296 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. ], 190L 
by Mr. Joubert. It appears, however, that in Vene- 
zuela the practice of felliug the trees is general, 
on account of the much gi eater immediate return, 
and the area over which the trees are distributed 
is so great that no possibility of exhaustion is ad- 
mitted by those engaged in the business. By tap- 
ping, the tree can be made to yield only up to the 
highest point reached conveniently with a ladder, 
while by felling the tree the sap can be obtained 
sometimes for a length of 100 feet or more. Besides, 
under a method used by the Orinoco Co., all the 
bark ia stripped from the tree, after as much Balata 
as possible has been extracted, and whatever remains 
in the bark removed by a chemical process. The 
high price of Balata is accounted for partly by the 
relative scarcity of labour. As high as 28 cents per 
pound has been paid to collectors employed in 
Venezuela, though payment was made in goods. 
Again, the better supplies of Balata are remote 
from navigable streams, one company being obliged 
to pay 3 cents a pound (=|60 per ton) for the haulage 
of Balata to the nearest boat landing. 
Sheet Balata is obtained by spreading the sap in 
shallow pans and exposing it to the sun, the process 
lasting sometimes nearly two weeks. The dried sheets 
»r6 1/8 to 3-16 inch in thicknes", and are sometimes 
rendered thinner by running them between rollers, 
the chief purpose of which operation is to render 
the sheets less liable to curl up. Tin plate is well 
adapted for Balata pans, though the natives use 
wooden troughs, lined with tree leaves to keep the 
gum from sticking to the wood. 
Block Balata is formed by boiling the eap in kettles 
holding from 8 to 12 gallons, uutil it reaches the con- 
sistency of molasses candy at the stage when it can 
be "pulled." It is then formed into masses in size 
suited to the packing cases, and placed in water to 
cool. The boiling requires about 2 hours for the 
first kettleful ; the proper heat having then been 
reached, salsequent lots are boiled sofficiently in about 
45 minutes. The cooling and hardening requires 3 
or four hours. Packing cases of wood are usually 
18 or 24 by 12 inches, and 4 inches deep. 
The new treatment adopted in Vauezuela does not 
extend to the whole production from each tree, but 
is rather a supplementary process. That is, after 
the usual method of extraction, the Balata remain- 
ing in the bark is obtained by grinding the bark 
and removing the Balata by distillation. Only the 
inner bark is ground up, the rough outer bark being 
first cut off. The further processes are kept secret, 
but naphtha is supposed to be used. 
The average yield of Balata milk is about 3 gallons 
per tree, or 27 pounds, which yield 15 to 21 pounds 
of Balata. Mr. Tufts mentions having removed all 
the bark from a felled tree, before extracting any 
sap, and running it between the steel rolls of a 
sugar mill, with the result of obtaining three times 
as much Balata, but it contained more impurities 
than that obtained by ordinary means. 
Latest Balata Eeport fkom Venezuela. 
In the June issue of Ber Ti oxienpAlanzer (Berlin) 
appears a report by E. Englehardt, of Cuidad Bolivar, 
Venezuela, to the effect that during the year 1900 
the production of Balata in that country was very 
largely increased, while the output from the Guianas 
had become relatively insignificant. The preserva- 
tion of the trees, he says, has in no wise been con- 
sidered, They are simply felled and allowed to rot 
on the ground, although the timber would be of 
great value if it were possible to convey it to the 
seaboard. The balata gatherers are compelled to invade 
the forests deeper and deeper every year, every tree for 
miles from the original starting point having been 
destroyed. The only shipments are now made from 
Bolivar. The rate of incieaae has been as follows: 
In 1897 650,613 pounds. 
1898 1,043,170 
1899 1,659,295 
19U0 , 2,628,784 „ 
It will be noticed that these fignres, obtained 
evidently from official sources in the country of pro- 
duction, are much laiger than those given in "the 
preceding article, whicli was piepared before Mr. 
Eoglehardt's report was available. It is stated, also, 
that very little sheet Balata is produced in Vene- 
zuela, the block Balata being produced more 
readily. 
During 1900 rubber was shipped from Venezuela 
only in smaiJ quantities, owing to the seat of the 
revolution which existed for months being in the 
district whence the necessary labour for rubber 
gathering is secured. [The rubber from the Orinoco, 
marketed usually as "Angostura," is of the Para 
tpye, and classified as '• fine " and " coarse. "] The 
shipments by the river Orinoco were: Fine, 114 970 
pounds ; coarse, 32,b32 ; total, 147,302 pounds. How- 
ever, some Venezuelan rubber, from the back dis- 
tricts, finds its way to the Amazon, being exported 
through Para, but the total export Herr Englehardt 
estimates at not over 100 tons for the year. The 
production for 1901 is expected to be much larger— 
possibly 400 tons, owing loan increastd interest in 
the business and the investment of new capital on a 
systemitic h%iia.— India liuhher Iforld. 
FLO WEEING AND SEEDING OF MANWELL 
BAMBOOS (DENDROCALAMUS STRICTUS) 
IN THE CENTRAL THANA DIVI- 
SION, BOMBAY PRESIDENCY. 
This bamboo known as Man^vell all over the Thana 
district flowered in the Mokbada Hills, which form the 
western projection of the Ghats over an area of 
about 3 square miles in the reserved forests of the 
village of Assa, in December, 1900 and January lOQi 
and the sseding occurred in March The flowering 
was not entirely gregarious, but very nearly so, and 
was confined to the mature clumns. A clump 'here 
and there seemed to escape. In "the Wada Range 
which is in the central portion of the district I 
observed the flowering was sporadic and scanty. In 
the Bassein Range on the fcea Coast, the flowering 
was a little more copious than in Wada, but not 
gregarious. I an informed that at Yewa, a village 
m the Kalyan Taluka of South Thana, the Manwell 
bamboo planted in the village also flowered this 
(1900J season, and that about half-a-dozen clumps in 
the forests close by flowered as well. In these 
cases, the flowering was not confined, it is said, to 
the mature clumps only, but also to the younger cues. 
In 1899 I met with a solitary clump of the same species 
in seed in the Bhiwandi Range of the South Thana 
Forest division. 
Method of Collection of Seed. 
While in the Assa Forest, in March 1901, I 
found the wild tribes gathering the bamboo seed 
for home consumption, and also for sale in the 
neighbouring native State of Jawhar. The outer 
culms of each clump are cut one by one at about 
4 feet from the ground, and each culm bear- 
ing seeds is laid on the ground, which has been 
previously cleared and swept. The culm is well beaten 
with a stout stick till all the seeds from it have 
fallen. The fallen seeds with husks are carefully 
collected and winnowed by children. It a( pears 
that on being taken home, the seeds are crushed in 
a mortar. One adult is said to be able to collect 2 
to 6 seers, i.e., 4 to 6 lb. of seed per diem. Seed 
was also collected and sold in the Jawhar State 
which is adjacent to the Assa Forest at R2 per 16 
adholies, i.e., 64 lb, I have a few pounds available 
for distribution if required. 
G. M, Ryan, 
— Indian Forester. 
