go TiMEHRI. 



kilogramme, or 36 cents to 72 cents per 2^ lbs., and at 

 this figure he easily earns from ten to twenty milreis pet 

 day. Many of the " Syringueiros," who are not at all 

 unlike some labourers in British Guiana for carelessness, 

 destroy the trees by making unusually large incisions, 

 reaching the fibrous part and thereby causing their un- 

 timely decay. 



What seems very remarkable in the preparation of 

 rubber is that the troolie seed is an essential adjun6l to 

 the smoking process, and I was told that nothing else 

 served the purpose so well. The rubber tree is generally 

 bled about 6 feet from the ground to start with, that is : 

 on the first day the " Syringueiro" makes the first inci- 

 sion in a circumferential line about 6 feet from the 

 ground, and the others about 7 inches apart on that 

 line ; and, as soon as the incision is made, a small tin 

 cup made for the purpose, with a dent looking outwards 

 on the sharp edge of the cup forming a beak, is fixed 

 to receive the milk issuing therefrom. He proceeds 

 to the next tree and does the same, until he gets through 

 with the number of trees he wishes to bleed for the day ; 

 he then begins with the last tree, colle6ling the tins con- 

 taining the milky substance which has drained from the 

 incisions, and pours the contents into a large vessel, 

 which he carries with him, until he colle6ls all the tins ; 

 when this is got through the smoking process is pro- 

 ceeded with, and for this purpose a smoking furnace is 

 used. The furnace is a very simple contrivance, and 

 consists of a cone made of sheet iron, about fifteen inches 

 in diameter at the base by. three inches at the apex, 

 and about eighteen inches in height, with a furnace 

 door about 4" by 5" cut out at the base. To use this 



