Hums, Resins, 



416 



[May 1908. 



of the nomenclature of the species of 

 the genus, which this variability has 

 occasioned. 



The third species, Sapium pauciner- 

 vum is said to yield no rubber on tap- 

 ping, but it is desirable that further 

 trials shall be made before accepting 

 this statement. 



Suggestions for Improved Methods 

 of Rubber from Sapiums. 



Almost the whole of the Sapium rub- 

 ber exported from British Guiana has 

 been collected by the Indians. The 

 trees are so scattered in the forests, and 

 the individual trees are, as a rule, so 

 far distant from each other, that it is 

 extremely questionable whether it will 

 be profitable for anyone, except an 

 Indian, who, as a rule, is accustomed to 

 set little or no value upon his time, to 

 make a business of collecting the rubber 

 himself, as is done with the Para rubber. 

 The actual collection of the rubber can- 

 not, however, occupy much time, as all 

 that the Indian has to do is to make cuts 

 on the bark with a cutlass to allow the 

 latex to exude, and to return to the tree 

 some hours later to collect the rubber 

 which has coagulated on the bark in the 

 form of strings. These strings are then 

 detached from the bark and wound up 

 tightly to form balls, as already des- 

 cribed. Many improvements might be 

 effected in this very crude method of 

 collecting, and the few following sugges- 

 tions are offered :— 



(1). The bark should be scrubbed or 

 brushed clean before tapping, 

 of all loose particles of moss, 

 dirt, etc., which might adhere 

 to the rubber and depreciate 

 its value- 



(2.) When the rubber is collected in 

 balls, these should not be made 

 more than about three inches 

 in diameter, as the larger balls 

 are apt to become soft and 

 sticky inside. The objection to 

 these balls, however, is that they 

 can be very easily ' doctored ' 

 by placing a stone or other 

 foreign substance in the centre, 

 the presence of which can only 

 be detected by cutting open the 

 ball. A better method, which I 

 have seen recently employed is 

 to incorporate the strings into 

 the form of flat cakes of about 

 half-an-inch in thickness. The 

 rubber being able to dry more 

 easily is not so apt to become 

 sticky, and at the same time 

 the buyer is better able to 

 observe the quality of the 

 rubber throughout and to satis. 



fy himself that it includes no 

 foreign substances. I have been 

 informed that the rubber in this 

 form obtains a better price than 

 that collected in ball. 

 (3.) The tapping can be better and 

 more expeditiously accomplish- 

 ed by the employment of a 

 proper tapping knife, than by 

 the usual cutlass and with far 

 less injury to the trees. Mr. 

 Beckett found that a tool, 

 known as the Safety Tapping 

 Knife, was admirably suited for 

 the purpose. The cost of this 

 tool is 3s. 4d., and it can be ob- 

 tained from Messrs. Brown & 

 Co., Ltd., Colombo, Ceylon. 



According to Mr. Beckett's experience 

 who has tried collecting and coagulating 

 the latex in shallow vessels after the 

 usual method of preparing rubber, the 

 Indian method of collection appears to be 

 the more expeditious. The difficulties 

 which Mr. Beckett experienced were first, 

 that the latex is apt to coagulate very 

 quickly on the tree preventing its further 

 flow, and, secondly, the latex after collec- 

 tion, mixing with water and straining, 

 took from three to five days to coagulate. 



The employment of drip-tins, as used 

 in Ceylon for the same purpose, will 

 probably overcome the first difficulty. A 

 drip-tin is a small funnel-shaped recep- 

 tacle containing water, usually made out 

 of tin, as its name implies, which is 

 fastened to the tree above the cuts. 

 Through a small hole in the bottom of 

 the tin, the size of which can be regu- 

 lated, the water slowly and continuously 

 drips on the cut surfaces preventing the 

 latex from coagulating on them and 

 choking up the laticiferous tubes. 



With regard to the slow coagulation 

 of the latex after mixing with water, 

 this i.could probably be considerably 

 hastened by the addition of a small 

 quantity of one of the chemicals, e.g., 

 acetic acid or formic acid, which have 

 been found effective for the purpose. 



Suggestions for the Cultivation.— 

 For the purposes of cultivation Sapium 

 Jenmani is the species recommended. 

 As I have already pointed out there is 

 good reason for thinking that all the 

 rubber hitherto obtained has been gather- 

 ed from this tree. Observers agree as to 

 the rapid growth of the tree, though it 

 is not known at what age the trees can 

 be first profitably tapped. 



I do not think that it will be advisable 

 to attempt planting the tree in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood of the coast, where 

 this species does not appear to thrive. A 

 short distance inland, away from the sea- 



