July i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



329 



THE GUAYULE FACTORIES OF MEXICO. 



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\\\l rubber interests in Mexico have, during the last 

 year, centered very largely in the producing por- 

 tion, which is, strange to say, the alkali uplands, 

 situated in and about Torre&n. When, many years 



carload of a dry appearing shrub was brought to New 



SIX MONTHS AFTER LAND PURCHASE. 

 [Factory of Continental Rubber Co.] 



York that rubber might be extracted from it, much amuse- 

 ment on the part of the omnipresent sceptic resulted. To- 

 day that same shrub produces hundreds of thousands of 

 pounds of excellent rubber, and great factories are running 

 night and day for its extraction. 



The rubber manufacturing trade, ever on the alert for 

 something new and yet ever fearful of costly mistakes, has 

 naturally been somewhat doubtful of the size or the perma- 

 nence of this source of rubber. It is therefore with much 

 pleasure that TiiK India Ruhber World is able to give 



illustrations of a Guayule factory and facts concerning the 

 Mexican output. 



The largest factory in the world for the extraction of crude 

 rubber is located at Torreon and is a steel frame building, 

 roofed with corrugated iron, its dimensions being 198X396 

 feet. Two of the illustrations in this article picture the 

 building, one of them showing huge piles of Guayule shrub 

 in the form of bales — a bulk larger than that of the factory 

 it.self. 



Exactly' what the product of this factory would be, run- 

 ning night and day, it is difficult to say, but during the 

 month of May, 1906, it turned out 300,000 pounds, all of 

 which was purchased by American manufacturers. The 

 same companj- — the Continental Rubber Co. — have another 

 factory at Saltillo which is not running at the moment of this 

 writing because it is shut down for the installation of a new 

 engine. This has a capacity of two tons of finished material 

 a day. A third factory is located at Ocampa, about 150 

 miles north of Torreon, and right in the middle of the 

 ("juayule fields, which has also a product of two tons a day. 

 This has been running -night and day since November, the 

 product going to the European market. 



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ENO VIEW OF TORREON FACTORY. 

 [Continental Rubber Co.] 



PILE OF GUAYULE SHRUBS AT TORREON FACTQRY. 



Whether the shrub is susceptible of cultivation no one 

 pretends to know. That it is self propagating and within 

 five years renews itself is well established. At all events 

 there is enough shrub in sight to warrant the continuance 

 of the business for years to come, and further than this, the 

 company to whom is due the credit for giving this new rub- 

 ber world is perfectly willing to guarantee shipments for 

 any period that the manufacturer may elect. 



.•\s has already been mentioned, the last year saw a pro- 

 duct of something like a million pounds. It is also as a mat- 

 ter of common knowledge that one large rubber company, 

 after using Guayule for a year and a half has contracted for 

 a supply of it for the coming year of between 600,000 and 

 1 ,000,000 pounds. Their past consumption of Guayule, sev- 

 eral hundred thousand pounds, resulted in not a single com- 

 plaint from the purchasers of their goods. The largest pro- 

 ducers of mechanical rubber goods and footwear in the 

 United States have also contracted for many hundred thou- 

 sands of pounds of Guayule for the year to come. 



