142 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1906. 



iiig wasted, and even then the business is profitable. 

 With a practical extraction plant and with natives bring- 

 ing hundreds of tons of these roots to it. is it not reason- 

 able to suppose that the product could be increased and 

 its value much enhanced ? We might go further and 

 cite a half score of other scources, but it is hardly worth 

 while. 



We do pause to say, however, that ten years from now 

 a vast amount of rubber will come regularly to the mar- 

 ket from such sources as those mentioned. The agnos- 

 tics will have forgotten their pessimistic prophecies then 

 and will be looking ahead for something else in the line 

 of progress to carp at. 



though small at first, be recorded and that all legitimate en- 

 coiiragcnient be given to what should be a great American 

 industry. 



IS THE TIDE TURNING? 



THE Editor of The India Rubber Would has been much 

 besieged by questioners, promotors, investors, lawyers, 

 and others, for information regarding rubber culture in Mex- 

 ico. Tlie inquiries as a rule came down to one final query : 

 "Will rubber trees grow in Mexico under cultivation and 

 produce rubber ? " Really two questions in one. That the 

 Castilloa species will flourish in Mexico under proper condi- 

 tions no one can contradict. Whether it will produce rubber 

 in paying quantities, some might be able to say, " Yes, " but 

 the proof was not forthcoming. In other words, of all the 

 plantations that have been installed in the last seven or eight 

 years throughout the tierra caliente, none as far as the knowl- 

 edge of the writer went were actually producing rubber regu- 

 larly or in any shape except sample lots — really not much 

 more than laboratory experiments. 



There are no doubt numbers of plantations owned by Mex- 

 icans that produce a certain amount of rubber annually from 

 cultivated trees. No records, however, have been kept of 

 amounts gathered or prices received, and it is probable that 

 such rubber, carelessly collected, has passed as the product 

 of wild trees. All that the writer could do therefore, was to 

 say that cultivated trees certainly did grow and grow vigor- 

 ously-, that it was his belief that they would produce rubber 

 abundantly but that he did not know of actual shipments of 

 such rubber. In a recent letter, however, from i\Ir. James 

 C. Harvey, part owner of " La Buena Ventura " plantation, 

 a man who not only has a broader knowledge of rubber 

 planting in Me.xico than almost any other, but one whose 

 carefulness and sincerity are above question, the following 

 statement is made : 



1 took out 350 pounds of fine, clean scrap this year from some of 

 my seven year oUl trees, and on the whole the results were quite 

 gratifying. The rubber was divided between the Boston BelUng 

 Co. and the Hood Rubber Co., and it netted uie 92^^ cents a pound. 

 The writer has been over every foot of Mr. Harvy's plan- 

 tation, saw the trees of which he speaks when they were 

 thrifty four year olds, and while he has no information as to 

 how many trees were tapped or what the cost of the rubber 

 to Mr. Harvey might be, he hails this report as the first 

 tangible evidence that properly conducted plantations in 

 Mexico will be rubber producers. Investors in rubber 

 plantations in that country have certainlj' learned a severe 

 lesson, for all the mistakes that could possibly be made 

 have been made, audit is onlj- fair to those who have played 

 the game fairly and intelligently that the successes, even 



Canadian imports of rubber goods have declined 20 

 per cent, during the last two years, and as there is reason 

 for believing that the total Canadian consumption has in- 

 creased during that period, the enterprising manufacturers 

 of the Dominion are to be congratulated upon the fact. W. 

 the same time, the rubber men of the United States will find 

 consolation in knowing that imports from this side the 

 border have not shared in the decline. 



The rubber tire makers are to be congratulated upon 

 the steady improvement in their products, as evidenced at 

 each succeeding yearly automobile show. Without doubt 

 each of the leading factories is now turning out the best tires 

 it is capable of making. But in view of the superiority of 

 the tires of to-day over those of five years ago, it is probable 

 that the limit of development is far from being reached. 



The open winter, however it may be regarded by the 

 rubber footwear makers, ought to prove a good thing for the 

 tire trade, on account of the greater opportunity it affords for 

 the use of automobiles. 



AFFAIRS OF THE UBERO COMPANIES. 



THK Tolosa Rubber Co. has been formed with headquar- 

 ters at No. 176 Federal street, Boston, to succeed the 

 Ubero Plantation Co. of Boston, the troubles of which were 

 reported at length in these pages some months ago. Claud- 

 ius W. Rider is president, William I,. Wadleigh, treasurer, 

 and the other directors, Charles T. Crocker, Sr., Frank Bry- 

 den, George H. Terpany, Levi R. Greene, William F. Sin- 

 clair, and Edwin O. Childs ==The reorganization commit- 

 tee of the Consolidated Ubero Plantations Co. also issues a 

 circular to investors, stating that sufficient funds have been 

 subscribed to the new company, the United States Plantation 

 Co., to warrant putting the reorganization into effect and 

 calling upon the subscribers to pay up. 



At the annual meeting of the Marion Insulated Wire and 

 Rubber Co. (Marion, Indiana) a new board was elected, con- 

 sisting of J. L. Barley, Robert J. Spencer, L. C. Lillard, 

 John Prior, M. L. Lewis, and R. E. Lucas. Mr. Barley was 

 elected president, Mr. Spencer vice-president, Hiram Be- 

 shore treasurer, and Mr. Lucas secretary and general mana- 

 ger. The capital has been increased 30 per cent, recently, 

 and the board ordered the purchase of additional machinery. 



A suit was reported in our last issue as having been filed 

 by the Philadelphia Rubber Works and the U. S. Rubber 

 Reclaiming Works against the S. & L. Rubber Co (Chester, 

 Pennsylvania) for alleged infringement of patent No. 454,442,. 

 which covers a rubber reclaiming process. The suit, it 

 seems, was not filed by these companies, but by individuals 

 connected with them. The S. & L. Rubber Co., in their 

 answer filed to the suit, deny employing the process de- 

 scribed in the patent, and also the validity of the patent, on 

 the ground that tlie process was used by the president of the 

 present S. & L. Rubber Co. before the date of the patent. 



