56 THE RUBBER INDUSTRY 



The allotment of work is made by estradas con- 

 taining a varying number of rubber-trees. In the 

 Madeira districts the rule is to mark out 130 to 

 150 trees to each estrada, according to the inter- 

 vening distances ; in the Purus and Jurua districts 

 the number is often 200, and sometimes more. In 

 the former the custom is to set aside one estrada for 

 each collector, and this is supposed to be tapped 

 daily ; in the latter two estradas are reserved generally 

 for each man, and these are tapped on alternate 

 days. Once the allotment of estradas is made, the 

 collector becomes a temporary partner with the owners ; 

 for he is paid by a percentage of the rubber collected, 

 and this is fixed in most districts at one-half of the 

 amount delivered. The collector prepares the rubber 

 daily, and he brings it fortnightly to the storekeeper to 

 be weighed, with no restrictions as to quantity and very 

 little care as to quality. 



Fully 90 per cent, of the labour force employed on 

 the rubber properties is occupied in the collection and 

 preparation of latex, and only some 10 per cent, is in 

 receipt of a daily wage. These men are supposed 

 nominally to work for ten hours each day; they are 

 paid at rates varying greatly in different sections of the 

 Amazon Valley. Near Para a labourer earns from four 

 to five shillings daily without rations, and in the vicinity 

 of Manaos the rate is six to eight shillings without 

 food ; in the districts adjoining the River Madeira the 

 average pay is seven shillings per day, or seven pounds 

 sterling per month, with rations. In the neighbourhood 

 of the Madeira-Marmore' Railway men are paid ten 

 shillings a day with rations. In the districts of the 



