230 
THE TROHCAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 1, 1900. 
The labourer or " seringueiro " spends liia day 
much as follows: Bisiug from his hammock just 
before day-break he takes a cup of black coffee. 
He then proceeds to tap the trees in one of the 
" Estradas," affixing at the same time the cups to 
catch the latex as it exudes. The necessary cups 
are placed at the foot of each tree at the time 
that the "Estrada" is being opened. By 9 a.m. 
he his tapped the trees and is back in his hut. He 
then proceeds to cook and eat a scanty meal. At 
about 11 a m. he again visits the treee, taking with 
him a vessel into which he pours the contents of 
the cups. By 1 p m. he is again in his hut. He 
then proceeds to smoke the latex he has collected 
during the day. The latex cannot be left standing 
over night, as fermentation sets in and " entrefine " 
rubber is the result. It is almost invariably, there- 
fore, smoked each day as collected. By 2 p.m. or 
2-30 p.m. he has genox-ally finished his day's work, 
and can spend the rest of his time in idling, hunting, 
or fishing as he pleases. On the following day he 
rests the " Estrada " which he worked the day before, 
and works the other. An active man sometimes 
works four " Estradas " two each day. Such men 
are known to produce as much as one ton of rubber 
in the season. It is on such performances as these 
that calculations quoted in prospectuses of rubber 
companies distributed in the United Kingdom seem 
to be based. They are, however, quite erroneous 
when applied generally. In a good place an average 
man will make as much as 4 kilos, of rubber in a 
day, but it must be remembered that he does not 
work all the year round, and that he loses many 
days when it is raining or when he thinks it is 
going to rain. Any excuse is good enough to prevent 
a "seringueiro" from going into his "Estrada." 
The season during which the '' Estradas " are 
worked lasts from August till the beginning of January. 
Daring the remaining months of the year there ia 
generally too much water in the forest to allow the 
"aeringueiros " to enter the "Estradas." 
When considering the question as to whether 
British companies have here a good opportunity for 
the investment of capital, the following points should 
be borne in mind. Rubber is brought down to 
Manaos at the present day from beyond Iquitos, in 
Peru, and from beyond Orton, on the River IJeni, 
in Bolivia, and goods are shipped to there from 
Manaos. A glance at the map will show how remote 
are these places. It is reasonable to suppose that 
natives of the country, who well understand the 
matter, would not go and explore bo far afield if 
workable forests existed nearer home. The fact of 
their doing so points to the probability that most 
of the forest worth obtaining in the neighbourhood 
of Manaos has already been taken up. Of course, 
this does not mean that a company could not purchase 
already opened up estates, in good condition, and do 
good business with them. But again certain difficulties 
to be encountered should be remembered. The greates 
of these is the quantity and quality of the available 
labour supply. A company would have to work on 
a large scale and have a well-ordered system. The 
labourers to be found in Manaos are an extremely 
independent, not to say unruly class, and although 
the comparative rarity of crime np-country speaks 
well for their conduct on the whole, yet they are 
BO unused to obey any sort of discipline that it would 
be very hard to work with an organised estate, 
especially as these is practically no legal authority 
outside the towns, and every man's will is, up-country, 
a law unto himself. 
For the individual enterprise of that class of men 
which has done so much in opening up other tropical 
conntries, men of resource and adaptability who 
prefer a rough life, there is (probably a good field 
in Amazonas. Beginning, as they naturally would, 
on a small scale, and extending their business, they 
could probably do well. When the way has beea 
opened by these, and a class thus created who really 
understand the business, there will be more oppor^ 
tusities for ccmpaaiea to work with s'acceBs, It 
must be remembered that at the present time rabbei^ 
export merchants have many difliculties to contend 
with. There is considerable competition in their 
business, and there are the unending and baffling 
variations in exchange. A company that owned rubber 
forests on a large scale could avoid exchange transac- 
tions almost entirely. The necessary goods imported 
would be paid for in London by the results of the 
sales of the rubber produced. Moreover, once a 
rubber estate is in good working order, it should be 
possible to make very certain calculations as to its 
annual yield. Taking these points into consideration, 
it would appear that the natural extension of the 
rubber merchant's business will be in the direction 
of securing the actual forests and lauds in order to 
control the supply. No doubt means will be found 
eventually to overcome the difiiculties stated above. 
Owing to the recuperative power of the tree it is 
improbable that the available supply of rubber from 
the Amazon valley will be exhausted in the near 
future. Also the enormous area over which the 
estates extend makes it unlikely that unexpected 
events should occur by which the industry as a 
whole would be damaged, although, no doubt, local 
checks may be expected from time to time to occur 
For the same reason, and owing to the scarcity- of 
labour, it is improbable that any very sudden increase 
or decrease of the annual production will occur. 
The tendency is at present tor a slight increase of 
the total production each year. 
The best district in Amazonss is commonly reputed 
to be that ofjthe Biver Acre and the headwaters of 
the Purus. 
Two British companies are at present established 
in the Amazon valley — namely, the Para Eubber 
Estates, Ltd., and Amazonas Kubber Estates, Ltd. 
The former have an already opened estate in the 
islands near Para, whilst the latter are breaking in 
virgin forest on the headwaters of the River Teffe. 
in the State of Amazonas. 
Beside these, a Belgian company named " La 
Bresilienne " is working an estate near Para, whilst 
a French company, the '' Camptoir Colonial Fran9ai8,'.' 
is working some estates on the Biver Javary. Several 
other French, German, and Belgian companies are 
said to be about to be organised for the same purpose. 
Cauclio is a vegetable product similar to rubber 
in many of its qualities, but inferior to it in usefulness. 
It is obtained by tapping trees much in the same 
way as rubber. The tree from which it is obtained 
ia a variety of the " Castilloa." This tree prefers 
drier parts of the forest than the hevea. 
Owing to the fact that the laticiferous system ia 
not connected throughout the tree, it is not possible 
to drain all the latex by tapping only a small area 
of the bark, as is the case with the hevea. The 
tree has, therefore, to be cut down in order that 
the whole tree, including the branches and twi(?s, 
may be tapped. The roots also, which often project 
above the ground, are tapped. I am told that it 
takes as much as 15 days for the whole of the latex 
to exude from the tree. The latex is collected first 
in small cups placed to receive it, and subsequently 
is poured into a suitable vessel, or sometimes into 
a trough cut in the tree itself or into a hole made 
in the ground. A small quantity of soap solution ia 
added to it to produce a more rapid coagalatioD, 
The juice of a creeper named "vitelha" is generally 
added for the same purpose. When the latex haa 
coagulated, which takes some days, the mass is taken 
out, and caucho '-slabs" are thus formed. Caucho 
'■ balls " are made by rolling up strips of the coagulated 
latex that has exuded from cracks in the bark. By 
common accounts an average caucho tree will yield 
from 30 lb. to 40 lb. of caucho, including the scraps; 
Owing to the fact that the trees are cut down and 
destroyed, the collectors, or "caucheros," as they are 
called, are constantly moving about to discover freah 
trees. Whereas at one time nearly all the caucho 
came from Peru, it is now more extensively worked 
on the Javary. During 1899 a large amouot wai 
