Chapter II: Introduction (1)

Brazil, with its vast and immeasurable virgin forests in the valley of the Amazon, undoubtedly the greatest in the world, traversed by innumerable tributaries, many of which are larger and deeper than many of the rivers in other countries, can be considered the largest storehouse of native rubber of the best quality, all ready to be extracted, coagulated and applied to all kinds of industries. No other investment of capital can be as remunerative as that invested in the extraction of the native rubber from full grown trees, already existing in large quantities of many millions, and in zones full of natural richness.

For the culture of rubber trees of the various species, the whole northern and central portions of Brazil are well adapted, and will give magnificent results in the near future.

Nature has prodigally provided easy means of communication by waterways broad and deep. The climate is equitable without great variations of temperature, which gives perpetual summer and produces large and nearly uninterrupted harvests of agricultural products.

The difficulties which hinder the rapid development of the extraction of rubber are the obstructions in rivers in certain places, at certain seasons of the year when the water is low, and the fact that the production of rubber is so remunerative that all the vigorous men that are thus engaged do not care to engage in any other industry. Thus it is that living in the rubber regions is very expensive because everything must be brought there, even implements and foodstuffs.

These difficulties, however, have been brought to the attention of the Federal Government of Brazil, and of the States, and in consequence an important Congress was called and presided over by the Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce. The Legislative power also passed special laws providing measures urgently needed to better the existing conditions. These laws also provide for a department under the Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, to be called “The Protection of Rubber,” which has already been formed and is at work.

Among the various and important provisions of the law, is the establishment of various experimental stations for advancing the cultivation of the four different kinds of rubber trees found in Brazil, the Hevea braziliensis (seringa), castillôa (caucho), maniçoba, and mangabeira. These trees are all natives of Brazil and can be cultivated from the upper regions of the Amazon to the States of S. Paulo and Paraná. That is, from the extreme north to nearly the extreme south, one or other of these species can be cultivated, according to the climate and character of the soil in each region.

Various concessions and money premiums are offered to attract capital and awaken activity in this industry. Certain services, such as the establishment of hospitals, medical attention and hygienic regulations are also provided by the Federal Government.

In the pages of this book will be found, fully treated, the principal points of this important subject. From the statistical tables published and from the exhibits displayed at the International Rubber Exposition in New York, it can readily be seen that the rubber of Brazil is judged the best in the world, and that its production although already enormous is destined to be largely increased.

DR. CANDIDO MENDES DE ALMEIDA,
President Brazilian Commission.

A MONOGRAPH UPON PARÁ RUBBER

HISTORICAL NOTES ABOUT PARÁ RUBBER

It is in our diaries of the voyage of the Genovese Columbus, that among the important occurrences of that notable crossing of the ocean, which gave him immortality, appeared the first references, made by Herrera, to the quality of a certain gum utilized by the aborigines.

In 1536 Gonçalvo Fernandes d’Oviedo in his “Universal History of the Indies,” published in Madrid, also mentioned the uses which the indigenous tribes of North America made of rubber skins in their amusements.

The Jesuit Charlevoix also refers to it and more fully yet does John Torquemada who in his “Indian Monarchy,” expresses himself thus: “There is a tree in this country (Mexico) known to the natives as =ulequahuitl=, to whom it is of the greatest value. This tree grows in the warm or torrid zone; and presents itself of a medium height with rounded leaves of an ashy color. It furnishes in abundance a species of glutinous white liquid like milk, which makes it of great utility to them.

“The milk of the =ulequahuitl= is obtained by beating the tree with a small hatchet. The liquid is then seen to ooze out from the incision made like blood from a wound. The natives gather it into dry hollow gourds of various sizes. It gradually takes consistency in these receptacles, until it turns into a gummy mass, from which it is easy to adapt it to any form which may be required.

“Those who have no gourds, besmear their bodies with the liquid substance, as it flows out from the tree; which in drying forms itself into a species of membrane, which is easily taken off and whose thickness varies according to the coating spread over the skin. Skins very much appreciated for their elasticity are made with this =ulli=. The ulli solidified serves for shields, which thus are proof against the sharpest-pointed arrows, owing without doubt to the pliability of the material, which does not affect its tenacity.

“Kings and nobles habitually use shoes made of ulli. The Spaniards of Mexico, moreover, impregnate their capes with =ulli=, so as to make them water-proof, because it is proved that such substance resists water in a marvelous manner, but melts before the action of the sun.”

President of the Federal Government of Brazil Commission.]

In Mexico and Central America, the name of =Ule= still denotes even to-day one of the rubber trees known as the elastic Castille.

After the Spaniards, the French in 1736 occupied themselves with that substance, whose interesting properties had not up to that date come to deserve the attention of the Europeans.

De la Condamine sent by the French Government to Perú, in order to measure a degree of the terrestrial meridian, was the first to refer to the Hevea of the Guyana. In a note that accompanied a small sample of resinous gum of a heavy dark color, almost black, he said to the Academy of Sciences: “There grows in the forests of the province of the Esmeraldas a tree known to the natives by the name of Hevé; a white resinous liquid something like milk runs out from it after making an incision; this substance is collected in a leaf that is laid close to the foot of the tree and afterwards is exposed to the sun, when it gets black at first upon its surface and afterwards by continuous exposure to the sun becomes black in all its mass. Torches, which burn admirably well, are made from it. It is known in Quito, that that tree grows also upon the banks of the Amazon and that the Mainas call it cautchú. They make earthen moulds in the form of bottles and cover them with that material. Afterwards when the resin gets hard, they break the mould and thereby obtain unbreakable water-jars much lighter than glass bottles.”

