March i, 1907, 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



169 



'QmA-FDX*' 



Published on the Ist of each Month by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING 



No. 35 WEST 2lsi STKEET. NEW YORK. 

 CABLE ADDRESS: IRWORLD, NEW YORK. 



GO. 



HENRY C PEARSON, 



KDITOl;. 



HAWTHORNE HILL, 



.\psnriATi:. 



Vol. 35. 



MARCH 1. 1907. 



No 6. 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



The Table of Contents of The Inhix Ruhber World, which 

 for so many years has occupied a place in this cohmin, will be 

 found this month and hereafter on the last page of reading matter. 



GUAYULE RUBBER. 



'T'lIE development of the production of rubber from 

 the so-called "guayule" plant in Mexico has pro- 

 gressed at a more rapid rate than has ever before been 

 recorded in the case of any new grade of rubber, or of 

 any new rubber producing field. The guayule rubber 

 has suddenly become of such widespread interest in the 

 trade that the Editor of The India Rubber World 

 has thought it worth while to visit the region producing 

 it, in order to become as thoroughly acquainted as pos- 

 sible with the situation. It is believed that the interest 

 that has been expressed in regard to guayule will justify 

 the amount of space which we have devoted to it. 



The new rubber, while different from any other that 

 has been known to the trade, is rapidly being adapted 

 to its need.s — something which occurs more readily nowa- 

 days than formerly. This fact alone indicates that we 

 live in a progressive age. when an article is not neces- 

 sarily regarded with suspicion because it is new. Other- 

 wise, it miglit have been many years before capital would 

 have felt justified in erecting all the gunyule factories il- 



^lustrated in our pages. 



2? But it must be added that guaxule rubber could not 

 I have been produced so rapidl\- hut for the conditions 



■^ under which the work is his.,di1y concentrated. Some 



'^ sucli consideration applies to ruhhcr [jroduction elsewhere, 



and illustrates why rubber from the Ilcvca species, for 

 example, is handled so much more satisfactorily on plan- 

 tations than in the forest. As is shown elsewhere, the 

 supply of guayule is not so great that the producers of 

 other rubbers need fear a vital change in ])riccs from 

 this product. Indeed, the trade is in a position to wel- 

 some everv new rubber that can be brought to light. 



THE QUALITY OF PLANTATION "HEVEA." 



LIBRA k 



NEW V( 



m>TAM 

 o. 



P UBBER planters in the Far East and the exceedingly 

 capable scientists who are deeply interested in tne 

 production of crude rubber from cultivated sources are 

 deserving of much praise in that they have really proved 

 that rubber can be, and is, cultivated on a large scale. 

 Hiat it is financially a success is also proved by the pre- 

 miums at which shares in rubber planting companies are 

 sold. Considering the youth of the plantation problem 

 in the sections under consideration, the volume of rubber 

 is exceedingly satisfactory. To the rubber manufacturer, 

 however, the quality of the product as compared with 

 Para rubber from the Amazon is very unsatisfactory. Al- 

 though they use this rubber in increasing quantities, the 

 complaint arises that the product is very uneven, that the 

 fiber is in many cases exceedingly short, and that almost 

 every shipment contains some weak rubber, that is. ex- 

 ceedingly weak. 



The planters were, and doubtless still are, anxious to 

 put a product upon the market that will be the best in 

 the world and that will be so staple that a parcel bear- 

 ing the name of a given plantation will find a ready sale 

 because the purchaser will know, without sample being 

 submitted, about what to reckon on for shrinkage and 

 what for tensile strength. The shrinkage question has 

 been very successfully dealt with, but tensile strength and 

 lasting qualities are not yet what they should be. In 

 other words, no wise manufacturer to-day, leaving out 

 the question of interest on investment, would dare to buy 

 50 tons of cultivated Hcvca rubber and store it for six 

 months, because he would be afraid of the very appre- 

 ciable deterioration in quality. On the other hand, he 

 would buy thousands of tons of uprivcr fine Para and 

 store it with a full knowledge that it would not grow 

 worse in storage, but would grow better. 



Now, it is perfectly possible that one reason for the 

 difference between smoked wild rubber and the scientific- 

 ally gathered cultivated rubber lies in the age of the 

 trees. It is, however, equally possible that the whole 

 matter comes down to the question of coagulation. The 

 native gatherers up the Amazon expose a thin film of 

 latex to heat and smoke. The result is that the latex is 

 not only coagulated but the film is dried and perhaps 

 very slightly vulcamzcd, so that if this is thoroughly done 

 the rubber remains hard and iminune to any ordinary 

 storage changes for years. 



It would seem, therefore, that with this knowledge as a 

 basis, the planters in the Far Fast have an opportunity 



