November 1, 1915] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



57 



it is hedged about with great difficulties. The native of the 

 back districts knows only the law of the jungle, which is not 

 the same as that of the colonial office. Those who know how 

 bitterly the pot-liunting classes of civilized lands resent the 

 enactment and 

 enforcement of 

 necessary game 

 laws, may liave 

 some faint idea 

 of what the na- 

 tive of the for- 

 est, a hundred 

 miles from the 

 nearest w li i t e 

 station, tliinks 

 of a law which 

 says that he 

 shall not cut 

 down the tree 

 which no white 

 man ever has 

 seen or i- v e r 

 will see. The 

 tree is there, the 

 Chinese dealer 

 Is convenient, 

 and he needs 

 the money. For- 

 est laws are 

 highly desiralilf. 

 but only the 

 most impossible optimist 

 of existing conditions. 



ClLTIV.MED GUTT 



NG.^N. 



will see in them any effective correction 

 Laws forbidding export will do some- 

 thing, but where there are thousands of miles of coast line, with 

 innumerable coves sheltering the craft of a race of born sailors, 

 it will be seen 

 that this plan 

 also presents 

 difficulties. 



In the matter 

 of collection it 

 is obvious that |j 

 the industry of 

 deliberate adul- 

 teration with 

 either dirt or 

 inferior gums is 

 not one to 

 be encouraged. 

 The one sure 

 way to suppress 

 an undesirable 

 commodity is to 

 destroy its mar- 

 ket; and it is 

 a question 

 whether the 

 time has not ar- 

 rived when im- 

 porting coun- 

 tries should not 

 take steps to 



abate the adulteration nuisance. If all gutta i)ercha arriving at 

 the ports of the consuming countries were subject to analysis 

 and refused admittance, when too outrageously sophisticated, 

 the dealers in dirt would begin to learn their trade over again. 

 It cannot be left to individual buyers to reject the debased com- 

 modity. Competition will always defeat any plan of that kind. 

 If undertaken by the governments, every effort should be made 



.TIV.ATED GUTT.V pKRCH.V TrEKS AT TjII'ETIR (P.M.. 



to prevent any country from trying to gain an advantage in trade 

 by offering an open market to the outlawed adulterations re- 

 fused by other ports. 

 The economist must wee)) wluii he sees a great tree cut down 



for a handful of 

 autta p e r c h a , 

 and weep again 

 when he sees 

 three per cent. 

 taken away and 

 ninety -seven 

 per cent, left to 

 decay. The first 

 consideration is 

 w li e t h e r the 

 gum may not be 

 secured by tap- 

 ping, leaving an 

 uninjured tree 

 to ])roduce fur- 

 ther supplies. 

 The answer is 

 that it can he 

 so obtained, but 

 not by the ir- 

 responsible wild 

 L;atherer. T h e 

 native does not 

 know how to 

 tap the trees, 

 and does not 

 want to know. It is far easier and much less dangerous to fell 

 the tree, and the yield is greater than that gained by tapping. If 

 he undertook tapping with the tools he carries, he would kill the 

 tree and .yet iiraitliallN UDtbing for his pains. Reform in this 



direction, while 

 highly desir- 

 al)le, does not 

 seem to promise 

 much in regard 

 to the remain- 

 ing forest sup- 

 plies. As in most 

 if not all latex- 

 producing 

 plants, the char- 

 acteristic prod- 

 uct of the gutta 

 pcrcha trees is 

 f o u n d in the 

 leaves, as well 

 as in the bark. 

 .'Xs a matter of 

 fact there is, 

 weight for 

 weight, about 

 twice as much 

 gutta percha in 

 the leaves as in 

 the bark, but 

 \ 1 .\R.-. obtaining it is 

 not so simple a 

 le broken and the pieces 

 Is of gutta percha can be 



matter. 1 1 a dried leaf of I'nliuiuiiii, 

 carefully imlled apart, little white thr. 

 seen, and if a green leaf be broken, tiny beads of latex will ap- 

 pear like those on a dandelion or lettuce leaf. Early experi- 

 ments, though carried on with a great deal of perseverance, 

 failed to extract the gutta percha in satisfactory form, and a 

 heap of gutta pcrcha leaves was as a matter of practical 