Later on he wrote: “many are the uses which the Omaguas make of that resin in the central parts of South America, especially among the Indians of Pará where the Portuguese gave to the tree that produces it, the name of =Pauseringa=, because from it ‘seringas,’ much in vogue among the Omaguas, are manufactured; these being little hollow balloons in the shape of a pear, into which a tube is inserted.

“In Pará it is moulded in still many different manners, they make =borracha=, faces of animals, hollow or solid balls and also apply it in the manufacture of boots which become quite water-proof and when smoked acquire the appearance of leather.”

Fresneau, a collaborator of de la Condamine, sought to study the vegetable plants which produced that gum, obtaining as a result that Aublet, a French botanist, proceeded to interest himself in the question and completed de la Condamine’s studies, and then classifying the hevé under the domination of =Hevea Guyanensis=.

It was only in 1798 that the =Ficus elastica=, the first Asiatic plant producer of rubber became known, and up till 1860 South America, English India and Java were the only rubber-producing countries in the world.

Vice-President of the Federal Government of Brazil Commission.]

Much later than this—in 1885, Africa commenced to export this article, an industry which reached its apogee after the creation by Leopold II of the Independent State of the Congo.

In the meantime, in spite of the fact of some of the qualities of rubber and even its applications being known in Europe ever since the Sixteenth Century, it was only during the Nineteenth Century, that this product conquered that position as an article very much in evidence which it now occupies as an indispensable material in modern industry or even still yet for the necessities which civilization created.

Hérissant and Macquer, in 1768, discovered the first dissolving processes; in 1770, Priestley vulgarized the property of the “borracha” in wiping out lead-pencil tracings from which the English name =Rubber= is derived; Berniard, Fourcroy, Berthollet, Grossart and others occupied themselves about this commodity, with more or less success. Madier, in 1820, found out a mechanical means of cutting the rubber-blocks in order to obtain elastic threads and three years afterwards, MacIntosh discovered that naphtha dissolved rubber and thus made cloth impervious to the action of water.

The adaption of rubber to industrial purposes such as the manufacture of shoes, physical and surgical appliances, elastic cloths, railway-buffers, machine-springs, etc., was fairly in full swing when the discovery of the vulcanizing of rubber by Goodyear sprung up, an occurrence which came to revolutionize the incipient industry and enormously enlarge the scope of the commercial application of that product, which thence forward came to assume exceptional importance. The vulcanizing method consists in the mixing of a certain quantity of rubber with sulphur and in the exposure of that mixture to an elevated temperature and to a high pressure during a certain space of time. The rubber transforms itself considerably; the property of indefinite hardness is lost, but presents greater resistency to the forces of compression and lengthening-out, supports excessively low temperature and becomes less sensible to the action of ordinary dissolving ingredients.

In Brazil already existed up to 1840, a rudimentary industry of shoe manufacturing and in the water-proofing of various objects. The great demand for rubber caused by the development of the industry in foreign countries and consequently the very high profits that the extraction of rubber in the Brazilian “seringaes” or native rubber-forests presented, destroyed all that initiative and Brazil passed into the position of a mere producer of the raw material. In order to appreciate with what devotion the country lent itself to this occupation, sufficient is it to contrast the 31 tons exported in 1827 with the 36,547 exported in 1911.

General Secretary of the Federal Government of Brazil Commission.]

RUBBER-PRODUCING PLANTS—BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION—PRODUCTIVENESS—REGIONS IN WHICH THEY EXIST

At the present moment, more than 300 species of rubber-producing plants are known to exist, these being distributed among the tropical regions of the world. Trees of large size, climbing plants and flexible creepers containing the precious latex in their branches, trunk and roots, those vegetable growths from the double point view of quantity and quality of rubber produce have not an equal importance. The species worthy of mention belong to four great families:

1.—Euphorbiacan, =Hevea=, =Micrandra=, =Manioh=. 2.—Ulmacean, =Castillôa= and =Ficus=. 3.—Apocynacean, =Landolphia=, =Hancornia=, =Kickxia=, =Carpodium= and =Clitandra=. 4.—Asclepiadaceas, =Callotropia=, =Cynanchum=.

The production of rubber in America is principally furnished by the heveas, micandra, manioh, castillôa and hancornia; that of Asia by the ficus; and that of Africa by the landolphia, clitandra and kickxia.

In the Amazonian region of Brazil, there exist about 21 species of heveas; of these the principal is the hevea braziliensis, which under the name of “the Pará rubber-tree” deserves to be classed in the front rank of all the other lactiferous plants in the world. The =hevea braziliensis= furnishes the most highly esteemed quality of rubber, and it is the value of that product which determines the prices of all the other species of rubber brought on to the market.

The heveas are powerful trees of from 20 to 30 metres high, the trunk which is cylindric in form and of a light ashy color, generally attains a diameter of from 0ᵐ80 to 1ᵐ20; the branches only commence to grow at about 15 metres from the ground. The leaves fall in June, but are speedily substituted by others; it is during this period that the trees break into flower.

They grow in the valley of the Amazon, which within Brazil embraces the State of the Amazonas, the federal territory of Acre, almost all the State of Pará, the North of Matto Grosso and of Goyaz and a part of the South of Maranhão, or say about 5,000,000 of square kilometres.

