189 
In consequence, the en the price of er best sorts 
and that of Para rubber is much diminished. the end of 
last year, a kilogramme (2 Ibs. 3 ozs.) of the bait Mii ga bola 
rubber sold for upwards of 12 milreis EFÈT -i shillin ngs): a price 
not far short of that of Para rubber. additional cause of the 
UM in vie is ` þe —— in vm Sarti in making up the 
rubber; for ing to the constant wateh which is necessary to 
guard hei ep » addition i iron or stones put in to 
make weight, pieces of rubber only 4-3 in. thick and 2 ft. long by 
10 ins. broad, the so-called “sheets " “4 mde. are welcome in 
the trade. 
Of recent years, the adem of this source of rubber has 
taken a considerable extension. And, while the intelligent 
collectors, bi. start from Ba ie and work toward the interior, 
have only tapped mature trees, improvident nds collectors, 
making hei: own profit out of the pressing demand of the time, 
have in many places mischievously E o on the supply and 
threatened its continuance. 
he chief centres for export of Mangabeira rubber are Bahia 
and Pernambuco. A large supply is brought down the river Sao 
Francisco, and so to Bahia ; and from this town, in 1889, 134 tons 
were exported ; in 1892, 4,362 bales, to the value of £22,826 ; and 
in 1893, 3,293 bales, to the value of £20,362. From Pernambuco 
were exported, in in 1896, 54 tons, to the value of £1,800.* A small 
mount of caoutchouc from the Province of Matto Grosso (prob- 
ably Mangabeira rubber) is exported down the Parana through 
Paraguay, and fee b pei from Minas Geraes are shipped 
through Rio de Jan 
Recently, the Poraa of São Paulo has begun to demand a 
place in es consideration of rubber export. Regions here, such 
as that t opt: which the Mogyana railway runs, are exploited, 
i ia for t 
one-third of the clear profits. A worker can collect about 63 Ibs. 
of rubber per diem, and receives on the spot 75 milreis (£2 9s. 
approximately) per arroba (324 Ibs.). The arroba is sold in London 
for 200 milreis. In the first. half of the year 1898, no less than 
16,498 kilogrammes (approximately 78 tons) of rubber were passed 
over this railwa , and yet the railways of Paulista and Sorocaba 
equally traverse the country where the Mangabeira tree grows. 
In consequence of the increasing trade, Santos has become an 
important centre for rubber, and there, as at the town of Sao 
Paulo, now exist mercantile houses whose principal concern lies 
in this bustin ét 
In this Province, an idea of the importance of ae bs 
e tre rs are t 
hard to procure. The Government hoping, by means of the duty 
on rubber (now E at 13 per cent. ad val eed to recuperate 
its finances, which have become disordered by the depreciation 
of coffee, has instructed Dr. A. Uchoa Cavalcanti, Acting Director 
of the Agricultural Institute at Campinas, to inspect the territory 
* Probably an error for £18,000. 
