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Show When the hunter has found a rubber tree, he first clears away a space from the roots, and then moves on in search of others, 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 machete as high as he can reach. The milk is caught as it exudes and flows into the holes. As soon as the flow from the cuts had ceased the tree is chopped down, and the trunk raised from the ground by means of an improvised trestle. After placing large leaves to catch the sap, gashes are cut throughout the entire length, and the milk carefully collected. When it first exudes the sap is of the whiteness and consistence of cream, but it turns black on exposure to the air. When the hole is filled with rubber, it is coagulated by adding hard soap or the root of the ?[micbiacau], which have a most rapid action, and prevent the escape of the water that is always present in the fresh sap. When coagulated sufficiently, the rubber is carried on the backs of the hunters by bark thongs to the banks of the river and floated down on the rafts. The annual destruction of rubber trees in Colombia is very great, and the industry must soon disappear altogether, unless the government puts in force a law that already exists, which compels the hunters to top the trees without cutting them down. If this law were strictly carried out, there would be a good opening for commercial enterprise, for rubber trees will grow from eight to ten inches in diameter in three or four years from seed. The trees require but little attention and begin to yield returns sooner than any other. Those that yield the greatest amount of rubber flourish on the banks of the ?[Siam] and Aslato rivers. The value of the crude India rubber imported into the States annually is about $10,000,000.-London Times. |