10 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October i, 1906. 



ager, Edward A. Kiiramel, was fonnerU- manager of the 

 Mexican coffee and rubber plantation of the Hatavia Co., 

 also of Milwaukee. Mr. Kiimmel writes : " We have every 

 confidence in the future of rubber in Cuba, and are proud to 

 say that as far as we know, we shall have the first rubber 

 ])lantation in Cuba." 



RUBBER CULTURAL EXPERIMENTS 

 l)u, I'i:iiR Oi.sson'-Sei'imcr, director of La Zacualpabotani- 

 ical station at Escuintla, Chiapas, Mexico, since its estab- 



PLANTATION HOUSE ON A LARGE PRIVATE RUBBER ESTATE IN MEXICO. 



li.sinueiU iu December last, for the carrying on of experiments 

 in scientific rubber culture, has gone to the Orient to make 

 studies of a similar character on the older rubber plantations 

 in Ceylon and elsewhere. Dr. Olsson-Seffer has instituted 

 series of experiments in relation to tapping methods, treat- 

 ment of the latex, and also the effect of selection in the 

 development of rubber trees, all of which will be continued 

 during his absence. It is intended in due time to make 

 public the results of all these experiments. 



NORTHERN MEXICO GUAYULE MAD. 



' I ^HE excitement which followed the discovery of oil in 

 -*- Texas a few years ago has its parallel in the craze 

 which exi.sts throughout northern Mexico over the discovery 

 of rubber in the guaj'ule shrub says a correspondent of the 

 New York Si/n writing from Monterey. The utilization of 

 the shrub is no longer an experiment. More than ^,3, 000,000 

 has been invested in the erection of gnajnle rubber factories 

 in this region within eighteen months and the investment of 

 several more millions is in prospect. 



The guayule plant was until recently regarded as a nui- 

 sance, and the arid land on which it grows had little value 

 for any purpose. Now two tons at least of guayule shrubs 

 can be got from an acre, which sell as high as $100 (silver) a 

 ton. Hence manj- ranch owners who were land poor have 

 become rich. 



Francisco Madero, of Parras, Mexico, is mentioned as the 

 owner of 4,000,000 acres of guayule producing land. He is 

 said to be the largest individual land owner in northern 

 Mexico. He estimates that his land will produce at the 

 first cutting not less than 5,000,000 tons of guajule. At 



$50 gold a ton the shrub would bring him $250,000,000. In 

 the opinion of experts who have gone over much of this land 

 it will yield at least two tons of the shrub to the acre. That 

 being true, its value is $400,000,000. 



Madero is a rich man outside of his landed holdings, and 

 is the head of a sj'udicate organized, as the Si/>/'s writer 

 hears it, " to fight the Continental Rubber Co.," which is an 

 important New York corporation. There does appear to be 

 competition at least in the buying of guayule shrubs. One 

 companj', it is reported, recently paid Eugenio Ortiz, owner 

 of a large guayule bearing ranch in the state of Nuevo Leon, 

 $200,000 in advance for the product from this land for a 

 period of eight years. 



Seiior Madero, by the way, is showing his faith in guayule 

 by building factories for getting rubber out of it. He owns 

 two such factories already near Parras, and is having others 

 ])lanned for him, in the state of Zacetecas and elsewhere. 

 The Sii'i refers to the large guayule factories of the Con- 

 tinental Rubber Co., and several smaller ones owned by vari- 

 ous parties, and concludes with more stories of fortunes 

 quickly made by selling the shrub : 



A number of Americans have made fortunes out of guayule 

 lands since the boom started. Soon after the discoverj' was 

 made that the shrub was valuable J. H. Sendole of San 

 .\ntonio, Te.xas, purchased a ranch of 10,000 acres of land 

 situated between Torreon and Saltillo for $3000. He re- 

 cently closed a contract with one of the rubber companies 

 for the sale of all the guayule shrub upon the ranch for 

 $iSo,ooo Mexican money, which is equivalent to $90,000 

 American gold. He still owns the land. 



Thomas Hebb, a Texas railroad conductor, came to Mex- 

 ico about five years ago and purchased a ranch of about 

 40,000 acres in the Avalos district, state of Zacetecas, for 30 

 cents an acre. Tlie land was worthless except for grazing 

 purposes. Mr. Hebb found that his property was in the 

 very heart of the guayule growing region. He closed a 

 deal recentl\- for the sale of all the guajnile shrub upon the 

 ranch for $235,000. 



HOW GARAGEMbN SAVE TIRES. 



TT is a fact well known to everyone who has much experi- 

 -^ ence with automobiles that oil or gasoline will cause 

 disintegration and ruin of rubber tires. That being the case, 

 the greatest care is taken by the conscientious chauffeur 

 when filling his tank or oiling his machine lest there should 

 be a spill or leakage that might some da}' cause trouble. In 

 the public garages nowadays everj' precaution is taken to see 

 that every drop of oil goes where it is intended, and that no 

 gasoline is spilled over the floor to generate a vapor that 

 might lead to disaster, or to penetrate a tire and damage it. 



Perhaps fire department and insurance regulations have 

 had something to do with this, but, be that as it may, the 

 effect is the same. The floor of every well regulated garage 

 is kept as clean and dry as possible. In most places there 

 are shallow trays that fill the entire space under the automo- 

 bile. When a motor car is to be oiled a tray is placed be- 

 neath it and if any oil should drop it would be prevented 

 from falling on the floor. The operation of oiling completed, 

 the tray is withdrawn, wiped dri,- and placed aside until 

 needed again. It is ne.xt to impossible for harm to come to 

 a tire from oil or gasoline while in a garage. 



