INDIA-RUBBER GATHERING IN COLUMBIA.

Temuka Leader, Issue 803, 20 December 1881, Page 3

INDIA-RUBBER GATHERING IN COLUMBIA.

An interesting account is given of this process in e report ju>~t issued by .the United States Consul at Carthagena, When the hunter has found a rubber tree he first clears away a space from the roots, and then moves on his seaich of othe r s, returning to commence operations as soon as he has marked all the trees in the vicinity. He first of all digs a hole in the ground hard by, and then cuts in the tree a V-shaped incision, with a machet, as high as he can reach. The milk is caught as it exudes and flows into the hole. As soon as the flow from the cuts has ceased the tree is chopped down, and the trunk raised from the ground by means of an im provised trestle. After placing large leaves to catch the sap, gashes ara cut throughout the entire length, and the milk carefully collected. When it first exudes the sap is of the whiteness and consistence of c.eam, but it turns black on exposure to the air. When the hole is filled with rubber it is coagulated by i.dding hard sap or the root of the nnchvacan, which have a more rapid action, and prevent the escape of the water that is always present in the fresh sap. When coagulated sufficiently the rubber js carried on the backs of the hunters by bark thongs to the banks of the river and floated down on rafts. The annual destruction of rubber tr?> s in Columbia is very great, and the industry must soon disappear altogether unless the Government puts in force a law that already exists, which comp* Is th" hunters to tap the trees without cutting them down. If this law were strictly carried nut there would be a good opening tor commercial enterprise, for rubber trees will grow from 8 to 10 inches in diameter in three or four years from sped. The trees require but little attention, and begin to yield sooner that any other. These th t yield the greatest amount of rubber flourish on the banks of the Simu and Aslato rivers. The value of the crude indiarubber imported into the States annually is about 10,000.000 dols,