Their =habitat= as a general rule is a low and warm region whose temperature varies between 25° and 30°; without sudden changes during the course of the year and they favor by preference the watery soils, just swampy, damp and even marshy; however, at the head-waters of some rivers, they also live and develop themselves perfectly well in dry and elevated land. In the Amazonic forests, the average proportion is of one hevea-tree for 80 trees of other species.

The milky latex circulates from the root to the leaves, existing, however, in greater abundancy in the trunk, up to a height of about 2 metres from the ground. The heveas in Brazil are generally known by the term “seringueiras” and the forests in which they are found are denominated “seringaes.”

The average production of a “seringueira” during the harvest season, which extends over the space of 6 months, is of 5 kilos of fine rubber and 750 grs. of sernamby.

The species most appreciated besides the =hevea braziliensis=, are the =hevea de terra firme=, of which Dr. E. Ule treats in his recent studies, and which are found on the frontiers of Matto Grosso, the =hevea do Rio Negro=, called “seringa verdadeira” (the real seringa), the =hevea benthamiana= and the =hevea dukei=, =Hub=, from the region of the Japurá, all of them furnishing excellent products.

In the valley of the Amazon exist the =micandras=, belonging to the same family and producing a rubber of a superior quality, since it is sold under the name of Fine-Pará. The production of these trees goes to the market included in the category of hevea, owing to its similarity to this latter. The =micandra syshenoide= which is the most known species, is found on the Lower Amazon, in the innumerable islands at the estuary of the great Amazon River, in the valleys of the Madeira, the Solimões, the Japurá and the Purús; the natives give it the names of =tapurú=, =curupita=, =murupita= and =seringarana=. They are leafy trees whose trunk is of from 0ᵐ80 to 1ᵐ in diametre and from 20 to 25 metres high. They grow as well in the low lying marshy soil as in the elevated lands, whence comes their denomination of =tapurú da vargem= and =tapurú de terra firme=. The tapurú is as lactescent or milky as the hevea and the latex which it renders is equally rich, seeing that it gives 50 per cent of fine rubber.

The trees whose product, the =caucho=, occupies the second place in the general exportation of rubber from Brazil although as a matter of fact it only commenced to come into the Brazilian markets in the year 1896, belong to the family of the Ulmaceas. These are the =Castillas= which up till a short time ago have been classed as of the same species as that which grows in Mexico and Central America—the Castilla elastica, but studies made by professor O. Warburg show that they are distinct species which was thence forward denominated =Castilla Ulei, Warb.=

The “castillôa” is a tree of large proportions, reaching to a height of from 12 to 18 metres; its trunk with a diametre of from 0ᵐ60 to 0ᵐ90, is of an ashy gray color, smooth and sparingly branched. The leaves are large, greater, indeed, on the new plants than on the full grown trees and its fruit is of an oily nature.

These trees grow in considerable quantities at the sources or head-waters of the affluents of the Amazon on the latter’s right bank, such as the Juruá, the Purús, the Madeira, the Tapajóz and the Xingú, and on its left bank in the valleys of the Japurá, the Iça, the Rio Negro and the Trombetas Rivers. Abundant “cauchaes” or forests of cautchou trees exist also in the region of the River Tocantins and of the Araguaya.

The “castillôa” is found therefore in the same regions as those in which the “seringueiras” flourish; it exacts a warm climate, a clayey or clayey-silicious soil, but does not thrive in swampy ground or such as is easily inundated during the rainy season.

The latex is found as much in the bark as in the alburno and each tree felled produces on an average about 50 litres of latex or say from 18 to 20 kilos of rubber.

“Ceará” is the mundial denomination of another quality of Brazilian rubber, the rubber of the =Maniçoba= tree. The maniçoba =manihot glaziovii= is a handsome tree 10 to 15 metres high, and a native of the Northeastern region of Brazil. Its trunk presents a diametre of from 20 to 50 centimetres and it possesses few branches; its wood-fibres are weak and light. The cortex, which possesses lactiferous vessels in abundance, is protected by a silicose layer, easily removable. It is a plant of rapid growth.

According to a classification made by Dr. Ule, there are four species of manioh, the =m. glaziovii=, the =m. piauhyensis=, the =m. dichotoma= and the =m. heptaphylla=, the which exist almost throughout all Central Brazil, being specially abundant in Ceará, Piauhy and Bahia.

Little exigent, it thrives in regions where the temperature oscillates between 22° and 36°, on low-lying ground and it develops itself well in lands of great altitude, in which the thermometric average temperature is about 15°, resisting even the hoar-frost.

It is indifferent to this tree whether the climate be damp or dry, as long as the soil is dry.

The species most appreciated are those from Piauhy and the Jequié (“sertão” or back-woods of Bahia). Those of Piauhy present two varieties: the white and the black species, the white being the most renowned. They are of small size, with abundant foliage and thick bark and darkish stem and give plenty of the milky latex, the average being 1,200 grammes per tree. Those of the Jequié, which grow between the rivers Paraguassú to the north and of the Contas to the south, are a shrub-tree whose trunk does not exceed 30 centimetres in diametre. The bark is fine and of light clear color; it produces about 500 grammes of rubber.

The mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa) is a slender and crooked shrub-tree, 3 to 4 metres high, and abounds on the high-lying table-lands or plateaux in the interior of Brazil. The trunk has a diameter of from 0ᵐ30 to 0ᵐ35; is scantily leaved; the fruit is eatable and has a very agreeable taste.

