PARA RUBBER TREE 



INDIA-RUBBER 



HEVEA BRASILIENSIS 



Para 



insulating purposes, however, the value of this rubber is stated to be only 

 3*. 3d. per lb., owing to the large quantity of resin which it usually contains. 

 [Of. Mann, Rept. on Caoutchouc Tree in Durrung Dist., in Journ. Agri.- 

 rt. tioc. Ind. (Select.), n.s., 1869, i., 71-81 ; For. Admin. Rept. Deng., Attam, 

 (many passages during past ten to fifteen yean) ; Ind. For., 1890, 

 is'.u. \ix , H46-52; 1897, xxiii., 240-1,420-1; 1'.)S. xxiv., 206-9; 

 ..: \ : hiOO, xx vi., 569-85 ; Kew Bull., 1891, 97-100 ; 189*2, 68, 70 ; 

 71 I ; 1898, 177-81, 312 ; Morris, Cant. Lect., I.e. 1898, 7H5-9 ; Thomson. 

 n Hukong Valley and Upper Mamkong Basin, 1895, 10-7 ; R.E.P., Comm. 

 1896, NOB. 3, 12; 1897, No. 1; 1898, NOB. 5, 10; 1899, No. 2; 1900, 

 .is. S. 11, 12; 1901, NOB. 1, 4; Gaz. Upper Burma, 1900, ii., pt. 1, 326-36; 

 il>hiitrop, For. in Brit. Ind., 1900, 198-221 ; Nisbet, Burma under Brit. Rule 

 nd Before, 1901, ii., 77 ; Mukorji, Handbook Ind. Agri., 1901, 488-9 ; Imp. Inst. 

 Itepts., 1903, 145-57 ; Jumelle, Les PI. b Caout., etc., 1903, 11, 13, 17, otc. ; 

 nnrn. Soc. Chem. Induat., 1904, xxiii., 1154; Rev. des Cult. Colon., 1904, xiv., 

 U, ; Tsrhirch, Die Harze und die Harzbehalter, 1906, ii., 1010-2 ; Wright, Cocoa, 

 907, 80 ; Wright, Rubber Cult, in Brit. Empire, 1907, 27-8.] 



Funtumla elastics, stapf ; APOCYNACE^E. This is the ire or Lagos Rubber 

 plant, which proviously was known as Kickxia elaatica. It is being experi- 

 mentally grown on the Nilgiri hills, otc. [Cf. Morris, Cant. Lect., I.e. 770-7 ; Kew 

 Hull., 1895, 241-7; 1899, 29-35; Agri. Bull. Straits and Fed. Mai. States, 1903, 

 ix., 136-8; Butt. Imp. Inat., 1903, 160-3; Johnson and Thiselton-Dyer, Rubber 

 ];,-j,tn. of Gold Coast and Sierra Leone Col. Repts. Misc., 1904, No. 28 ; Wright, 



. 1907, 79 ; Kew Bull., 1907, 187.] 



Hancornia speciosa, Gomez ; APOCYNACE^E. This yields the Mungabeira or 

 Pernambuco Rubber of commerce exported from Brazil (Kew Mus. Guide, 

 1907, 148). 



Hevea brasiliensls, Muil.Arg.; Hemsley, Kew Bull., 1907, 154; EUPHOR- 

 BIACE.S:. The PARA RUBBER TREE. This and one or two allied species occur 

 in the forests of Central and Northern Brazil, and in the forests of Para from 

 the mouths of the Amazons, south and west. They all yield rubber. The region 

 indicated has a climate remarkable for its uniformity of temperature, 87 F. 

 midday and 74 F. at night, the mean being 81 F. and the highest record 95 F. 

 The rainfall occurs principally in January to June, the maximum being in April, 

 when it reaches 15 inches. It is a very healthy region with a remarkably 

 fertile and continuously moist soil. The trees grow rapidly and attain some 30 

 feet in three years. 



By far the best rubber is obtained from the species of this genus. In 

 fact, whore Jfei^o can be profitably grown it will never pay to cultivate any 

 other rubber plant. The rubber afforded is stronger and possesses a much higher 

 breaking strain than that of any other plant, its tenacity being due, so it is thought, 

 to the method of coagulation. Once established, a er-n requires but little care, 

 and rough weeding will suffice. It is, however, liable to several pests, more 

 especially canker, and has to be protected from browsing animals (deer, etc.) 

 when in the young plantation stage. The trees may be tapped when about six 



years old, but they come into full bearing in eight to ten years. Success is closely 

 connected with the methods of tapping and curing pursued ; absolute cleanliness 

 is indispensable. The bark of the trees about to be tapped should be first 

 cleaned and the V-shaped cuts on the perpendicular central channel made with 

 decision and thoroughly cleansed before the milk begins to flow. Dust, sand and 

 other impurities greatly lower the value of the rubber, since they can with diffi- 

 culty be subsequently removed. Deliberate adulteration once proved will 

 I permanently ruin a plantation or source of supply, 

 bft INDIAN ACCLIMATISATION. This rubber tree has been successfully culti- 

 vated in Mergui and Tavoy. It has also been fully acclimatised in the south- 

 west districts of Ceylon, where so much attention has been paid to the pre- 

 paration of the rubber that it has actually fetched a higher price than that 

 from the indigenous home of the plant ; but while, owing to its purity, it is 

 valuable for waterproofing, it seems to lack the tensile strength of the rubber 

 of Para. 



Burma. In the Dictionary will be found a brief review (an abstract from 

 Thiselton-Dyer's report) of the historic facts regarding the introduction of 

 this plant into Asia from seed germinated at Kew. The first endeavours 

 in Burma date from a small consignment of plants sent to Mergui by Sir 



655 



I 



Lagos 

 Rubber. 



D.E.P., 

 iv., 306-72. 

 Para or 

 Hevea 

 Rubber. 



Protection 

 Necessary. 



Six-year-old 



Tappings. 



Method of 

 Tipping. 



Indian 

 Produc- 

 tion. 



History. 



