232 
THfi TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 1, 189». 
Sapply is inex.haustible, because the lievea Ib coc" 
tinually being reproduced Ijy nature. Certainly 
aomo areas become exliausted when overworked, 
but when left alone for aouie time they recover. 
The district of Cameta, on the river Tcc.uitina, 
gave an excellent quality of rubber, for which thure 
was a special quotation "in foreign marki.ts. This 
strict, however, is now exhausted, because, for 
about forty years, thousimds of men have lapped 
its trees. All newcomers flocked to Cameta to make 
their fortunes. 
But there are manv districts that have not been 
tapped. The area that is known to produce Para 
rubber amounts to at least 1,000,000 equare miles. 
Further exploration will no doubt show that this 
area is underestimated. The richest zones as at 
present known are along the banks of all the southern 
tributaries of the river Amazon, and on the islands 
in the main stream and near Pani. The most 
prolifio part is on the river Aquiry or Acr6, one 
of the tributaries of the river Purus. Here a hun- 
dred trees yield as much as one ton of rubber 
per annum 
The northern tributaries of the Amazon do not 
produce much rubber. Of these, the river Negro 
produces the most, but the quality is soft. The 
river Branco yields very little rubber, and the 
upper part runs through pasture lands and high 
around which is not suitable for good rubber. Some 
o' the other northern tributaries have not been ex- 
plored and may yet reveal large stores of rubber. 
The Hcvca is known to exist on the banks of 
T<mnr>\, but that district has not yet been opened up. 
It was at oue time imagined that the excellence 
„f Pari rubber was greatly due to the kind of fuel 
?ilm-nuts) used in curing it. The palms that fur- 
^■^ this fuel were accordingly transplanted to 
Africa with a view of making " Pari rubber" there 
Vln« exTieriment, however, has not succeeded. The 
^asonwhy these nuts are selected is because they 
S a continuous dense smoke, and are more port- 
nl than other fuel obtainable. However, when 
none of the palms are present, bark and twigs of 
nther trees are used as fuel _ ^ • , 
-When the accumulation of rubber is sufficient— 
^=,mllv the collection of three or four days-the 
Ipctor lights a fire in his hut, places an inverted 
f !f,el over the fire, and ladles a thin coat of ra.lk 
nvpr a paddle and holds it over the smoke to co- 
„f,lpte- the process is repeated until a large cake 
?;!s been forn?ed. To release the paddle from the 
i!p it is necessary to make a slit on one side. 
Tnffi saddle" mold makes a cake of uniform and even 
1 J, J The paddle is in general use in the state of 
T> 1 . •' in other districts a spit is placed on two up- 
^aht'forked sticks, and given a rotary motion. By 
^l^; means the rubber is cured with greater ease, 
w Toddle-smoked rubber is preferred, as it is drier 
lt\ more carefully cured. Attempts to introduce 
f^^rovoA curing apparatus have not been received 
„?rh nonular favor, because the primitive process 
sses the advantages of being simple and inex- 
^^rwive The process of curing rubber is very in- 
furious to the eyes. Many cases of total blindness 
'^^Tn e^nert 'collector gathers 7 pounds of rubber in 
■^flv on the lower Amazon, but three times this 
= Jnnnt is collected on the upper Amazon in the 
• h -narts The collecting season on the lower 
^A^'' „-}ln h'ecins when the waters have subsided— 
^Ct TulY-ana ends in January or February. The 
^.;il«^tors employed are principally Brizalians, im- 
ii^n its fioroin Cearaaud other neighbouring states 
^bT from P^^^^ '^rl^'^' '"''H 'r.\T- '^''^ 
^outh American Indian is of very little use as 
Lhorer Nor are the West ludian negroes suit- 
\ip for 'the Amazonian rubber estates, as tney 
T,/f =;tand the imlirial climate. 