A plant of an extraordinary resisting power, it defies the inclemency of the climate, the absence of rains, the scarcity of humidity and of nourishment from the soil. It predominates in the =catingas= of the Northern States, in the =carrascaes= of Goyaz and in the =cerrados= of S. Paulo, which means to say, that it is found from Maranhão to S. Paulo, now in the Interior, as in the mountain-range of the Mangabeiras between Maranhão and Goyaz, in the central Chapada of Minas, in the Parecis of Matto Grosso and in S. Paulo in the zone comprised between the Paranápanema River and the Rio Grande, tributaries of the Paraná River, and again on the littoral, which is the case from Bahia northwards as far as Ceará.

There are several different varieties of this plant, there being no indications, however, tending to point out any one of these preferable to another with regard to the question of its yield. The latex is of a bluish tint, its richness in rubber varying greatly. Each mangabeira supplies on an average one kilogram of rubber.

Besides the plants mentioned, there are still many others in Brazil which furnish rubber, but which continue to grow without being taken advantage of, on account of the little profit they give.

To speak only of those which exploited on a small scale have yet supplied the Brazilian markets with an appreciable product, we may yet mention the =Massaranduba=, =Mimosups elata=, and =Frei-Allem=, gigantic trees found from the Amazon and Pará to Rio de Janeiro and Minas, abundant in the milky latex, which being coagulated produces a rubber very similar to gutta-percha, to which it serves as a substitute in all the latter’s most important applications; and the =Sorva=, =Couma utilis=, =Muell. Arg.=, which grow in Pará and in the Amazon valley, the latex of which, the =leite de sorva=, enters, with a small coefficient into the production of rubber in these two States.

EXTRACTION OF RUBBER, METHODS AND PROCESSES

The great organic and biologic differences which exist between rubber-trees, exact divers processes of preparation in order to obtain a complete utilization of the productive capacity of each.

It is, however, interesting before entering into a description of the different processes adopted in Brazil, to here state what the chemists think as to what rubber really is.

Rubber is a carburate of hydrogen which in the shape of white globules more or less elongated, are found suspended in the milky latex. The composition of those globules, although even yet, badly defined, is represented by the formula (C¹⁰ H¹⁶)ⁿ. Rubber is generally considered as a derivative of the Isoprina, into which it transforms itself when submitted to the action of dry heat, as Bouchardat demonstrated by his experiments in 1879. Treating the isoprina in a strong solution of chloridic acid, an interesting body is obtained, which reminds one of rubber on account of its elastic properties. Wallach, Tilden, Weber, Harries and others gave themselves up to accurate studies upon the composition of rubber; nevertheless, up till to-day, however, no definite result has as yet been arrived at.

The latex, a thick liquid which has the appearance of animal milk, circulates in special vessels, distributed diversely in the organism of certain plants.

The following are the results of the analysis obtained from the latex of the =hevea braziliensis= by Seelingmann, Scott and Bamber:

Seelingmann Scott Bamber
Water 55 a 56% 22 - 32% 55¹⁵ - 55⁵⁶%
Rubber 32% 37 - 13% 41²⁹ - 32 %
Proteine 2% to 3% 2⁷¹% 2¹⁸ - 2⁰³%
Resin traces 3⁴⁴% - 2⁰³%
Ash 0²³% - 0⁴¹%
Sugar 4¹⁷% - 0³⁶%
Oily substances 9⁷% traces -

Specific weight: Seelingmann, 1.019. Bamber: 1.018.

It is advisable to note, that the proportion of water may vary a great deal, influenced sometimes by the season being either wet or dry, and at other times by the weakness or vigor of the tree at the occasion of its being tapped.

The quantities of proteine, resin and ash are dependent on the chemical composition of the soil, those quantities affect the quality of the rubber, which is the more elastic, resistent and durable the smaller the proportion of those elements.

In the coagulation of the latex, the resin incorporates itself in the rubber, it becoming difficult to separate it, which, however, is necessary; the proteine or albuminous matter is the cause of the developing of the bacteria which occasion the putrefaction of the manufactured article.

The method employed in Brazil in the extraction of the latex and in the preparation of rubber from the heveas trees, is the same as that which was taught by the natives and it is a remarkable thing, that due to the excellency of the product resulting therefrom, it is considered even to-day as the best system.

The great production of rubber in Brazil, is due to the exploitation of the natural seringaes. A “seringal” or, better said “seringaes” in the plural sense, are the forests where the hevea trees flourish among other numerous specimens of luxuriant vegetation, and in those regions everybody, i.e., all the able-bodied men, occupy themselves with the extraction of rubber and are known as “seringueiros.”

In order to exploit the “seringal,” operations are commenced by the construction on the bank of the river, at a place easy of access for navigation, of a large rustic edifice with out-buildings and various sheds. The general edifice serves as a dwelling-place for the owner or his representative and includes a general store or shop with a tavern which does business in selling all the necessary articles required in or connected with the life of exploiting the “seringal,” a store-house for depositing the rubber and an office or counting-house. The sheds are the rudimentary habitation-huts of the “seringueiros” and are sometimes constructed in the interior of the forests, so as to facilitate to a greater degree the work which they have in hand.

