188 
the Botanic Gardens of Kew to cultivate it. Seeds were received 
and Conn raised at Kew, but of the result we have no | 
inform x 
At an A the tree needs no shade. Experiments are needed 
as to the best method of propagating it, which in the Province of 
Sao Paulo is done both by cuttings and from seed. 
YIELD. 
Equally is little certain at prosent about the yield. When four 
or five years old, or, according t omer Saee authorities, 
when Six years o old, the tree is CU ough. to o be tapped. This 
s done by cutting a spiral groove st is preferable, oblique 
PETER in the bark at some distance ES one another, eight of 
such, perhaps, in the whole length of the trunk. Below the 
maton by the use of a little moist 7, a trough is made to 
tch the juice as it runs out. At nem of a quarter to half an 
en the supply is exhausted. This y be 2 lbs. and upw 
though in the rich parts of Säo Pdl tha terra-roxa (red earth) 
district, celebrated for its coffee—as much as 11 lbs. of juice may 
be obtained. A zn matter in the bark gives to the fresh 
into larger vessels, and mixed with alum (Stauss’ rwn This 
produces coagulation in two or three minutes. Two teaspoonsful 
of alu lution are suffieient for milk enough to fill two or 
three bottles. The caoutchoue is then pressed by hand, and hung 
on sticks in the sun for eight days to allow the water to exude 
and drain off. The product thus prepared is in the form of large 
t" called biscuits ; it still contains much water, and belongs 
o the class of caoutchoues known as moist rubbers 
ET is obvious that the Tank of the rubber into thin “ sheets,” 
instead of biscuits, is of advantage, for it gives facilities for 
drying, and consequently adds to its value. This mode of 
method of collecting and preparing Mangabeira rubber be found 
which will yield more nearly such a product as the trade desires ? 
TRADE, 
* Pernambuco biscuits” are large rectangular cakes of a reddish- 
brown colour outside, but bright rose-coloured inside, with a 
peculiar sweet scent, full of cavities containing a solution of alum 
and usually with marks of its exudation on the surface, In the 
working up of the rubber, a loss, sometimes of as much as 40 to 
60 per cent., occurs. The caoutchouc is but little elastic, hardens 
with age, breaks and tears—faults attributed to the presence of the 
alum. The demand for such rubber is small, and due chiefly to 
its pleasing soleus and the price in consequence is but half that — 
of rub : 
. Recently, eng zs price of Mangabeira rubber has 
advanced by reason of the improvement in the purity, and on 
account M its rp suitabiliy, when pure, for certain pep 
