II» THE WHOLE ART OE RUBBER-GROWING 



Nevertheless, these Manicobas are a profoundly 

 interesting study both to the botanist and to the 

 rubber expert, and it is not too much to say that 

 Brazil may one day present to us a Manicoba capable 

 of assimilating in an alien land all the virtues of 

 those great rivals the Para and the Ceara tree, and 

 thus producing the ideal rubber for which the 

 manufacturer sighs in vain to-day. 



In the Jequie district the Dichotoma is being just 

 now very widely planted. The neighbouring forest 

 lands in which the tree grows like a weed stand at 

 an elevation of about 1700 feet above sea-level. 

 There is an entire absence of the luxuriant tropical 

 vegetation one looks for in this latitude. For miles 

 around the region, being devoid of timber and the 

 usual forest growth, would be a desert but for the 

 hardy Manicobas that meet the eye on every hand. 

 These are of stunted but sturdy growth, and give 

 their latex plentifully on being tapped. The tapping 

 season extends from August to March, as in the case 

 of the Ceara tree. Coagulation, like unto that of all 

 the Manicobas, is brought about naturally by expo- 

 sure to the air, and thus requires no acid aids in this 

 direction. The rubber obtained from these Manico- 

 bas is said to be of a quality comparable to fine Para, 

 but it is extremely doubtful whether any reliable data 

 can be produced to support such a claim, as it is 

 well known that, at present at least, the products 

 of the South Brazilian Manicobas are largely used as 

 assimilatives to the highly resinous and therefore poor 

 latices of inferior rubber trees. 



