INDIARUBBER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4456, 1 July 1875, Page 3

INDIARUBBER.

(From the Calcutta Englishman, March 17.) ' Among the numerous products of the vegetable world there are, perhaps, not many which are more largely employed for useful and scientific purposes than caoutchouc. Considering the already large' and annually increasing demand for this useful product.; considering, moreover, how primitive, in most cases, is the method of its preparation, and how very wastful, it is a fortunate circumstance that the trees which yield it are numerous and widely spread over different countries. But, notwithstanding these many sources of supply, fears have been frequently entertained that the substance • in question will become scarcer and scarcer, and ultimately fail altogether. Though we do not share in this apprehension, it is gratifying to find that the Indian Government have, for some time pest, had then- attention turned to the possibility of. a scarcity in the supply, aud -are not only endeavoring to introduce from other countries the trees which yield the best juice, but are taking steps to place_ our indigenous trees under proper regulations, and to adopt the least wasteful methods of obtaining the milk therefrom. Already, seeds of the Para Caoutchouc tree have been introduced. This tree is supposed to yield the best rubber, as being more tenacious, purer,, aud more durable than .other kinds,, and is therefore more largely employed in the manufacture of articles in which strength with elasticity _is required. The caoutchouc tree of Mexico (known to botanists Castililon elastica and Markhamiana), and a valuable kind (Vahea) found in Madagascar, have, we understand, been applied for. Some of our indigenous plants, especially that found so commonly in Assam—the Ficus elastica —yield excellent rubber ; aud a climber in the Strait, known as the Urceola, elastica, which attains an immense length, though of an inferior quality, yields its juice abundantly. In addition to these and many other India-rubber-producing plants, several new ones have recently been brought to notice. In those interesting works, The Naturalist on the Fiver Amazon, by Bates, aud Kingston’s Narrative of the Banks of the Amazon, allusion is made to the Massaranduha or Cowtree, which yields a juice stated to be as rich in caoutchouc as the best Para, and obtainable at one-half the price. The wood of tills tree is also, considered one of the most valuable in the upland regions of the Amazons for resisting decay under alternate exposure to air and water. But, coming nearer home, we have lately had an opportunity of perusing -a little brochure by Mr. Strettell, the Deputy Commissioner of Forests in British Burmah, on caoutchouc obtained from a climber rejoicing in the long name of Chavannesia csculcnta. The exudation of this climber was, it appears, first brought to notice some forty years ago, and then reported on as nearly equal to the best South American. But, like many other new, products, no steps were then taken to utilise it. The rubber, by chemical tests, would appear to' be purer than the Assam product. Mr. Strettell has found this creeper “growing in prolific abundance all over the forest, a large proportion of the trees being entwined by it.” In respect to soil, he writes, the difficulty would be to name a class unsuited to it, for it seems to luxuriate everywhere. The Burmaus, to save trouble, lop off the branches, and collect the milk from the amputated extremities. From the estimate introduced by Mr. Strettell of the cost of cultivating a given area of this creeper, and the probable ont-Uirn, taking the present market value of the juice as a guide, it would seem to be well worth the expenditure of the small sura named to give this new Burmese product a fair chance of competing with other kinds of iudiarubber.