284 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



A NEW SOURCE OF RUBBER. 



According to information recently received from 

 Valpraiso a possible new source of rubber is 



Attracting attention in Northern Chile, 

 which, if scarcely likely to greatly increase the 

 supply under present conditions, merits further 

 investigation and experiment. Along the arid 

 coast-line, extending from the Tropic of Capri- 

 corn to about the latitude of Coquimbo, the 

 annual rainfall is small and very variable in 

 amount, although, in spite of statements often 

 made to the contrary, the region is by no 

 means a rainless one. Whilst on the whole 

 characterised by desert conditions, the seaward 

 flanks of the coastal mountains are well covered 

 with cacti and hardy shrubs, particularly at 

 considerable elevations, where the "garua,' : a 

 damp mist, hangs persistently during the winter 

 months. In the spring time, after exceptional 

 rains, the forbidding aspect of the sun-scorched 

 hills is completely transformed for a few weeks 

 by the sudden springing up of a wealth of flow- 

 ering plants of great beauty. Typical of the dis- 

 trict and by no means uncommon, though rather 

 restricted in its range, is the Euphorbia lactiflua, 

 a shrub locally known as the "lochero,'' or 

 "milkman," a term evidently derived from the 

 milky fluid which exudes plentifully from any 

 incision in the stem or from broken twigs, which 

 continues to drip for some time after the in- 

 jury. On exposure to the air the substance soon 

 oxidises into a plastic and elastic solid, which 

 is said to yield, under appropriate treatment, 



RUBBER OF EXCELLENT QUALITY. 



The shrub seldom attains great size, not often 

 exceeding 10ft. to loft, in height, and does not 

 cover much ground. When rain has supplied 

 a little moisture to the parched soil, the stem 

 and branches secrete the milky sap so freely 

 that they become remarkably distended and 

 turgid, sometimes even bursting. The plant 

 does not Hourish well near the sea level, and 

 the present writer has not met with it at a grea- 

 ter elevation than a few thousand feet. The 

 wounded bark appears to heal up rapidly, and it 

 is said that the plant is not injured by process 

 of "bleeding,'' by which the sap is collected. The 

 milky exudation has long been made use of 

 locally on account of its remarkable adhesive 

 properties as a kind of natural glue, for which 

 it forms an admirable substitute, and in past 

 times the Indians of the desert coast fixed their 

 stone arrow and lance heads to their shafts, and, 

 it is said, poisoned their weapons with this sub- 

 stance. The juice is credited with possessing 

 very poisonous properties, but appears to have 

 been used medicinally by the Indians, some 

 tradition of its mode of employment still ling- 

 ering among the native Chilians. 



The idea of utilising the products of the plant 

 commercially has been advanced before but not 

 very seriously, for at first sight, even supposing 



ITS RUBBER PRODUCING QUALITY 



to be confirmed, its comparative scarcity, 're- 

 stricted range, and small yield, together with 

 the difficult nature of the country, would appear 

 sufficient obstacles to prohibit its profitable ex- 

 ploitation. The difficulty of visiting the plants 



in order to collect the sap is, however, not so 

 serious as it appears, since at the present time 

 a certain class of the inhabitants go far afield in 

 order to collect fuel in the shape of dead cactus 

 branches and the like. Of more importance is 

 the question of possibly 



IMPROVING THE SHRUB UNDER CULTURE, 



ai d the best method of increasing the number 

 of the plants. The struggle for existence in the 

 desert is very keen, water being the chief matter 

 of difficulty. As artificial irrigation is quite out 

 of the question, it may, perhaps, be found that 

 the elimination of a few of the euphorbia's plant 

 competitors would, without other attention, 

 promote the growth of the shrub in greater 

 numbers. Plenty of space is available for ex- 

 periment, at any rate. 



O. H. Evans. 



—Field, Feb. 5. 



RUBBER IN VENEZUELA. 



[We are indebted to a well-known Ceylon 

 planter for the following interesting notes from 

 his brother in Venezuela, which will interest a 

 good many rubber -growers and others here : — ] 



Cuidad Bolivar, Venezuela, Dec. 28, 1909. — 

 I have to thank you for yours of the 50th 

 August, also for the parcel of 



TAPPING KNIVES 



which I duly received two mails ago. Though 

 much interested in them and the rubber busi- 

 ness general y. I am afraid there is absolutely 

 no business to be done in them out here, even 

 although the principal export of the country 

 is balata and rubber. The reason is that the 

 wretched natives who bring the stuff in from 

 the forests, for it is all virgin, have to bring 

 the greatest quantity possible to satisfy, which 

 it never does, the rapacity of the people (mostly 

 Venezuelans and Corsicans, both equal beasts !) 

 in whose clutches they are. Consequently they 



DO NOT TAP AT ALL, BUT SIMPLY CHOP THE 

 TREES DOWN 



and bleed them dry. Of course it is very 

 short-sighted of them, as they have to keep on 

 going farther afield the whole time for it. But 

 such are the conditions which obtain in this 

 country that it will never be otherwise until 

 wo get a decent, constitutional and equitable 

 Government, which, I am afraid, will be a good 

 while yet. We are 



PLANTING A LOT OF RUBBER 



on this estate ; we have some 26,000 trees now 

 about two years old and are planting every 

 season, but it will be some six or seven years 

 before we start tapping them. 



A CLIMATE OF PERPETUAL SPRING. 



I am now pretty well settled down here and 

 like the place very weil. It is very healthy, the 

 trade-wind blowing up tho Valley the whole 

 time. Fever is practically unknown amongst 

 the whites. The prevailing climate is perpetual 

 spring. This is also 



A GREAT CATTLE RANCHING COUNTRY, 



and alluvial gold is to be found in payable 

 quantities almost anywhere in this district. The 