As soon as the forest is explored and the seringueiras discovered, =estrades= are opened, these being winding roads cut in the undergrowth and brush-wood with the “facão” (a species of large pruning-knife) and these roads connect a 100 or 150 rubber trees and they lead back to their original starting point. At sunrise, that is to say, at 6 o’clock in the morning, the seringueiro armed with a “terçado” a sort of spear, a fowling-piece or sporting-gun, a small axe or hatchet, a pail and a large number of “tigelinhas,” commences his work. The hatchet is the instrument employed for tapping the trees; it takes the form of a common pole-axe, being, however, generally of cast iron and with the edge of the blade blunt rather than sharp, and from 3 to 4 centimetres broad. The tigelinhas are small vessels or cups of tin-plate with a capacity of about one hundred grammes and of a conical shape cut off at the top.

The seringueiro commences by striking the trees with the hatchet, whose handle is about a metre long, which permits of his making incisions at about from 3 to 3½ metres from the ground. That operation has for its object to make the latex ascend from the roots; the milk that oozes out is utilized as “sernamby.” Two days afterwards, the regular extraction commences, a hatchet with a shorter handle being then used.

To bring this extraction about, “seringueiro” makes the first incision at two metres from the ground, but those incisions must not pierce the cambium and the wood and are as a general rule made at an inclination of 25°. At the lower part of the incisions made by the blows, the “tigelinhas” are fixed, whose sharp and cutting corner penetrates easily into the bark of the tree. The seringueiro operates thus upon all the trees of his road, and this work which occupies him about from 2 to 3 hours being completed, he takes the pail capable of holding 10 litres and recommences his round, gathering into that receptacle the milk contained in the tapping cups, which now empty are boxed one into the other and deposited close to the trunk of each tree.

After that second round and in order that the milk shall not become deteriorated, commences the most delicate operation, that of the smoking process.

For that operation, the seringueiro is supplied with a “boião,” a kind of earthen funnel-shaped chimney, a form made like a spatula or putty-knife and a kind of basin “cuia,” like a dry gourd, made from the half of the fruit of the cabaceiro (crescencia cuyeté).

The fire made with blocks of urucury (Ataléa speciosa Martius) or with fire-wood of massaranduba, rich in oily substances, being kindled, the seringueiro places the “boião” upon it, the function of this latter being to canalize the smoke so that it escapes at the top, which is open.

Through the loop of a cord hanging near to the “boião” the form is passed and sustained by the “seringueiro” who gives it a gyratory movement; with the “cuya” or gourd, he pours the latex into the part scooped out of the spatula, which he carries off immediately to the smoke. The latex thickens and forming a thin skin upon the which another coating of latex is poured out, which is also passed to the smoke. Those successive and alternate operations form the skins, large balls of rubber, weighing from 20 to 60 kilos, which are the type exported from Brazil. The smoke acting as a solidifyer and at the same time a disinfectant by the presence of creosote, acetic acid, etc., kills all the bacteria that produce putrefaction and hastens by its heat the evaporation of the water.

The rubber thus formed is of a superior quality, but when, however, the curds still deposited in the basin, are incorporated with it, the quality becomes damaged, being then quoted as medium fine. The portion of milk which remains adhering to the receptacle or which surrounds the boião and which thickens freely, is reunited into one single skin, and constitutes the “sernamby.”

On the following day the work recommences, the seringueiro making new incisions about 7 centimetres below the first, and continuing thus until he reaches the ground.

To that series of blows in the vertical sense, 35 on the average, is given the name arreação. In each seringueira 2 of these arreações can be made per year.

That process which with small variations is employed in all Amazonia, produces, as is known, the best rubber in the world. A seringal may contain in accordance with its size from 40 to 800 roads. Each seringueiro exploits 2 roads; in which he works alternatively. The daily gathering varies between 2 and 8 litres of milk, but an average of 5 litres can be taken for a road which contains 120 seringueiras of 35 centimetres diametre. As each arreação has 35 incisions and the seringueiras supporting 2 “arreações,” we have thus for each road 70 days or 140 days for the 2 roads; 700 litres of milk produce 400 kilos or in other words 1.666 grammes per tree.

There are “seringaes,” however, in which that average is considerably greater, a medium of 3 kilos per tree not being an exaggeration in some rivers.

Contrary to the almost sedentary life of the seringueiros, the extractors of the caucho (known as caucheiros) are of nomadic habits, and this is so by reason of the barbarous process employed in the exploitation of those trees which is a ruinous one.

The extraction of the latex of the “castillôa” can be done in the same way as that of the latex of the heveas; the caucheiros allege, however, that the cupim introducing itself into the wounds made by the incisions soon causes the death of the plant. Thus they argue that if the tree is condemned, the best way is to cut it down so as to obtain the greatest benefit possible out of it, by the complete utilization of the latex which each tree contains. That reasoning, however, has no foundation in fact.

* * * * *

The exploitation of the castillôa is done in the following manner: the “caucheiro” penetrates into the forest and marks each castillôa tree that he finds, with a cut from his knife, which incisions correspond to a sign of possession for extraction later on. Once he has discovered a certain number of these trees, he constructs a temporary wooden hut for himself and then begins his work. In the first place he clears the brush-wood around each tree and cleans away the undergrowth from the ground, he then opens small cavities in the lower part of the trunk into which he fixes the “porringers,” small vessels made of tin, which are to receive the latex. This done he strikes the tree with oblique “entalhas” of from 1 to 1½ metres in length, canalizing the latex which commences to run from the extensive wounds, by means of mud gutters. At the end of 24 hours the little tin vessels are full and their contents are then all poured into a pail, the “caucheiro” commencing thereafter to cut down the tree, so as to get the full benefit of the latex, existing in the superior part of its trunk. The tree as a general rule is cut at a point above that where the incisions were made, the tree thus remaining suspended above the ground at one end by the lower part of the trunk, where it remains fixed and at the other by its own branches. Along the whole length of the trunk at about a distance of an arm’s length from each other, new circular incisions are made and in corresponding cavities on the ground are placed the receiving cups. The latex thus gathered is collected into a pail.

