August 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBEIR WORLD 



523 



the ground. The cuts thus made heal very readily and the 

 tree does not need so long a rest before it is tapped again. 



The Funtumia after having been spiraled and half-spiraled 

 is now herring-boned. 



The Hevea Brasiliensis is first smoothed down with a spoke 

 shave. It is then tapped both by the full and by the half herring 



Method ok T.\pping Castilloa, Trinidad. 



bone. At the time of my last visit they were using "Newey's 

 Secure" knife and Sculfer's tapping tool. The tapping begins at 

 daybreak, the best flow occurring at sunrise. The work is 

 usually done by the native assistants, who are very skilful and 

 reliable. The latex is caught in tin cups in which is a little 

 water. 



By 7 :30 to 8 the flow has ceased, when the cups are taken off 

 and their contents weighed and a record kept of the product of 

 each tree. The latex is ne.xt strained, acetic acid is added, and 

 it is set away in white enameled plates to coagulate. Twenty- 

 four hours later the spongy pancake that has formed is taken 

 out of the plate and the water squeezed out of it by means of 

 a rolling-pin. The date and the number of the tree is then 

 pricked in, and it is laid away to dry for twenty-four hours. It 

 is then smoked. The apparatus consists of a small pot stove 

 above which is a smoke box filled with wire shelves. Dried 

 ants' nests are used for fuel, and the rubber is left in the 

 smoke house until it becomes as nearly translucent as may be. 

 About three days of smoking, the fire going out at night, is 

 usually sufficient. 



In this connection the results of some of the tappings of 

 Heveas at the Experiment Station may be of interest. Fifteen 

 trees, Hevea Brasiliensis, gave the following yields from July 

 to December last year : 

 No. Tree. Girth. Age. Yield. 



24 23 inches 13 yrs. lib. 13.9 oz. 



23 20J4 " 13 " 1 " 10.5 " 



16 24}4 " 13 " 1 " 6.04 " 



17 27^ " 13 " 1 " 11.72 " 



18 29J4 " 13 " 6 " 4.63 " 



19 29^ '■ 13 " 2 " 0.78 " 



14 21J4 '• 13 " 1 " 5.63 " 



15 2514 " 13 " 3 " 11.1 " 



2 36^ '• 13 '• 4 " 1.70 " 



20 28^< •■ 13 " 1 " 6.76 " 



3 34 " 13 " 3 " 1.09 '• 



21 23 •• 13 •• " 14.52 " 



22 29 ■• 13 •■ 2 " 11.13 " 



25 27 ■■ 13 " 1 " 14.4 " 



1 28^4 ■• 13 " 4 " 7.4 " 



Six trees of the Hevea Coufusa type, tapped in the same 

 manner and for the same time, produced as follows : 

 No. Tree. Girth. Age. Yield. 



6 34^ inches 13 yrs. 1 lb. 3.9 oz. 



8 36^4 •■ 13 " 1" 8.6 " 



5 33J4 ■■ 13 " 0" 4.86 "' 



4 31^ •• 13 '■ 0" 8.24 '■ 



7 35 ■' 13 •• 1" 0.68 ■' 



10 34 " 13 '• 1" 1.20 '■ 



It was in Trinidad that the first experiments toward planting 

 Castilloa as an annual crop were undertaken. In 1902 the late 

 J. H. Hart, then in charge of the Botanic Gardens, sent me 

 samples of Castilloa rubber and wrote as follows : 



"Some few years ago I pointed out the apparent possibility of 

 cultivating Castilloa elastica as an annual crop. This was based 

 upon an analysis made by a gentleman studying the rubber ques- 

 tion, who found 8 per cent, of rubber in stems of one-year-old 

 trees. That the actual amount of rubber material was found, 

 there can be little doubt, but its quality was not stated, and had 



Squeezing Water from Pancakes, Experiment Station, 

 Trinidad. 



to be proved later. This has been done at the Tropical Experi- 

 ment Station, Trinidad. But it is now evident that although rub- 

 ber material may have been found, it was of inferior quality, 



