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Sap, which is the life-blood of the tree, flows through the wood, but the juice we are describing is contained in the inner bark, a thin layer directly below the outer bark. Scientific men call this juice latex. It is like milk in three ways: it is white, it contains tiny particles that rise to the top like cream, and it spoils quickly.
Why don't you? Hah!" In the "Hah!" lay triumphant condemnation of a whole way of life. "We do," Fay responded imperturbably, "but a fresh viewpoint sometimes helps." "I'll say it does! Fay, you burglar, I'll bet you've got twenty people like myself you milk for free ideas. First you irritate their bark and then you make the rounds every so often to draw off the latex or the maple gloop."
The latex that oozes from the grooves is a pure white, sticky fluid resembling milk; about a tablespoonful is obtained each day from each tree. In each cup is a little water to prevent the latex from coagulating and sticking to the bottom.
Above the two slanting lines is seen the scarred tissue where the bark has been gouged away. When the lower end of the lower line reaches the ground the tree will be tapped on the opposite side. The amount of latex in the cup seems greater than it really is because of the water upon which it floats.
And rubber makes a belt around the world in its natural as well as in its manufactured form. The rubber-bearing zone winds north and south of the equator through both hemispheres. In South America rubber is the latex of certain trees, in Africa of trees and vines. The best "wild" rubber still comes from Para in Brazil.
"Tapping" begins at daybreak, and all the juice or latex is collected before noon. Dozens of native and Chinese men and boys are employed in this process, some of the latter being so small that they can scarcely carry the two buckets of latex on the bamboo stick over the shoulder.
He must be careful not to cut into the wood of the tree, as such cuts not only injure the tree but permit the sap to run into the latex and spoil the rubber. When the tapper has made the proper gash in the bark he inserts a little spout to carry the dripping latex to a glass cup beneath. This method of tapping is shown on the front cover.
They are now almost obliterated by being turned into sheep-folds; the roofs have fallen in, and only one preserves the traces of two loculi. The arrangements touching fuel and water in this great metal-working establishment are on a large scale. They are built of fire-brick, and of the Hisma stone, which faces itself into a natural latex.
More than half of all that is brought to market is produced in the valley of the Amazon River; and some of this "Para rubber," as it is called, from the seaport whence it is shipped, is the best in the world. The juice or latex flows best about sunrise, and so the natives who collect it have to be early risers.
The next step is to extract the particles of rubber from the latex and to harden them. The jungle method of hardening rubber is to dip a wooden paddle in the latex and smoke it over a fire of wood and palm nuts. It is a back-breaking process to cover the paddle with layer after layer, until a good-sized lump, usually called a "biscuit," is formed.
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