LUTHER BURBANK 



larger surface of the cambium layer and thus 

 extract the milky juices in larger quantity. 



In the case of the wild trees it is not unusual 

 for the natives of Mexico, Central America, and 

 South America to make a series of "V" shaped in- 

 cisions in the bark of the tree, placing a receptacle 

 at the point of each "V" and thus securing a rela- 

 tively enormous amount of fluid regardless of the 

 fact that they jeopardize the life of the tree itself. 



Of course cultivated groves or plantations are 

 tapped in a more conservative way, but the prin- 

 ciple involved is everywhere the same. 



The latex of the rubber tree is comparable to 

 the sugary sap of the maple. It appears to be a 

 mere accident that this juice has the property of 

 coagulating to form the substance called rubber 

 which we now find so important. But this sub- 

 stance, obviously, as man uses it, has small place 

 in the economy of the plant. Coagulated latex 

 would serve no better purpose in the tissues of the 

 rubber tree than would coagulated blood in the 

 veins of a human being. 



OILS AND RESINS 



Of course the latex of the rubber tree might 

 exude when the tree received an accidental 

 injury, as from a falling limb, and in such case it 

 would be advantageous to the tree to have the 

 juice coagulate, just as coagulated blood is useful 



[254] 



