were exported. Then the demand fell off for about ten years, 

 when it revived. During 1908-9 1,090,405 pounds were pro- 

 duced, valued at nearly one-half a million dollars. 1910-11 will 

 probably see an increase both in product and value. By the 

 way, as a lesson in modest taxation on exports, balata is taxed 

 two cents a pound, and that in spite of its nearness to northern 

 Brazil. The price of balata has varied exceedingly. In '83 some 

 parcels of it sold as low as 12 cents a pound, and for years it 

 brought only 30 to 35 cents. Jenman adds that a company in 

 Boston, Massachusetts, offered in '83 to pay 50 cents a pound 

 for it, if they could be assured a large and constant supply. 



The British Guiana statistics on balata are very informing, and 

 surprisingly complete, .^mong other things they note that in 

 1904-5 the United States took but 9 per cent, of the balata crop; 

 in 1908-9, however, it took 25 per cent. 

 [to be continued.] 



