THE GUAYULE 



3*7 



nium incanum) and " tatanini" (Parthenium lyratum) afford mater- 

 ial to the hand of the ball enthusiast of northern Mexico. These two 

 plants, however, contain rubber in very meager quantity as compared 

 with guayule. 



This method of extracting the rubber, viz., by mastication, very nat- 

 urally suggested the course of manufacture. As early as 1888 it was 



Fig. 6. Flowers of Guayule. 



proposed to extract the rubber " by a process of grinding and washing." 

 A test carried out in New York by the interested company showed that 

 the "bark" contained at least "18 per cent, rubber comparable to the 

 best grade of centrals." But nothing further was done and samples 

 sent about this time from Mexico to Germany and England, found no 

 favor. 



In 1900, however, some Germans established a laboratory at San 

 Luis Potosi, the birthplace of the industry in Mexico. Two years later, 

 as a result of the San Luis investigations, a factory was started at 

 Jimulco, in which a method of extraction by solvents was used. It was 

 at this time that the experimental operations carried on by Mr. Law- 

 rence and leading to the practical solution of the mechanical method, 

 culminated in the first commercial shipment of crude guayule rubber, 

 extracted by mechanical means. This was the American and, indeed, 

 most important contribution to the solution of the problem, and led, as 

 above stated, to the establishment of the works of the Continental-Mex- 

 ican Eubber Company. 



That the rationale of the mechanical operations involved may be 

 appreciated, we may now consider in some detail the structure of the 

 plant. 