The thickening is done with a solution of common soap about 125 grammes to a pail of water, two pailfuls of that solution being necessary to thicken 30 litres of latex. They also employ the juice of a liane called =vetilla= which by the description given seems to belong to the convolvulas family—the =Ipomea patatas=.

The thickening process takes place in rectangular holes of 1 metre long and half a metre broad, whose clayey sides are well paved and into them the latex is poured, care being taken that it is then covered up with palm leaves to prevent the entry of rain water. They thus obtain the caucho planks (rubber in cakes), which arrive in the market full of impurities, that depreciate its value very much and it is not at all a rare thing that water exists in cavities in the interior of it, thereby increasing the weight and making the transport dearer.

The portions of the latex which flow out along the length of the trunk or fall into the cavities after that the cups have been taken away, thicken itself freely and form the “sernamby” of caucho, to-day much appreciated in the rubber markets, because of its being purer and not offering errors in weight.

Each adult tree furnishes on the average from 50 to 56 litres of latex or in other words nearly 30 kilos of rubber. Each cake of the size above mentioned weighs nearly 60 kilos; it is thus necessary to cut down three trees so as to obtain one cake.

The trees cut down sprout and commence to grow again, but eight years are necessary to elapse before they can be exploited anew.

No accord has so far been established as to the best methods of extraction to be employed for the different species of maniçoba, nor as to the period most appropriate, the duration of the tapping or the yield of the wild trees or planted trees of different ages.

The system adopted for the natural maniçoba, consisting in the tapping of the subterranean organs, has been applied to cultivated maniçoba; the incisions are made in a transversal sense and have the form of a V with the angle more or less rounded.

The latex is gathered in the ground, at the bottom of a small cavity, opened up on the occasion of the discovery of the parts destined to be tapped; as a rule the worker covers the bottom of the cavity with a coat of clay in powder, in order to prevent the penetration of the latex and its mixing with the sandy soil; the employment of tigelinhas is desirable or of pots of glazed clay, refractory to rust.

The latex thickens during the day, forming a sort of flat ball or biscuit of rubber, which goes on augmenting as the tapping process is multiplied. At the end of a week the rubber which has been obtained, is gathered together and washed in cold water, with a view of eliminating the remains of the serum and other impurities. This method, although primitive, permits of the production of pure rubber. The trunks and branches of the maniçoba are also cut; however, such system occasions great inconvenience. The extensive flaws heal up with difficulty, as the bark of the tree is relatively thin the lactiferous vessels are located in the deep layers; it is not a rare thing that the death of the tree is caused thereby or that the attack of rodent insects or mushrooms is thereby facilitated. It may be of importance to note, that the incisions made simultaneously on the trunk, the branches and the underground parts, speedily exhaust the maniçobeiras; and so the system of an alternate cutting is preferable.

The tappings are practiced during the first six months of the year and extend themselves over a period of from 50 to 60 days. Owing to the lack of data, the average yield of production, which varies according to the age of the trees, cannot be determined, however, the average production of the planted maniçobas may under reserve, be calculated to reach during the space of 60 days 120, 180, 240, and 300 grammes per tree of 2, 3, 4 and 5 years respectively, in accordance with a calculation made by Dr. L. Zehnter.

The actual cost price in the plantations does not exceed 1$500 per kilo, and might be reduced through an improvement in the systems employed; the cost price of rubber from the native maniçoba is higher, due to the dearness of labor and of freights.

* * * * *

There is so far no process which may be called the best for extracting rubber from the mangabeira; the process in use varies with the region, all of them, however, leading to the complete extinction of the plant.

Under the pretext of the cupim destroying the plant, attacking the incisions that have been made, the latex is usually extracted at a small height from the ground. In the “sertões” or wild woodlands of Bahia, Pernambuco and Parahyba, the extraction is done by making a spiral cutting from the thickest branches to the ground, where the cavity is made for receiving the latex.

Nevertheless, the incisions with the cup attached is now being employed, in the same manner as is customary with the seringueira; for that purpose, the exploiters make horizontal incisions or in shape of a V, with a small instrument called an =alegre=, penetrating the entire coating of the bark, in the full length of the trunk, from the thickest branches down to the base, about 45 centimetres distance one from another.

The latex is thickened, sometimes simply with water in the proportion of 3 to 1, and at other times with chlorate of sodium alone, or with a mixture of alum, as is customary in Bahia and in S. Paulo, or now again by the action of alum-stone, double sulphate of aluminium and of potassium as is done in Pernambuco, Parahyba, and Rio Grande do Norte. All those processes present serious inconveniences, such as the entry of water augmenting the weight, the baneful effects and dampness arising from the use of a large proportion of salt, or the loss of elasticity due to the last mentioned process, which turns the rubber cracky and resinous. The smoking process seems in every way to be advisable whenever the richness of the milky-latex in rubber is perfectly comparable to that of the hevea.

