35 



should be buried in the soil. By following this simple rule the plant 

 commences to grow at once, its growth is vigorous, and the trunk 

 symmetrical. But if at the period of planting there is much bare stem 

 above ground, the growth is usually slow, the plant remains " leggy for 

 some time afterwards and never makes a good tree." 



Collection and Preparation of Rubber. — Dr. D. Morris, who spent 

 some time in British Honduras, thus describes, in his book on the Co- 

 lony, the manner of collecting the rubber. " The Castilloa rubber-tree is 

 fit to be tapped for caoutchouc, or the elastic gummy substance produced 

 by its milk, when about seven to ten years old. The milk is obtained 

 at present from trees growing wild, by men called rubber-gatherers, who 

 are well acquainted with all the localities inhabited by the " Toonu. " The 

 proper season for tapping the trees is after the autumn rains, which oc- 

 cur some months after the trees have ripened their fruit, and before they 

 put forth buds for the next season. The flow of milk is most copious 

 during the months of October, November, December, and January. The 

 rubber-gatherers commence operations on an untapped tree by reaching 

 with a ladder, or by means of lianes, or tie-ties, the upper portions of its 

 trunk, and scoring the bark the whole length with deep cuts, which ex- 

 tend all round The cuts are sometimes made so as to form a series of 

 spirals all round the tree, at other times they are shaped simply like the 

 letter V, with a small piece of hoop-iron, the blade of a cutlass, or the 

 leaf of a palm placed at the lower angle to form a spout to lead the milk 

 into a receptacle below. A number of trees are treated in this manner, 

 and left to bleed for several hours. At the close of the day the rubber- 

 gatherer collects all the milk, washes it by means of water, and leaves it 

 standing till the next morning. He now procures a quantity of the 

 stem of the moon-plant (Ipomoea Bona-nox), pounds it into a mass, 

 and throws it into a bucket of water After this decoction has been 

 strained, it is added to the rubber-milk, in the proportion of one pint to 

 a gallon, or until, after brisk stirring the whole of the milk is coagula- 

 ted. The masses of rubber floating on the surface are now strained from 

 the liquid, kneaded into cakes, and placed under heavy weights to get 

 rid of all watery particles. When perfectly drained and dry, the rubber 

 cakes are fit for the market, and exported generally in casks. In Spa- 

 nish Honduras, and other places in Central America, instead of the juice 

 of the moon -plant, a solution of alum is used to coagulate the milk, but 

 it is said that the injudicious use of alum tends to make the rubber hard 

 and brittle, and to depreciate its value. As, however, it is desirable to 

 place both methods before planters, in order to lead them to carry on 

 experiments, and to prepare the rubber in the most economical and 

 expeditious manner possible, I quote the following, which appeared in 

 the column of the Colonial Guardian, published at Belize : — 



" The milk of the india rubber- tree is obtained by making longitudinal 

 incisions on the bark. It must then be strained through a fine sieve to 

 free it from minute portions of wood and other impurities, and placed 

 into a cask standing upright. After remaining for a short time in this 

 receptacle, a quantity of rain or spring water, double the quantity of the 

 rubber milk, is to be added thereto, and strained through a piece of 

 brown cotton into another cask. More water — equal in quantity to that 

 already added — should be thrown into the cask, so that there should be 

 four parts of water to one of rubber milk. 



