2SC 



The World's Commercial Products 



liv 



permission of Sfessrs. Maclaren, Shoe Lam 



RUBBER -TREES TWENTY YEARS OLD 



PARA 

 RUBBER 



In tropical South 

 America, in the basin 

 of the Amazon and of the 

 Orinoco, occur a number of 

 trees of the genus Hevca, belonging 

 to the Spurge Order (Euphorbiaceae), 

 which yield rubber. The best known 

 is Hevca brasiliensis, which is usually' 

 looked upon as the source of Para rubber, 

 so called from the town of this name near one of the mouths of the Amazon, whence much of 

 the rubber from Brazil is exported. Comparatively little is known with certainty as to the 

 trees contributing to the rubber shipped from Brazil, but this is not altogether to be wondered 

 at when we recollect that the rubber region embraces an area about two-thirds that of Europe ; 

 that the trees occur wild in dense forests and their produce is collected by natives and brought 

 do,vn for sale. Several species of Hevea are recorded as rubber producers in different districts, 

 and members of. other genera also contribute, but Hevca brasiliensis is, at any rate, one 

 of the most important, and this is the tree which has been introduced with great success 

 into other regions of the world, and is the source of the important and rapidly developing 

 Para rubrjer industries of Ceylon and British Malaya, so that it is generally spoken of as the 

 Pai^a Rubber Tree. ' 



Hcvea brasiliensis thrives in the hot, damp forests of the Amazon valley, in what are known 

 as the " islands " in the delta of the river, and also in the higher lands lying back from the 

 valley of the river/ The climate of this region is extraordinarily uniform, the annual mean 

 temperature being about 80° F., and the daily range usually between 75° and 90°. The annual 

 rairlfa'll is from, 80 to 120 inches. 



tto ^general" habit of the Para rubber tree will readily be seen from the various illustrations. 

 It attains a height of over sixty feet and a girth of eight to ten feet. The leaves are charac- 

 teristically three lobed, the flowers are individually small and inconspicuous, but are borne 



