February i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



191 



Some Crude Rubber Sources. 



BRAZIL'S SHARE IN RUBBER PRODUCTION. 



SOME Statistics of rubber production which appear in the 

 able Parisian journal, Le Brcsil. are of interest, though 

 we do not know how far they approach accuracj-, in the 

 absence of any knowledge as to the sources of information of our 

 contemporary. What Le Brcsil really does, in this case, is to 

 figure out the share of Brazil in the world's production of rub- 

 ber for nine calendar years, ranging, according to its computa- 

 tion from 49.14 per cent, in 1899 to 50.70 per cent, in 1907. The 

 figures are given in detail in the table which follows. 



The figures in the middle column of the table, however, are 

 not derived from Le Brcsil. Accepting as credible the official 

 record of rubber production in Brazil supplied by the statistical 

 department at Rio de Janeiro, for the years 1903 to 1907, in- 

 clusive, we have applied Le Bresil's percentages, with the result 

 that the world's total rubber output for 1903 works out at 59,- 

 500,938 kilograms [=130,902,064 pounds], and so on for the 

 succeeding years. Expressed in pounds the production for 1907 

 would be 158,337,500. 



Total 

 Kilos. 



Brazil's 

 Share. 

 49.14% 

 48.14% 

 50.98% 

 54.88% 

 53-28% 



5175% 

 51.80% 

 51.00% 

 50.70% 



Year. 



1899 



1900 



1901 



1902 



1903 59.500,938 



1904 61,011,576 



1905 68,325,500 



1906 68,549,488 



1907 71,971,591 



These figures are presented for what they may be worth, in 

 the absence of any known to be more authentic. 



YIELD OF RUBBER TREES IN BRAZIL. 



In an article on rubber in northern Brazil contributed to 

 the Pall Mall Gazette (London), the writer speaks of experi- 

 ences in the Acre territory, and mentions particularly two es- 

 tates producing each about 200 tons of rubber yearly. He 

 found that on the lowlands, where the rubber season is shortened 

 by the annual rise in the rivers, the scringiieiros average from 

 300 to 400 kilograms [^^)6o to 880 pounds] per year, while on 

 higher lands, with a working season of about nine months, they 

 bring in from 600 to 700 kilograms [=^1,320 to 1,540 pounds] 

 per year. Supposing that these workers average 500 kilos 

 yearly, 400 men would be needed to produce 200 tons of rubber. 

 This writer intimates that at present all the seringuciro gets for 

 his work is food and clothes, and that if there were better busi- 

 ness organization as a general thing it would be possible to 

 equip and pay rubber gatherers on a basis which would permit 

 a profit in the rubber business with the price of rubber delivered 

 at the steamer landings at a shilling per kilogram [=about 11 

 cents per pound], or even less. He writes that many natives 

 from Barbados are to be found gathering rubber in the Acre, 

 and that they usually bring in a greater amount of rubber than 

 the Brazilians. 



"PALO AMARILLO" AS A RUBBER TREE. 



Interest has been revived of late in the possibility of obtain- 

 ing rubber in commercial quantities from the Mexican tree 

 known locally as el palo amarillo (the yellow tree). It was at 

 one time designated botanically as Euphorbia elastica and latterly 

 as Euphorbia fulva. This tree and its product was the subject 

 of a report in The India Rubber World February i, 1906 

 (page 148), the conclusion of which was that it appeared to be 

 of little value in yielding rubber. The tree has continued to be 

 the subject of study, however, and it has now been brought to 

 notice again rather prominently through the efforts of a pro- 



moter, hailing from New York, under the name William H. 

 Ellis. He represents himself in Mexico as having formed a 

 $20,000,000 corporation with the name Consolidated Palo Ama- 

 rillo Co., and in which some wealthy New Yorkers are reputed 

 to be interested. He has been active in this interest in the re- 

 gion of Torrcon, and United States consuls have been writing 

 reports on the possible new source of rubber. It appears certain 

 that Ellis has secured reports on the tree and its latex from Dr. 

 H. H. Rusby, dean of the College of Pharmacy, of Columbia 

 University, and Dr. Fernando Altamirano, director of the Na- 

 tional Medical Institute of I\Iexico, and the names of those two 

 eminent scientists are being used to aid in the promotion of the 

 Ellis company. The commercial history of this tree and its 

 product is very brief. 



Ellis was last mentioned in The India Rubber World some- 

 thing over two years ago as being active in Mexico trying to 



"Palo .\makillo" (Vell'ow '1'..ll). 



form a guayule rubber company. He had then lately returned 

 from Abyssinia, where he had tried to promote trade relations 

 between that country and the United States, in consequence of 

 which he was honored by the Emperor Mcnelik with the title 

 Duke of Hawash. Ellis claims concessions in .Abyssinia for 

 lands said to contain rubber forests. 



The India Rubber World, it must be confessed, views 

 "palo amarillo" gum with a certain prejudice — perhaps an un- 

 fair one. At first sight it seems too sticky and resinous to be 

 of much value. At the same time, that was much the way 

 that guayule rubber looked a few years ago. It is possible 

 that if the latex is abundant, and can be gathered cheaply, 

 if it contains 10 per cent, of rubber or more that can be 

 extracted by some simple process, and if it is of good quality, 

 the extraction may be worth while. 



