96 THE WHOLE ART OF RUBBER-GROWING 



not yield to acid coagulants, neither are the 

 lactiferous vessels confined, as in the case of the 

 Hevea and the Manihot, to the system between the 

 cambium and the bark, but are found running 

 through the wood itself and yielding upon the layer 

 of the soft pith that covers it. Its latex is thick and 

 creamy. Owing to the peculiar structure of the bark, 

 which is somewhat soft and spongy, Castilloa is not 

 amenable to the scientific methods associated with 

 the tapping of the Hevea in Ceylon and elsewhere. 

 For this reason alone one may perhaps forgive the 

 native " ulero ", as the rubber-gatherer of Central 

 America is called, w r hen he turns a deaf ear to any 

 suggestion that will relieve him of the deadly looking 

 machete with which he hacks his trees. The ulero 

 makes diagonal lines of gashes that open channels 

 along which the milk can flow until it is all brought 

 to a point on one side of the tree, whence it is led 

 down to a basin-like cavity in the ground which is 

 lined with the leather-textured leaves of the Calathea. 

 In this fashion it is gathered and conveyed to the 

 pouch, where the calabash awaits it, and in this 

 vessel it is finally carried away to be coagulated. 



In its natural habitat amid the Nicaraguan forests 

 the tree yields copiously. The collector employs a 

 modified V system, often cutting the tree at a height 

 of 15 feet from the ground, the gashes being 24 inches 

 long and 3 feet apart. It is a common thing for a 

 collector to obtain 30 gallons of latex per tree b} r 

 this method, the whole of the latex often flowing 

 from the tree in the space of an hour. 



The only coagulant which will satisfactorily deal 