Whilst it is affirmed that the production per tree is from 3 to 5 kilogrammes it is more prudent to calculate the average capacity of each tree as at 1 kilogramme.

THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF RUBBER EXPLOITATION

The economic organization of the exploitation of rubber in the Amazonic valley still remains in its rudimentary condition, continuing almost exactly on the same lines as those adopted when the production of this article—one of the principal sources of the wealth of Brazil—first began to open up.

This unaltered condition of affairs in the modifying of the economical processes, is the consequence of the continuance of certain conditions such as the existence of vast regions still entirely unexplored, the progressive penetration of the seringueiros guided by the course of the rivers into far away regions where rapid means of communication are completely lacking, the scarcity of labor, and the necessity of capital being embarked in the extraction of rubber.

The régime of private property is still limited, and does not extend beyond a few kilometres into the Interior, starting from the banks of the rivers, since the greater part of the lands still continue to be the property of the States either of Amazonas or of Pará, and—in the territory of the Acre—of the Federal Government.

With the object of peopling the rubber-producing regions endeavors are being made to facilitate the acquiring of properties by furnishing their owners with adequate guarantees of protection, special Public Departments having already been created in the State of Amazonas and Pará devoted to the fiscalization of the régime of lands; and the régime of lands in the Acre Territory is about to be regulated at once by the Federal Government in accordance with the determinations set forth in the new economic measure known as the Rubber Defense Act.

The proprietory question originated itself in the concession of lands granted under certain conditions such as that of its effective exploitation and cultivation, colonization, etc., and by the legitimation of the possession. These last were established in the following manner:

The explorer who penetrated into the forest in search of seringaes, examined the banks of the river by which he went up and when he verified the existence of a favorable zone, he landed and after a careful exploration under the direction of specialist-workmen called “matteiros” (foresters) he settled down and gave himself up to the exploitation of the “seringal” he selected.

That occupation of virgin ground and its being made use of constituted the act of possession, the first step towards acquiring the property. In order to definitely assure the dominion of the lands selected, it became necessary to obtain a title of ownership from the Government of the State in which these lands were located, this being drawn up only after that the respective marking out and survey by an authorized engineer or surveyor, the depositing of the respective plans, the verification that no anterior rights or claims existed on the part of third parties, as also the payment of the respective taxes being satisfied, which last averaged about 5$000 per hectare.

Only after that all these formalities had been complied with, was the concession granted definitely, and the possession considered as complete. The title deeds of the property with the respective specifications is registered in special blocks, which will serve as proof in case of future dispute and will furnish authentic documents in place of the property-titles that may have been mislaid or lost. Once the concession is legalized and the possession marked out, the property rights are considered irrefutable.

The dominion of the lands being assured, their usefulness will depend upon the co-existence of two essential factors—labor and capital.

In the regions of the Amazonian valley, sparingly peopled by the want of direct immigration, the work is done by the natives and principally by Cearenses, people from Ceará.

Under the general designation of =Cearenses= are comprised the populations of the northeast of the country from Bahia to Piauhy, a strong race endowed with rare energy. Having immigrated from their native state fleeing from privations to which the periodical dry seasons reduce them, they arrive completely without the means of subsistence, it being necessary for the owners of the “seringas” who contract their services to take measures for their transport, alimentation and maintenance in the seringaes until with the delivery of the rubber collected, they find themselves in a position to liquidate the debts that they have contracted and the expenses that have been occasioned.

On the other hand in their turn the owners of seringaes not disposing of capital are placed under the necessity of raising loans with which to defray the exploitation of their lands. These resources are furnished them by the traders, part in money and part in merchandise, these traders being known as =aviadores= whilst the proprietors are called patrons or aviados.

The extensive credits opened by the traders constitute acts of confidence, being guaranteed more by the activity and initiative of the proprietors of the seringaes, than by their respective properties; the heavy burdens with which these loanings or advances of money are weighed down, have their origin in the risk which is run by advancing such capital, due to the difficulties of collecting the debts contracted and the far distant nature of the lands given in guarantee. It frequently happens that the traders do not dispose of sufficient means for carrying out all these lending operations in which case they fall back upon the exporting houses, who advance them the necessary money, against a contract to hand over the rubber at a certain date and at prices previously fixed.

Thus is established a successive dependency of the seringueiro on the owner of the property, this latter in his turn on the merchant-trader and finally of the merchant-trader upon the exporting house.

Thereafter it is seen how grievously the system of want of capital acts on the whole system on the exportation of rubber and the long series of intermediaries.

Let us see now what is the capital which the owner of the seringal requires to possess for an exploitation of say 200 roads.

A seringal with 200 roads exacts altogether the work of 100 men, whose engagements in the region where they reside and their transport as far as the “seringal” costs on an average 40:000$000 and to each one of them is supplied a sum of 350$000 destined to defray the costs of purchase of the indispensable material for making a commencement with the work of exploitation; out of an initial sum estimated at from 75:000$000 to 80:000$000 including casual expenses.

Arrived at their destination, the seringueiros, as they find themselves completely without means, continue to be a burden on the budget of their contractors during the period of the clearing the forests of brush-wood and undergrowth, and the cutting of roads, which are the preliminaries to the gathering in of the rubber. Up till the date of the final delivery, which takes place from 6 to 7 months afterwards, the proprietor expends nearly 100:000$000 with the feeding and maintenance of the seringueiros, which is but the preface to a total sum of 180:000$000 inscribed on the books of the aviador or merchant-trader as being the indebtedness of the owner of the seringal.

