and Magazine of the Ceyion Agricultural Society,— April, 1912. 



Equal to 38,700 tons net, for 1014. 



For the year For the year 









1915. 



1316. 



Acres. 



Years. 



lb. 



lb. 



lb. 



to 



39-18 



1000 



50000 



60000 



600 



17 



350 



175000 



175000 



1000 



16 



350 



3500001 



350000 



1150 



15 



35i' 



507000 



607000 



4000 



14 



350 



1400000 



1400000 



8000 



13 



350 



28000C0 



2800000 



1 nnnn 



1UUUU 



12 



360 



3500000 



3600000 



14010 



11 



350 



4900000 



4900000 



35000 



10 



350 



i <5£DUUUU 



1*250090 



48000 



9 



360 



15600000 



16800000 



93000 





350 



27900000 



30225000 



48000 



7 



350 



1200COOO 



1440COO0 



61000 



6 



350 



12200000 



15250000 



113000 



5 



350 



14126100 



22600000 



6300O 



4 



350 



3780000 



7875000 



600000 







111537000 



133082000 



Five hundred thousand acres is the estimated 

 total area planted up to 1911. 



The above total yields amounting to about 

 49,790 tons net for 1915 ; and to 59,410 tons net 

 for 1916. 



It would seem that nothing less than an ade- 

 quate supply of tapping labour could prevent 

 these yields from being realised, as the higher 

 yields from the better cultivated areas would 

 compensate the smaller yields from the poorer 

 plantations, etc., and areas gone out of culti- 

 vation. 



C. C. Malet, 



Singapore, March 11, 1912. 



RUBBER TAPPING IN 1850. 



In the Amazon Valley. 

 Below is an account (over 60 years old) of 

 rubber tapping, in 1850 : which we might call 

 an up-to-date article on Rubber Sixty Years Ago. 

 We wonder if it was true that they made 

 goloshes on the spot ; and the bottle-making is 

 rather difficult to believe as, if one covered a 

 ball of clay on the end of a stick with rubber, 

 how could they be removed ? This extract was 

 quoted in the Englishman of February 9th, 1850 : 



The India Rubber, Tree— Mode of 

 Collecting the Gum, &c. 

 (From a New York Paper.) 

 The ' Seringa ' tree as it is called by the 

 natives (the India Rubber), is common to the 

 whole Valley of the Amazon, but is most abun- 

 dant on the inland and low lands, 'which at times 

 are inundated in the rainy season. The trees 

 are scattered promiscuously through the forest, 

 and reach a diameter of eighteen inches or more; 

 the bark is smooth, somewhat resembling the 

 beech, but thicker. The leaf is an oblong oval, 

 thick and glossy, the wood white and rather 

 soft, being useless for building, as it decays very 

 soon. The milk is white and tasteless, and may 

 be taken into the stomach with impunity, much 

 resembling the milk which exudes from the 

 'milk weed' of New England.and seems to reside 

 in the bark or between the bark and wood. The 

 first work of the ' Seringero ' (as the Indians who 

 gather the article are called) is to open foot- 

 paths from tree to tree in the forest, so as to 

 form a circuit sufficient for the operations of 

 one, man, bo that each man has bis own 



circuit diverging from the cabin. These 

 paths constitute the chief value of a loca« 

 tion, rather than the soil, and are sold or 

 rented to the occupants at moderate prices. 

 The cabin is built on posts set in the ground, 

 with the floor elevated from two to four feet, so 

 as to be above the inundations and Spring 

 tides. They live simply and cheaply, — for a 

 basket of farina, a coarse quality of tapioca, — > 

 made from the mandioca root, and costing from 

 50 to 150 cents, sustains a person some 35 days, 

 and is eaten dry, or a little moistened, with the 

 addition of a piece of dried fish roasted. This, 

 with coffee, is the standing food of the country 

 people, Indians and negroes, who are the col- 

 lectors of rubber. 



The tree requires to be tapped every day, by 

 making an incision into the bark with a species 

 of tomahawk, about an inch wide. Beneath 

 each incision is attached a cup made of moist 

 clay, about the size and form of the half of a 

 goose egg, which keep their places by the ad- 

 hesion of the clay. From six to ten cups are 

 placed upon a tree, which yield from two to 

 five tablespoonsful of milk each per day — the 

 trees are tapped from the root to as far up as 

 can be reached even by a scaffold. Each 

 incision makes a rough wound on the tree, 

 which in time, though not dead, makes them 

 useless, because a smooth place is required 

 on which to attach the cups. The men 

 start out at daylight to tap their trees, each 

 taking a ball of kneaded clay in the hand for 

 making any cups that may be wanted, and hava 

 ing made their circuit in three or four hours, 

 return to the house for breakfast. Soon after 

 noon they make the round again, to collect the 

 milk in gourds slung, in thongs of bark and hung 

 over the shoulder. The cups are detached from, 

 the tree to empty them, and remain covered up 

 at the foot of each tree for the next day's use. 

 On reaching the house, the milk is manufactured 

 at once into shoes, bottles, or sheets, as it soon 

 hardens. This is often done by females. A fire 

 is made of some nuts, common in the forest, over 

 which is placed, inverted, an earthern pot with 

 a hole in the bottom, whence issues a jet of hot 

 smoke. The wooden last after being smeared 

 with clay to prevent adhesion, is dipped into 

 the milk, which adheres to it like paint, and is 

 hardened by one or two seconds' exposure to the 

 hot smoke, then is plunged again successively 

 into the milk until the required thickness is ob- 

 tained. Extra coats are given to the heel and 

 sole. About 16 to 18 dips form the shoe, say ten 

 general coats and six extra for the bottoms and 

 heels. Each last has a handle which is stuck 

 into the ground for the shoe to dry. When 

 finished, they are of a dingy white ; but by ex- 

 posure to the sun and dew, in a few days turn 

 brown and black, during which they are covered 

 with drops of water exuding from the rubber. 

 In two days the shoes are hard enough for fig» 

 uring, which state lasts some three days. This, 

 is done simply by drawing lines on the soft 

 surface with the rounded point of wire or need- 

 les. In a week the shoes are taken from the 

 last (which once were of clay, but now wood 

 only is used). As soon as a few pairs are finished, 

 the are taken to market and sold by the makers, 

 under previous engagements, and. perhaps for 



