Bleeding the Bully Tree for Balata

Balata is a hard rubber-like material that is made by drying the milky juice from the bully tree (Manilkara bidentata). The latex is extracted by cutting a network of zigzag lines into the bark of the tree and capturing the runoff materials in containers. The latex is coagulated into dried Balata which is used to make machine belting, golf balls and decorative artistic figures. The images show some aspects of the balata harvesting process in British Guiana.

Image 1 - Balata bleeders leaving for the Falls, Berbice river (1910)

Image 2 - Balata bleeders shooting rapids on the Cuyuni River (1913)

Image 3 - Bleeding the Balata tree (1924)

Sources:
[Image 1] Berbice Gazette Store, British Guiana, 1910
[Image 2] Unknown, 1913
[Image 3] Raphael Tuck and Sons, England, 1924