Mauch 1: 1911.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



189 



India-Rubber in Dutch Guiana. 



By The Editor of "The India Rubber World." 



V 



THIRB LETTER. 



A Morning Ride to the Balata Pier. — Dutch Negro Workmen. — Government 

 Balata Concessions. — Bush Negroes. — Balata Trees 400 Years Old. — Locating 



the Trees. — Balata Crews Tapping. — Coagulating. — Bringing the Gum to 



Martlet. 



ERV early one morning the Balatj Man came aroinid in a 



stylish little trap drawn by the liveliest horse that I had 



yet observed 

 and invited us to 

 go out and in- 

 spect a ship- 

 ment of balata that 

 had just arrived 

 frdin the interior. 

 Our acceptance was 

 prompt and grate- 

 ful. We whirled 

 down Keizerstraat, 

 which was crowded 

 with men and 

 women on their 

 way to work, down 

 by the huge market 

 sheds where sat 

 scores of country 

 negroes with bas- 

 kets of fruit, eggs, 

 poultry and every 

 variety of tropical 

 edible, animate and 

 inanimate, which 

 could possibly find 

 sale in the city. 

 Then out through 

 the suburbs and up 

 to the balata ware- 

 houses. 



Balata arrives in 

 bales weighing 

 about 250 pounds 

 each, the sheets 

 folded together, 

 piled up and then 

 bound with bush- 

 rope. One of the 

 first things down on 

 the receipt of a 

 shipment is the in- 

 spection. The 

 sheets are cut apart, 

 partly to allow of 

 further drying, and 

 partly to detect for- 

 eign material, par- 

 ticularly sand. It 

 is then baled again 

 and weighed, the government royalty paid and it is ready for ship- 

 ment abroad. It is here also that boats are outiittcd for balata 

 gathering and for the gold fields. One boat was loading while we 

 were there. It lay some eight to ten feet below the pier and one 

 negro and four coolies were trying to induce a mule to step up 

 on a narrow plank and then descend into the boat. The mule 

 knew that the plank was so awkwardly placed that it would 



slide off, and wisely refused, so they blindfolded her with a 

 piece of burlap so loosely woven that she could see right through 

 it. Then with a man down in the boat pulling at the halter 

 and four pushing from behind she suddenly jumped and landed 

 safely in the bottom of the boat, incidentally catching the man 

 below by surprise and knocking him heels over head under one 



lof the seats, and 



BALATA TREES. 



that is about the 

 .way the workmen 

 do everything. 

 They are slow, 

 clumsy, and lack 

 mechanical ability. 

 It does not do to be 

 too impatient or to 

 try to hurry them, 

 for then they hasten 

 but always do the 

 wrong thing, and 

 their misdirected 

 energy and in- 

 genuity in accom- 

 plishing what you 

 do not want done is 

 appalling. They are 

 willing workers and 

 also exceedingly 

 willing loafers. 



The Balata Man 

 told of being far up 

 the river at one time 

 with a lot of balata 

 awaiting shipment. 

 This, some negro 

 boatman agreed to 

 take to Paramaribo 

 for twenty guilders. 

 It was seven days' 

 journey and they 

 had been four days 

 rowing when they 

 were overtaken by a 

 steam launch. This 

 they hired to tow 

 them the rest of the 

 way, contentedly 

 paying twenty guil- 

 ders for the service. 



The balata lands 

 are almost wholly 

 owned by the 

 Crown, but are ex- 

 ploited only by indi- 

 viduals or compan- 

 ies under govern- 



ment concessions. The concessionaires pay Vs cent per 

 hectare (2.471 acres) for prospecting. Then they pay 4 cents ■ 

 per hectare for ground rent. Added to this is 4 cents per kilo- 

 gram export tax which must be paid within eight days of its 

 receipt. The only other export tax in Dutch Guiana is a small 

 one on gold. It is probable that when cultivated rubber is 

 produced in quantity it will be required to bear its pro ruta of 



