372 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



Reliable information regarding the disturbances 

 in the Acre Territory is still very scanty, and 

 here in Rio little or nothing is known, whilst 

 even in Manaos and Para the only news avail- 

 able is that brought at intervals by travellers 

 arriving from the distant region. According to 

 one report from the Alto Acre everything is at 

 peace at present, and the majority of the people 

 there attach no importance whatever to the 

 recent developments in the Juruazoue, and con- 

 tinue actively to prepare the rubber for export 

 in November and December. Before the end of 

 the year it is almost certain that the Federal 

 Government will have settled the questions at 

 issue and re-established their authority in the 

 Territory, so the foreign consuming markets 

 may count upon receiving their regular supplies 

 of rubber as usual as soon as navigation is re- 

 sumed on the Upper Amazon and other rivers 

 that intersect the rubber zone." — Rubber World, 

 Sept. 1. 



RUBBER IN BOLIVIA. 



"AS TO THE SUAREZ INTEREST." 



The completion of the Madeira- Mamore rail- 

 Way will in a measure affect the Suarez interests. 

 Suarez y Hermanos, or Suarez & Brothers, 

 known in London as the largest shippers of 

 Bolivian rubber, in which they have made mil- 

 lions, have their headquarters just above the 

 first of the Madeira falls. 



The creator of this company, Nicholas Suarez, 

 although worth millions,is a quiet, thrifty, hard- 

 headed man of business. Of Bolivian birth 

 and speaking only Spanish, he ha9 for years 

 practically controlled the carrying trade up and 

 down the Madeira, as well as the gathering and 

 collecting of the rubber along many of the great 

 waterways above the falls. 



If Suarez's life history could be written, it 

 would prove a very stirring tale. He began as a 

 trader for rubber, dealing with savages whom 

 none other had dared to even communicate with. 

 Soon he and his brothers began to acquire great 

 concessions. They pushed further and further 

 into the interior, trading with the Indians, prac- 

 tically ruling them, and avenging any insult or 

 lack of faith most terribly. One of his brothers 

 was murdered by savages, and it is said that 

 Nicholas Suarez practically exterminated the 

 tribe to whom his murderers belonged. 



He employs probably about 4,000 men, and is 

 said to be worth from $35,000,000 to §40,000,000 

 A born organiser, he is still a simple, saving man 

 of the people. But his nephews, liberally educated, 

 living in Europe, are genuine men of the world. 



The Suarez rubber, by the way, is not put up 

 in cases, but is shipped in bulk to London. 



Bolivian rubber, although at present such a 

 factor, dates back only a few years. It was first 

 discovered in 1878, but it did not appear on the 

 market until 1893, when the grade known as 

 ' k Mollendo' began to be shipped from the Pacific 

 port of that name. This, to be sure, was not 

 wholly Bolivian, but was partly a Peruvian pro- 

 duct. The tree that produces it is undoubtedly a 

 Hev$a and ~\%, said by some to be the Hevect lu.tea. 



It grows on the uplands to an altitude of 3,000 

 feet, and on sloping well drained ground, and 

 not in swamps or where it could be subject to 

 inundations. 



There are two collecting periods — from April 

 to July and from October to March. The trees 

 are tapped for about three months each year, and 

 then are allowed to rest. The rubber when car- 

 ried up the rivers, by muleback over the moun- 

 tains, by boat across Lake Titicaca, and by rail- 

 road to Moliendo, is said to cost, exclusive of 

 the export duties charged in Bolivia, about 40 

 cents a pound. 



Bolivian rubber is gathered somewhat differ- 

 ently from that down river. There is used a 

 mango— literally a handle to which is attached a 

 flat disk 6 to 8 inches in diameter. This is used 

 as the ordinary paddle is. Where much smoking 

 is to be done a disk to which two handles are 

 attached at opposite sides is substituted. These 

 handles are supported by cross pieces which 

 allow the disk to revolve rapidly over the buyon, 

 or smoking pot. Indeed, to facilitate matters, 

 there are sometimes 3 or 4 of these pots in a row. 



Two methods of branding rubber are in use. 

 One which is known as 'fire' branding consists 

 in heating a die and pressing it into the outside 

 surface of the rubber. The other way is to have 

 the name of the seringal cut on the surface of 

 the paddle; then when the pelle is cut open the 

 rubber is found to have taken an exact replica 

 of the brand. 



In the upper rivers, where the water is very 

 shallow, the rubber takes its first journey on 

 balsas, or small rafts. If they are to pass over 

 rough water the logs of which they are made are 

 hollowed out. These recesses are tilled with 

 rubber and whole is floored over, so even if the 

 crew is upset or lost the rubber survives. 



Two or more balsas joined together form a 

 scallapo, which is used when the river broadens 

 to admit larger craft. Still further down the 

 rivers the batecllo— commonly pronounced " bata- 

 lone," is used as freight carrier. 



Interesting in Rubber Planting. 

 The planting idea seemed to have taken a 

 strong hold upon the residents of both Para and 

 Manaos. I talked long with one large operator 

 in the Acre who assured me that his house had 

 already planted more than 100,000 trees. There 

 were those who were urging the governor of 

 Amazouas to grant subsidies and concessions of 

 all sorts, but while he was most favourable to 

 the planting idea, he did not see his way clear 

 to favour exactly the plans put before him. . . . 



From a practical standpoint the trouble about 

 any rubber planting concession in Brazil is that 

 governors, like our own presidents, normally 

 last only four years. An unfriendly governor 

 may not be able to cancel a concession, but he 

 can easily interpret the various articles so that 

 it would be valueless. Not that there is any pre- 

 sent indication of such change or such attitude, 

 but the time might come when such action 

 would be. 



My own hope was that the governments of 

 both Para and Amazonas would remove the tax 

 on plantation-grown rubber entirely for a series 