"The insufficient amount of labor is one of the 
iBOst serious difficulties in the rubber industry. It 
■ t of much use to own rich rubber estates if 
iL'^nwner cannot obtain sufficient laborers to collect 
tl rubber for him. The exploitation of rubber 
forests is entirely in the hands of the Brazilian* 
and Portuguese. Foreigners to the country have on 
several occasions attempted to engage in the same 
enterprise, but without success. It was tried some 
years ago on a large scale by an American syndi- 
cate, but the experiment failed. — India Jiubber U'oiid. 
MICA 
MINING IN THE DISTRICT OF 
NELLOKE, INDIA. 
By Kodeut W. Thompson. 
A.M.I.C.E.. M.S.A. 
Nellore is oue of the maritime districts of the Madras 
Presidency. It is bounded on the North by the dis- 
trict of Kiptna, on the south by the districts of 
Chingleput and North Arcot, on the east by the 
Bay of Bengal, and on the west by the district of 
Cnddapah, from which it is seperated by the Eastern 
Ghats— a range of hills from -.',000 to 3,00U feet in 
height, running roughly paralled to the cost from 
fifty to sixty miles inland. The length of the dis- 
trict is about IBO miles, and the area about 10,000 
square miles. The Great Northern Road from Madras 
to Calcutta passes through the district south to north 
keeping at an average distance of ten miles from 
the sea. Various other roads branch east and west 
from this trunk to populous and important villages. 
The chief town is Nellore, on the Pennar river, HO 
miles from Madras by the Great Northern road; 
the next in importance are Ongole, 182 miles from 
Madras and Gudur, 85 miles from Madras, both of 
which are also on the Great Northern road. Venca- 
taghiri and Calastiy are also important pla,ces, both 
being in the south-west of the district. There it 
railway communication with Madras, but the route 
is circuitous, and a break of gauge occurs at a place 
called Rennigunta where passengers tranship from 
the Madras railway, broad gauge, to the South Indian 
Railway, narrow gauge, the journey taking over six- 
teen hours; but the new Bezwade-Madras State 
Railway, which will probably be opened for traffic 
this year will give direct broad-gauge communication 
between Madras and Nellore, the journey taking not 
more than six hours. The district is salubrious and 
populous, the population being approximately 200,000. 
There is not sufficient employment for the lower, 
or coolv, class of the people, so that labour is plentifol 
and cheap, a man's wages (reduced to English money 
being from 3d. to Id. a day, and a woman's or boy's 
from 2d. to od. — nothing more. The district is in- 
terested by numerous streams having their origin 
in the Eastern Ghats, and one river— the pennar—- 
which, rising in the tableland of Mysore, flows tbroogh 
the district of < 'uddapah (receiving there the waters 
of the Chittravutty, the Paupugni. and the Cheyair) 
and then through a rift in tbe Eastern Ghats past 
the town of Nellore into the Bay of Bengal, after a 
course of 355 miles. 
East of the Great Northern road, and for a few 
miles to the west of it, the country is generally low 
and flat and the soil alluvial, and rice is largely 
cultivated upon it ; to the west of this the groand 
begins to rise and becomes undulating and rocky, 
and is only fit for the cultivation of dry grains in 
some parts, the rest being barren or covered with 
jungle. The geological formation of this portion may 
be described as being generally a bed of matamorphio 
rock on which is superimposed a layer of laterite, 
which is a soft argillaceous stone of a reddish-brown 
colour, and of aqueous formation. The metamorphio 
rocks are represented by gneiss, mica schist, horn- 
blends schist, and quartzite ; these, though forming 
the bed rock of this part of the district, very often 
crop out about the surface and stand exposed. In- 
stances of igneous rock are also met with in trap, 
felspar, and granite, the former occuring iu dykes, 
and the two latter as isolated intrusions through 
the bed of metamorphic rock. This is the general 
aspect of the district : but laterite is occasionally 
met with in places nearer to the sea than above 
indicated, and alluvial land farther inland; tbia is 
