THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



IJUNE I, 1907. 



the care of the property, and it is intended to put a superin- 

 tendent in charge of the property on January i next. 



Pennsylvania Obispo Plantation Co., incorporated December 



14, 1906, under the laws of New Jersey with $1,200,000 capital 

 authorized, has headquarters at Scottdale, Pa. Their plantation, 



'Estancia," is located at Playa Vicente, state of Vera Cruz, 

 Mexico. The company is composed of a number of substantial 

 business men in the Pittsburgh district. A. S. BrazncU is presi- 

 dent, Will B. Jones vice-president, Joseph D. Houston treasurer, 

 and George Frank Kelly secretary. The latter is secretary also 

 of the Pittsburg Obispo Plantation Co., formed four years ago. 

 Among the directors of the new company is Mr. Maxwell Riddle, 

 whose interest in Mexican rubber culture has been mentioned 

 frequently in these pages. 



BRIDGE'S "BLOCK" RUBBER PRESS. 



The undoubted favor with which crude rubber in "block" form 

 has been received by manufacturers has turned attention to the 

 construction of devices for economically putting rubber into thi.-^ 

 shape. The latest machine for this purpose is illustrated here- 

 with. It consists of a powerful screw fitted with a machine-cue 

 worm wheel, driven by a steel-cut worm by fast and loose pul- 

 leys. A reversing motion is arranged for the quick withdrawal 

 of the platen, this being carried on two strong steel columns, 

 bolted to the base. Detachable boxes are used, so that any num- 

 ber may be used with the same press. Each box is fitted with 

 two strong wrought iron bridles, with four powerful screws. 



After the crepe rubber has left the vacuum dryer it is pressed 

 into the box, and when it is under pressure the bridles are 

 brought to an upright position. The screws are brought down on 



K._, 



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top 01 a false platen, the corners of which are knocked out, leav- 

 ing the rubber under pressure, and the main screw is run clear of 

 the box. The latter is then removed from the press and placed 

 on the lower shelf of the vacuum dryer for a period of setting. 

 The bottom of the box, which is hinged, allows the block of rub- 

 ber finally to be forced out by the four vertical screws. 



This press may be fitted with a hand motioji, in case of the 

 absence of mechanical power. From 2 to 3 ii. r. is sufficient to 

 drive by belt a press turning out blocks 9x11 inches, and 4K- 

 inches thick. The total weight of such a press, with one box, is 

 about 1,900 pounds. A number of these presses are reported to 

 have been supplied to the Mabira Forest (Uganda) Rubber Co.. 

 Limited, a company exploiting native rubber in East Africa. The 

 patentees and sole makers are David Bridge & Co., Castleton, 

 Manchester. England. 



BELGIAN CAPITAL IN MEXICAN RTTBBER. 



The .\ntwcrp company, Societe Anonyme Santa Rosa, with a 

 capital of 408,000 francs [^$78,744], has been formed to succeed 

 Cultuur Maalschappij Santa-Rosa (Mexico), of Amsterdam, now 

 in liquidation. The new company acquires a coffee and tobacco 

 plantation in the Mexican State of Oaxaca, on which are about 

 50,000 rubber trees {Castilloa), a considerable proportion of 

 which are now 8 years old, and all reported to be in fine condi- 

 tion. Experimental tapping has been in progress of late. Tl;c 

 company owns some 33,000 hectares [^ 92,543 acres] of land, and 

 their rubber is near the plantation of the Batavia Co., of Mil- 

 waukee, Wisconsin. 



SHIPMENT OF RtrSBEH FROM THINIBAD. 



The island of I'rinidad, one of the British West Indies, has 

 now reached a stage in rubber production, says the latest Bulletin 

 of the botanical department there, where shipments of 1,000 

 pounds at a time are made. Lots of Castilloa sheets have been 

 sold at the rate of ^s. 3d. and 35. 4rf. per pound respectively from 

 two estates, while scrap rubber on one estate has sold for 3.1. 3d. 

 per pound [4.?. 3d. = $1.03 1-3, gold]. 



THE OAXACA RUBBER CO. 



The Oaxaca Rubber Co., formerly a corporation under the 

 laws of New Jersey, was reincorporated in the latter part of 

 February in Maine for the reason that the corporation taxes are 

 lower in that slate. The capital stock is $1,250,000 in $5 shares. 

 The office of president is now vacant ; Joseph T. Elliott is vice- 

 president, William 1. Overstreet secretary, and Caleb B. Leach 

 (Middletown, Connecticut) treasurer. The office of the com- 

 pany at present is in Middletown. A recent circular to the share- 

 holders states that there are on the company's estate in Mexico 

 265,000 rubber trees, and the sale of corn this year is expected to 

 provide funds sufficient for the upkeep of the plantation during 

 the year. There are yet in the treasury 40,000 shares of stock 

 for sale as further funds are needed. This company originally 

 was the Isthmus Rubber Co. The change of name was reported 

 in The 1ni)I.\ Rubber Woi;ld, October I, 1905 (page 15). 

 YIELD OF PLANTED "CASTILLOA. 



In an interesting series of letters in The Mexican hwestor, 

 headed "A Little Journey by a Rubber Planter," Mr. J. Herbert 

 Foster, of Tula, recounts some results obtained from tapping 

 planted Castilloa trees at Soconosco, in the state of Chiapas. Mr. 

 F. A. Quinby, manager of the "Dona Maria" plantation, was 

 found tapping, for the first time, six year old trees, 13,114 of 

 which had yielded 1,126 pounds of dry rubber, an average of 

 about 1,37 ounces. The largest six year old tree, 37 inches 

 in girth, had given 5 ounces. Mr. Quinby expected that when 

 all his trees had been tapped he would have 5,000 pounds of 

 rubber, and he expected to tap them again after six months. . 



A neighboring planter, Mr. V. S. Smith, began tapping during 

 Mr. Foster's visit, the first go trees yielding 17 pounds. Later 

 he wrote to Mr Foster that 3,600 six year old trees gave 360 

 pounds of rubber, an average of 1.6 ounces per tree. 



Both the planters named "cream" their rubber, to remove the 

 resinous content, though the weight is less than where the rubber 

 is prepared by other methods. They both used a tapping knife 

 patented in Mexico. It is a forged piece of sheet metal with a 

 cutting edge bent to the shape of the letter U, and attached to 3 

 straight wooden handle. The operator draws the knife toward 

 him as he works; the U projects an inch below the handle and 

 lakes a V shaped chip out of the bark as it is dragged along. 

 A guiding wheel in front of the blade regulates the depth of 

 the cut. 



RUBBER PLANTING IN THE CONGO. 



The British foreign office, having undertaken an inquiry in 

 regard to rubber planting in the Congo Free State, announces as 

 the result that the plantations there now contain over 10,000,000 

 plants, nine-tenths of which are vines, and the remainder trees 

 ( Fuiitumiii elaslica). Formerly the systems of planting varied 



