426 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September i, 1903. 



rubber trees of two species, but no Carpodinus, so far as he collected on or near the west African coast. We find in our 



knows The rubber, prepared in small balls, is of good quality. books upwards of a dozen entries under the name of ' Benguela 



Very destructive methods prevail, including the tearing up of niggers.' It is of a reddish brown, varying to a dark color, and 



the roots of Landolpkia. Many white traders are at work in of an excellent quality. 



the district, and large areas are reported in which the rubber 

 has been exterminated. The administration will try, however, 

 to put a stop to these abuses. This district, by the way, is on 

 the eastern border of North Western Rhodesia, while that re- 

 ported on above by Colonel Harding is on the western border. 

 Measures of preservation of rubber have been adopted in 

 North Eastern Rhodesia, the administrator of which reports 

 having proclaimed a rubber reserve in the Kdftie district (im- 

 mediately north of the Zambesi river), in which the work of 

 rubber gathering will be regulated. During the year ended 

 M irch 31, 1902, there were 125. 99S pounds of rubber exported 

 from N'orth Eastern Rhodesia, valued at is. 6d. per pound, or 

 ,£9+49 17*. No statistics exist for North Western Rhodesia. 

 THE SOURCES OF "ROOT RUBBER." 



Dr. WEBER(in The India-Rubber Journal) is surprised to see 

 the Landolpkia Thollonii (De- 

 wevre) described as yielding 

 the "root rubber" of com- 

 merce, and quotes Professor 

 Dr. Warburg in support of the 

 contention that it is of veiy 

 doubtful value, while two 

 other species are mentioned 

 as yielding this type of rub- 

 ber — ' 'arpodinus lanceolatus 

 (K. Schumann) and Clitandra 

 Henriquesiana (K. Sch.) Dr. 

 Weber doubts whether L. 

 Thollonii is found in any dist- 

 rict whence root rubber has 

 been exported, whereas the 

 other two species named 

 abound in those regions. 



E. De Wildeman (in Indus- 

 trie et Commerce du Caout- 

 chouc') happens, at the same 

 time, in relating the history of 

 the discovery and identifica- 

 tion of Landolphia Thollonii, 

 to refer to Carpodinus lanceo- 

 . considered for a long 

 time to be the source of root 

 rubber, to be without value. Professor De Wildeman, by the 

 way, asserts the existence of L. Thollonii, not only in the 

 French Congo, but in the Congo Free State, and in Angola. 

 The same author promises an early comprehensive study of 

 the root rubber species, when, it is hoped, the existing con- 

 fusion may be cleared up. 



What is of more importance from a practical standpoint, than 

 the proper nomenclature of these plants, is the discovery and 

 exploitation of root rubber in districts not hitherto worked, 

 and The India Rubber World has intimations that more 

 than one important British commercial firms are pursuing such 

 search in West African regions under British control. 



ROOT RUBBER IN ENGLAND. 



An English rubber firm, writing in The Engineer (London), 

 say that the obtaining of rubber from the roots of plants in west 

 Africa is no new thing. The letter states: 



" Root rubber has long been imported into this country in 

 fairly large quantities under the name of the towns where it is 



" ROOT RUBBER PLANT. 



[Specimen of Landolphia Henriquesiana, mounted on a s'.one for photographing. 

 Reduced from a view in " Kunene — Sambezi Expedition." ] 



For years we were puzzled at the appearance of the rubber ; 

 it happened, some seven years since, that our rubber expert, 

 Mr. J. T. Wicks, was in Paris ; he there saw the director of the 

 eminent rubber house of Hecht Fibres, and asked him why so 

 much red grass was mixed with Benguela rubber, and received 

 the reply that Benguela rubber was obtained from the roots 

 which the natives dig up and finely scrape, as we do horse- 

 radish The scrapings are steeped in water, the rubber separates 

 out, and, owing to its light specific gravity, floats on the surface. 

 The natives then take the plastic rubber and work it into saus- 

 age shaped pieces. The sausages are packed in sacks, and in 

 consequence, agglomerate. 



" When the rubber reaches English factories it is boiled in 

 tanks, the sausages immediately separate, and on close inspec- 

 tion the native method can be traced. What we supposed to 



be red grass is the red woody 

 fiber from the scraped roots." 



WISCONSIN RUBBER CO. 

 [Plantation near El Salto, department 

 of Palenque, s ate ol Chiapas, Mex- 

 ico. Office: Kairchild block, Mad- 

 ison, Wisconsin.] 

 iNCORPORATEDjuly 15, 1903, 



under Wisconsin laws; capi- 

 tal, $1,500,000 when fully paid. 

 Objects: To develop, on the 

 cooperative installment plan, 

 5050 acres on the rivers Tulija 

 and Michol, in Chiapas, Mex- 

 ico. This property adjoins the 

 plantation " Lumija," owned 

 by the Mexican Plantation As- 

 sociation (Chicago) — one of 

 the earliest rubber plantations 

 formed on this plan ; the plan- 

 tation " Philadelphia," owned 

 by the Mexican Plantation Co. 

 ( Philadelphia) ; and the estate 

 of the Iowa Mexican Planta- 

 tion Co. All of these proper- 

 ties are part of a 25,000 acre 

 tract located by John R. Mark- 

 ley, of Chicago, in 1896, and 

 the development of the new 

 plantation, as was the case with the other three, is to be done 

 under contract by the Mexican Development and Construction 

 Co. (Chicago), of which Mr. Markley is general manager. It is 

 proposed to plant 5000 acres in rubber, with a view to having 

 300 trees standing per acre after yyi years, and to cultivate 

 "side crops "on the same ground while the rubber is matur- 

 ing. Five thousand shares are to be issued, for sale at $300 

 each, payable in installments, if desired. The land to be devel- 

 oped has been fully paid for. The location is convenient to the 

 gulf port of Frontera. Officers: Professor Rasmus B. Ander- 

 son, president; Chailes H. Hall, M. D., vice president ; Samuel 

 D. Merrick, secretary and general manager; Frederick C. Hut- 

 son, treasurer. 



JOLIET TROPICAL PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantation Joliet, Tierra Blanca, state of Vera Cruz, Mexico. Office: Joltet, 

 Illinois See The India Rubi br Wori i , May i, 1903 — page 254 [ 



At the first annual meeting over 900 of the 1259 shares sold 

 were represented, in the hands of 294 holders or proxies. Pres- 

 ident John O. Bariett, presenting his report said : " This com- 



