71 
"meds ta in the hands of Peravians, assisted by Indian labour. 
work is rough, and the hardships connected with gathering 
Ed very great. The kind exported from here in past years me 
been chiefly Caucho, the gatherers of which are 
Caucheros. The wasteful method adopted is, however, beginning 
to tell it ae i as far as this particular class of rubber is 
concerned. This can be understood when it is explained that 
Caucho is gathered by cutting down the trees to collect the sap. 
As it is said that it takes from 15 to 20 years to arrive at a fit 
state to be worth cutting down, it can easily | be seen that pres in 
accessible positions are continually growing scarcer. As none are 
planted to supply the loss, when a district has been worked 
thoroughly, nothing can be done till nature re-asserts herself. Of 
course the young trees are constantly growing, and places that 
have been worked out will, in course of time, yield again in 
quantity, but meanwhile the yield in them is so small that it is 
not worth while to collect. It must be remembered that it is 
only possible to collect near the rivers, on account of the 
diffieulties of transport overland. In the interior, or rather 
Caucho yielding trees still, for there are vast tracts of land 
un, unexplored. These, however, are either inaccessible 
r wo remunerative to work. 
* Tt is much to be desired that some more economical method of 
gathering Caucho could be introduced, one which would allow 
the sap to be got without destroying the trees, as the timber is 
worthless. This is done in other parts of the world where more 
economical conditions prevail. At present many of the Caucheros 
the i 
ee likely to any large extent, or gathering the other chief 
kind of rubber, known as Jebe. 
“This is of considerably higher value than Caucho, being worth 
from 70 per cent. to 90 per cent. more, according to ruling prices 
here. The method of gathering it, however, has not been so well 
P by the native labourers, or they have not found the 
so much to their taste. 
« In gathering Jebe the tree is simply tapped, the sap being 
collected in small pans, which are emptied daily or periodically. 
This class of rubber collecting is euren rrei by settlers, as 
distinguished from the wandering Caucher 
To complete the available information on the des et the 
following extract from Mr. Consul en n’s Report the 
Trade of Iquitos is reprinted from the gn Office Report on 
the Trade and Finances of Peru (1898, p. 3, E 2,298) : 
* Rubber forms the cbief article of export. Most of it goes to 
rope, and very little attention is given to other productions of 
the district. The chief classes are Caucho and Jebe resent 
prices of which may be taken as 30 and 50 soles per arroba 
of 15 kilos. respectively. lt may be stated that these figures 
show a marked increase during the year. The average for 1898 
is given as 26 soles per arroba for Caucho and 49 soles per arroba 
