1, 1920] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



251 



The Balata Industry in the Colony of Surinam. 



By J. Barkley Percival. 



PRIOR TO 1857 balata was practically unknown, at least to 

 civilized man. The natives of the Guianas are said to have 

 used it for cutlas handles and drinking vessels, but only 

 rarely. In tlie year mentioned, Professor Bleeknode described 

 it as Surinam guita percha, which it really is, and not a rubber 

 as so many mistakenly call it. 



Exports from Dutch Guiana began in 1881 and were very 

 small— 365 pounds. However, by 1911 the product reached some 

 3,000,000 pounds, increasing almost 

 every year with the single e.xception 

 of the year 1888, when none was 

 gathered. All told, up to the pres- 

 ent time, there has been given to 

 the world fully 30,000,000 pounds 

 of Surinam gutta percha. 



The tree from which this valu- 

 able gum is obtained is the Mimu- 

 sops globosa, described under eight 

 other names, the commonest of 

 which is Gaertner's Mimusops ba- 

 tata. Other names are Sapota mul- 

 leri, Mimusops kauki, which is 

 Linnaeus' name for the tree, 

 Mimusops dissecta, Mimusops 

 hookeri, Mimusops ballata, which 

 is Blume's spelling of Gaertner's 

 title, Achras balata, and Lucuma 

 wamosa. The Surinam Dutch call 

 it the horse-flesh tree, on account 

 of the appearance of its wood, 

 while the English have corrupted 

 the native "boUetrie" into bullet- 

 tree. 



The tree grows to a large size, 

 often attaining a diameter of six 

 feet, has thick, rough bark and 

 reddish wood, as its Dutch name 

 implies. The leaves are glossy, 

 oval and pointed at the tip. The 

 flowers appear in groups surround- 

 ed by leaves. The fruit is a berry 

 about the size of a coffee berry, 

 but soft and sweet. The kernel is 

 hard and produces a bitter oil. 



Soon after the Dutch Colony 

 began to ship balata, British Guiana and Venezuela entered this 

 field, the three countries named furnishing the bulk of the gum 

 that is marketed. 



The tropics furnish scores of different trees yielding a milk 

 which coagulates into a gummy mass, and while the famous 

 "bullet" tree was the foundation of the commercial balata busi- 

 ness, and still retains its place as the producer of the best 

 balata, it has never been the sole source of supply. There has 

 been a good deal of "mixing" done in the past, but the laws are 

 so stringent and the collectors so sharp that dishonesty among 

 the bleeders is now almost impossible. Dutch Guiana is re- 

 markably rich in gum-bearing trees so that the temptation is 

 very great to palm off the bastard for the legitimate gum on 

 the market. 



Discovery of the varying properties of gum from the different 

 trees has been a gradual matter following the development of 

 commercial balata extraction in Surinam ; methods of coagula- 

 tion are probably as old as the aboriginal use of the gum. That 

 in the Colony has certainly not varied for fifty years, with the 



exception of isolated experiments toward improvement. 

 The milk, caught in mud, leaf or calabash below gashes made 

 with a sharp instrument in the bark, is collected in kerosene 

 tins and then it is taken to the camp where it is poured into 

 shallow trays (debrees) which hold from five to thirty gallons. 

 The milk congeals in these trays and the balata is taken off in 

 sheets, successive sheets being removed until the trays are 

 empty with the exception of the mother liquid. These sheets 

 are hung up first over the debrees 

 to drain and then in a roughly con- 

 structed shed. When dry they are 

 dispatched to Paramaribo for ex- 

 port to the ultimate market 

 There are always tricksters in 

 trade and the balata man is no ex- 

 ception to the rule. Frequently 

 some extremely foreign bodies are 

 found concealed, some perhaps by 

 accident, but the most, however, 

 through intent, in order to make 

 the sheet weigh more. In this way 

 stones, lumps of hard wood and 

 nails have found a temporary rest- 

 ing place between the layers of 

 gum. The laborers are paid ac- 

 cording to the amount of balata 

 collected and this, perhaps, is the 

 cause for the temptation of "pack- 

 ing" foreign matter between the 

 sheets. 



The yield per tree varies consid- 

 erably, the flow being affected by 

 changes in meteorological condi- 

 tions. Trees give at the first tap- 

 ping an average of one gallon of 

 milk each, equivalent to about five 

 pounds of dry balata. The cuts 

 made in the bleeding of balata are 

 stated to take four or five years 

 before they are entirely healed, and 

 as no tree may be retapped before 

 the incisions are completely healed, 

 that period has to elapse before re- 

 tapping can be done. Subsequent 

 tappings are said not to yield as 

 well as the first ones. Accurate records, however, are lacking. 

 For the purpose of the administration of balata-collecting 

 concessions, the colony is divided into blocks — a more easily 

 accessible northern portion and a less accessible hinterland. 

 These blocks are then granted to companies who pay the taxes 

 yearly in advance to the government and in default to pay the 

 taxes on a certain date, all rights to the lands are forfeited 

 immediately. Applicants must give the Crown Lands officer a 

 satisfactory security that there is sufficient means to operate the 

 concessions thoroughly before they are granted. 



No balata tree is allowed to be bled which does not measure 

 36 inches in girth at four feet from the ground. Trees may be 

 bled on only one-half of their girth at any one time, and no 

 tree can be retapped until the previous incisions are completely 

 healed. For bad work or contravention of the conditions under 

 which the concession is issued the concessionaire is held respon- 

 sible, but he is empowered to, and expected to prosecute any 

 offending bleeders or employes. The government has appointed 

 forest officers to assist the Crown Land officers in inspecting the 



AT Work. 