This latter in order to meet the charges of the up-keep of the seringueiros, establishes “vendas” or selling-stores, by means of which he supplies not only the goods of first necessity for consumption, but also the tools, utensils and, indeed, everything that is required for the proper exploitation of the “seringal.”

These “vendas” or supply-stores are stocked by the merchant-trader of Belém and Manáos, who send them periodically in steamers or steam launches, the necessary merchandise. According to the season of the year, the rainy or the dry season, the greater or less the distance to be navigated, in short, in accordance with the condition of navigability of the rivers, the trips are made fortnightly, quarterly or perhaps only twice a year.

The merchandise dispatched is debited to the owner of the “seringal” at the invoice price, augmented by the high expenses for insurance, freight and a commission which varies from 20 to 30 per cent according to the time-term stipulated for the payment in cash or the delivery of the rubber.

The owner of the “seringal” in his turn re-sells in retail the merchandise received, putting on a high profit to its original price; the seringueiros who already pay interest at the rate of 20 per cent upon the advance of the 350$000 which is made to them at the time of their being contracted, are obliged to supply their needs exclusively in the store of the proprietor of the “seringal” and to hand him the rubber which they may have gathered in payment thereof.

The initial supplying of the utensils amounting to 200$000 added to the cost of the journey which runs for account of the seringueiro himself, absorb the 350$000 of the advance; and his expenses, whilst the extraction of the rubber is proceeding—which lasts for 6 or 7 months—totals up to about 1:000$000, so that when he comes to hand over the rubber, he is already responsible to the proprietor of the “seringal” for an amount of about 350$000 including the payment for the renting of the road explored.

His production being on an average of about 400 kilos (in certain regions it is much greater), the worker finishes his enterprise with a very small profit and it is not a rare case that he is not able to satisfy all his indebtedness, a circumstance, this latter, which keeps him continually dependent upon the owner of the “seringal.”

On handing over the rubber, the conditions of payment are adjusted and these are generally made in one of the two following ways: either the seringueiro sells the rubber directly to the proprietor of the “seringal” at a reduction of one-third upon the prices ruling in the markets of Belém or Manáos; or he encharges him to sell it in the referred-to market with a discount of 35 kilos of rubber or with a discount of from 10 to 15 per cent of the net price of such sale, given in payment of the renting of the road exploited.

This defective economic organization of the exploitation of rubber has, as its consequence, the high costs of production which to-day oscillate between 3$000 to 3$500 per kilo. This disadvantageous situation, however, is not a permanent one and may be remedied.

We shall leave for a special chapter the explanation of the means recently adopted for bettering the condition of the seringueiros, augmenting their productive capacity and recompensing them more justly for their work.

TRANSPORTS AND FREIGHTS

The problem of transports and freight continues to be one of the most palpitating questions in Brazil, notwithstanding the great progress in this particular made during the last 10 years.

The considerable increase in the mercantile marine and the incessant construction of the numerous railroads of penetration, have not been able to keep pace with the extraordinary development of the country and its notable economic expansion, the national commerce continuing to feel the want of further means of transport and to suffer from the very high rates of freights.

In Amazonia, the difficulty of communication has become still more felt because of the vast region and territories embraced in this great State, sparingly peopled and whose centres of production are located so far distant from the exporting markets of Manáos and Belém de Pará.

Watered in every direction by innumerable great rivers, tributaries of the great river—the Amazon—the greatest in the world, the Amazonic region still remains to a very great part unexplored, inestimable riches susceptible of being extracted, lying unutilized, in virtue of the deficiency in navigation; in fact, if the principal rivers are navigated regularly to some extent, even though sparingly, others leading to immensely rich regions are very rarely navigated by either ship or boats, which might assure the transport of the products gathered.

Many and divers are the circumstances which concur towards bringing about this state of affairs, but the most important in resumé is that of the want of capital for the construction of ships and the establishment of regular lines of fluvial navigation as also the obstacles offered either by the irregular courses of some rivers obstructed by waterfalls, shoots and rapids, or simply obstructed by the trunks of trees and other materials or by the diminutive volume of water during the dry seasons which makes impossible navigation of even ordinary draught.

One of the most interesting phases of the Amazonian problem is, however, in the regulating and increasing of the navigation of the rivers, with the object of assuring ample transport facilities and the approximation to the centres of production with the consuming markets. The opening up of the ways of fluvial communication is an essential condition to the progress of the Amazonic region, by the lesser expenditure required by transport upon water in comparison with land transportation which in those regions would be particularly difficult and costly.

The steamers and boats which set out from Manáos or Belém for the Interior, make the passage generally, over-charged with merchandise which by reason of accumulation and its defective packing suffers not rarely serious damages which has the result of bringing about a notable increment in prices. As a general rule the cargo being greater than the space requisite to its accommodation, makes the navigation extremely difficult, the steamers thus not being able to make head-way against the current, which flows at the rate of from 3 to 5 miles an hour, or desiring to diminish the expense in the consumption of coal, seek out the waters the less agitated and approach as much as possible the banks of the river.

The want of minute hydrographic charts and the imprudence of the captains, as also of the masters of steam launches and other floating material, have, as a consequence, the bringing about of frequent strandings, which even though they may not cause damage to the cargo involve interruptions in the trip sufficiently prejudicial.