260 



IHE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[M/ 



1905. 



whether the product is superior or inferior in quality, as com- 

 pared with that of the Castilloa elastica. 

 EDITORIAL NOTE. 

 It is of no small interest that we can now point to a definite 

 designation of the tree yielding the distinctive variety of South 

 American rubber known commercially as " Caucho," which is 

 the Spanish word for Caoutchouc. The tree was described as 

 a species of Castilloa in The India Rubber World [October 

 I, 1S99— page 4], by Dr. J. Huber, of the Pari Museum, who 

 was inclined, though in the absence of complete materials for 

 identification, to regard it as the Castilloa elastica, the rubber 

 yielding speciesof Mexicoand Central America. Fromadetailed 

 popular description of the tree, however, contributed by Lyonel 

 GarniertoTHE India Rubber World [June i, 1902— page 281]^ 

 there appeared reason to doubt the identity of the Amazonian 

 tree with the Central American species. It has remained for the 

 identification to be made by Dr. Otto Warburg, of the royal bo- 

 tanical gardens and museums of Berlin, and editor of Der Trop- 

 enpflanzer, as a result of collections made by Ernst Ule, whose 

 e.xtensive explorations in the South American rubber zone have 

 been referred to already in these pages. The " Caucho " tree is 

 now known to be a distinct species, which has been named, in 

 honor of the distinguished observer above mentioned, the Cas- 

 tilloa UUi. Readers who may feel further interested in the 

 subject of Caucho production may find additional details, re- 

 garding the habitat of the tree and the method of gaining rub- 

 ber from it, in two articles published hitherto in The India 

 Rubber World: "The Peruvian Caucho Tree and its Product," 

 by M. F. Sesselberg [December 10, 1897 — page 65]. and " Is the 

 Caucho Trade in Peru Declining?" by Fred J. Hessell [May 

 I, 1899 — page 206]. 



TAiiLE OF E.xpoRPs OF Caucho and Other Grades op Rubber 

 From the Amazon for Seventeen Years (in Kilograms). 



TOTAL (kilograms) FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS. 



Fine 2ii,9q5,232 



Medium 37.937.4'9 



Coarse 95.473.48S 



Caucho 36.366,610 381,772,749 



In view of the evidence of Dr. Ule, and that of all other com- 

 petent observers, that the extraction of Caucho invariably in- 

 volves the destruction of the tree, the preceding statistics of 

 Caucho production indicate how rapidly the Amazonian forests 

 are being robbed of this species. The number of Caucho trees 

 originally must have been very great, and no doubt an enormous 

 number remain yet to be cut down, as indicated by the fact that 

 the total output shows as yet no tendency to decline. There 

 are available few detailed figures regarding the yearly output 

 of Caucho from definite districts. Some figures in hand, how- 



ever, in regard to the river Jurud. for five recent crop years, il- 

 lustrate the tendency to decline in the districts where Caucho 

 is extensively produced. The table shows the yearly produc- 

 tion of rubber and Caucho in tons : 



1S99-00 igoOK)! 1901.02. 1902-03. 1903.04. 



Rubber 2505 2869 3623 . 3605 3695 



Caucho 2093 2274 1763 1 1 18 842 



Total 459S 5143 5406 4723 4537 



It will be noted that whereas the Caucho output has declined 

 steadily the production of fine rubber in the same district has 

 grown, due to the fact that this rubber is obtained by tapping 

 the same trees regularly, and that constant additions are made 

 to the number of trees exploited. 



A graphic illustration of the same tendency appeared in The 

 India Rubber World of October i, 1901 [page 8], in a chart 

 showing the rise and decline of rubber production in Colombia 

 for 46 years, during which period, from a very small beginning, 

 the exports rose to about 7,000,000 pounds, after which there 

 was a speedy decline to less than 1.000,000 pounds, which has 

 since remained about the average yearly product. This rubber 

 while not wholly of the same grade as what is above described 

 as Caucho was practically the same rubber; at any rate the 

 diminishing production was due to the exhaustion of the trees, 

 just as later occurred in the Amazon regions. 



SOME WANTS OF THE TRADE. 



[321] /\ CORRESPONDENT is seeking "full details as 

 .^*- to the manufacture of electric tape — formula for 

 its manufacture, also the working details." 



[3-2] " We are desirous of purchasing stockinet cloth, such 

 as is used in glove stock and sometimes in shoe uppers, and 

 trust that you can advise us as to the parties who manufacture 

 this material." 



[323] From Europe : " We should be greatly indebted to 

 you. if you could give us the name and address of a first class 

 mill architect who has extensive experience in designing rubber 

 shoe factories." 



[324] " I would thank you to favor me with the names and 

 addresses of the manufacturer of special machines used in ex- 

 tracting or washing out the rubber from a shrub or root that 

 grows in Mexico" — evidently referring to Guayule. 



[325] " Will you kindly inform us if you know or ever have 

 known of an American incorporation called the United States 

 Gutta Percha Co., and where they are located ? " 



[326] " We should be pleased to have you recommend a 

 party to us who has an efficient process for reclaiming rubber 

 and who desires to sell such process." 



[327] " We are looking for the address of some reliable manu- 

 facturers of massage novelties, sucn as cupping bulbs, massage 

 balls, and the like." 



[328] " We have an inquiry for conveyor belts — two ply cen- 

 ter, four ply ends. Could you give us any information as to 

 who makes this belt } " 



[32!)] From an important hose manufacturing firm: "Can 

 you give us the names of any parties who manufacture ma- 

 chines for winding hose with wire?" 



A Rubber King. — A New Orleans newspaper mentions as 

 soon to become a resident of that city Seiior Don Jose Aram- 

 buru, who recently has sold to North American capitalists a 

 Nicaraguan gold mining property — the La Luz and Los Angeles 

 Mining Co. — and who " was for 16 years known as the rubber 

 king of Nicaragua." 



