September i, 1907.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



379 



long, shrink slightly, and lose about half their weight in drying. 

 When fresh, the latex is expressed from the berries and coagu- 

 lated ; but when the fruit is dried, the nearly pure rubber is 

 found as a wrapping around the seed, this wrapping being red 

 or yellow, according to the variety. Warburg fixes the rubber 

 content at 27 per cent, of the dry fruit. Fendler got 15 per 

 cent, of rubber and 11 per cent, of resin, or 26.37 per cent, of 

 gum from the dried berries. Marckwald and Frank got 23.6 

 per cent, of alxiut equal parts rubber and resin, or about 13 per 

 cent, of pure rubber from the dry fruit. Roversi and Knoop 

 got 18 to 21 per cent, of pure rubber. There are reports of single 

 trees which have yielded 250 pounds of dry fruit. This mistletoe 

 is to a large extent an air feeder, and grows best on the "guamo" 

 or "inga" tree, which is extensively used as coffee shade, par- 

 ticularly in Venezuela. 



What has been said of Strutanthus syriiigifolius applies, in the 

 main, to Strutanthus margiuatus (Bl.), another mistletoe, though 

 its berries are somewhat smaller. 



PhthWusa theobromac (Eichl.) bears "middle sized" berries, 

 which are not so rich in rubber as tht- above. It grows on 

 guamo, aguacate, mango, cacao, oleander, and coffee trees, be- 

 sides several hedge plants, and on several rubber trees, as well 

 as cassava or Manihot ntiUssima. The berries grow in thick 

 clusters, and Knoop thought that their yield of rubber would be 

 more valuable than the coflfcc crop itself. Since then the price 

 of rubber has risen nnich faster than that of coffee. This mistle- 

 toe is quite vigorous, throwing out tendrils to seize and tap 

 neighboring branches. 



There are a mnnber of small berry mistletoes, sucli as Phthi- 

 nisa hyrifolia (Kichl.), Phoradcndron rtibnim (Griseb), Phora- 

 dcitdron giordanae (Warb.), Phoradcndron Knoopii (Warb.), 

 and Strutanthus Roversii (Warb.), with some less ktiown kinds, 

 all of which produce some rubber. Besides these, there are 

 other mistletoes which produce viscin, birdlime, and Japanese 

 wax, the last being usually accredited to the fruit of several 

 Rhus species. 



Mistletoe may be propagated cither by sticking a seed in a 

 crevice of bark or by tying a tendril twig upon the branch of a 

 suitable tree. The plants get their growth in two years. They 

 are all more like orchids than true parasites, and they might be 

 made to grow even on frames or trellises. The rubber content 

 is exceedingly high, the fruit is abundant, and, being such a 

 quick grower, the plant is capable of a great and rapid improve- 

 ment, in the hands of the scientific gardener. 



COTTON IN THE CENSUS. 



BULLETIN 74 of the United States census of manufactures 

 (1905) relates to the textile industry, including the cotton 

 branch. The production of cotton goods is shown to have in- 

 creased largely since igoo, though the increase appears not to 

 have extended to cotton duck. The foUow'ing comparison is 

 given of the production (in square yards") of duck other than 

 "sail" : 



Census of 1900 1 17,483,925 



Census of 1905 113,014,603 



The bulletin contains nothing bearing upon the probable cause 

 of the reduced production of duck. Some figures appear in rela- 

 tion to the cost of raw cotton. The average cost per pound to 

 the mills, in loo.i, of the different classes is stated as follows : 



Sea Island 19.45 cents. 



Egyptian 1738 " 



Domestic, other than Sea Island 11.62 



The average cost of domestic cotton in the census of 1900 was 

 stated at 6.67 cents per pound. 



COTTON PICKINGS. 

 ElxVEN large cotton spinning mills at Manchester, England, 

 were reported recently to have declared dividends for their last 

 business year averaging 23 per cent, on their .share capital. 



Cotton planting in Corea is likely to be stimulated by the 

 Japanese association of cotton growers, at whose instigation an 

 expert in the department of agriculture of Japan has been carry- 

 ing on experiments. 



Cotton ducks are widely used in .Australia for making tar- 

 paulins and for blankets for horses and cattle. The English awn- 

 ing ducks now command the market. 



A COLOMBIAN RUBBER MERCHANT. 



"T" HE fact that .so much of the republic of Colombia remain.s 

 *■ undeveloped has not discouraged her government or the 

 leading business men in their efforts to place the country upon 

 the plane to which the natural resources would seem to entitle it. 

 .Much of Colombia is relatively difficult of access, but the min- 

 eral and vegetable wealth awaiting development Ls so vast as 

 to keep alive the hope that ultimately foreign capital will be 

 attracted on a scale which will bring about a new industrial era. 

 The population is sparse, as well as wanting in capital for pro- 

 gressive undertakings, and transportation facilities are very 



limited as compared 

 with those of many 

 countries. At the 

 same time there arc 

 not lacking mer- 

 chants, mining pro- 

 prietors, and plant- 

 ers whose enter- 

 prise is of the high- 

 est order, and 

 whose success 

 proves what may be 

 done with the coun- 

 try's natural re - 

 sources, when intel- 

 ligent and deter- 

 mined effort is ap- 

 plied. 



Fidel Cuello, the 

 subject of the por- 

 trait herewith, is a 

 III I J I native merchant 



who is typical of 

 the class referred to. His business is located principally at 

 Bogota, the national capital, and at Neiva, the head of steamer 

 navigation on the Magdalena river. Senor Cuello is the man- 

 ager of the house of Cafio, Cuella & Co., importers and ex- 

 porters, with agencies at various points other than those named 

 here, and correspondents in London. During 20 months re- 

 cently the exports of this house reached the value of £65,086 

 19.5. 4rf. I =$3 16,745.73, gold], in addition to the purely domestic 

 trade. The most important item of export was india-rubber, 

 collected by Senor Cnello's house. Next came coffee, produced 

 on his plantation ; hides, gold, quinine bark, etc. In addition to 

 Iiis activity in business, Seiior Cuello serves as the representative 

 at the national capital of the intendcncia of the .\lto Caqueta. 



Seiior Cuello has been particularly interested in the develop- 

 ment of the region drained by the rivers Putumayo (or Iga) 

 and Caqueta (or Vapura). both of which, rising in Colombia, 

 flow into the Amazon. From the head of navigation on the 

 former to the Atlantic seaboard is about 3.000 miles, but direct 

 communication is i)ossiblc. and the hope is entertained of develop- 

 ing this region by exploiting an extensive concession (of lands 

 between the two rivers) held from the government by Senor 

 Cuello and an associate. The president of Colombia, Seiior 

 General Raphael Reyes, has been deeply interested in seeing this 

 region developed, since a number of years ago, he explored the 

 Putimiayo at his own expense from the source to the seaboard, 

 demonstrating that it is navigable. The Caqueta region as a 



