260 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May I, 1902. 



interfered with them to let me know at once, and the Ameri- 

 cans will protect them. It is very hard to make them realize 

 that the Americans will punish Piang for robbing them, as 

 they think the former are the police of the latter. However, 

 I think, with sufficient capital to work with, I could buy all the 

 Gutta and Rubber that leaves here every month, namely about 

 300 piculs, of 137 pounds each, or roughly, 30,000 1040,000 

 pounds monthly. 



The Forestry bureau is going to do something definite about 

 the cutting of trees soon, — if they prohibit it and can prevent 

 the Gutta from reaching market unless it is tapped, the export 

 will shrink very considerably. If the Bureau determines the 

 trees can be cut instead of tapping, the export will increase 

 considerably. 



A LARGE YIELD OF MEXICAN RUBBER. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World: 1 am 

 in receipt of your favor, inquiring for particulars regard- 

 ing the tree that produced 100 pounds of rubber in one year. 

 The tree in question is on a tract of mahogany timber which 

 I am cutting, and as there are many large Rubber and Chicle 

 trees on the place, I had some of them bled. One day the 

 men brought in a batch of 100 pounds, saying that they took 

 it all out of one tree. I made no investigation, because there 

 was no reason to doubt them. There was no object in their 

 saying so if it was not true, they being men who do no other 

 kind of work, and as I am not interested in growing rubber 

 it was immaterial to me. All I wanted was the product, and 

 knowing that there are a number of mammoth rubber trees on 

 the place which produce sap that congeals " large," I believed 

 them, as a matter of course. 



Since Mr. Bonestelland Mr. Ellsworth called on me in regard 

 to the matter, I have asked the overseer if he was positive that 

 the quantity of rubber all came out of one tree, and he re- 

 peated that he is positive of it. That is all that I know about 

 it. The tree was bled and the sap allowed to run down and 

 congeal into "slabs." It had no other preparation. I did not 

 think it anything very remarkable, because I had seen trees pro- 

 duce very large quantities. 



True the " rubber people " consider 12 or 14 pounds a good 

 quantity for a tree to produce, but they plant in land which 

 is selected because it is easy of access, instead of that which 

 contains soil suitable for growfng rubber. There is a vast dif- 

 ference in soil even in the same localities, and one tree will 

 produce much more than another; some soil will prodoce 

 large trees with very little sap, others lots of sap but very lit- 

 tle rubber. It is no trouble to raise rubber trees. They will 

 grow almost anywhere ( I have seen them in the state of Illin- 

 ois) ; the trouble is to get them to produce rubber in paying 

 quantities, and that can only be done by selecting soil adapted 

 to such trees. 



I am no expert, but have been cutting timber long enough to 

 know that, and have found a vast difference in the production 

 of rubber trees in the different sections of Mexico and Guate- 

 mala. The tree referred to is on the Mexican side of the 

 Usumacinta river, about 120 miles above the town of Ten- 

 osique and can be seen. I don't know of any way to verify 

 the fact that it actually produced the 100 pounds except to in- 

 terrogate the overseer and the men that bled the tree. I did 

 not see the rubber taken out but have no doubt that their as- 

 sertion is true. Yours respectfully, F. SCHINDLER. 



Sao Juan Bauttsta, Mexico, March 30, 1902. 



[The above letter, from Seiior Federico Schindler, an ex- 

 porter of Mexican products, results from correspondence grow- 



ing out of advertisements issued by Mr. A. J. Scott, of Chicago, 

 stating that 100 pounds of rubber had been obtained from one 

 Mexican rubber tree at a single tapping. Meanwhile other 

 statements have reached The India Rubber World from the 

 Amazon valley [see issue of .'\pril i — page 213]. regarding a 

 much greater productive capacity of the Castilloa elaslica than 

 had previously been recorded. While it would hardly be safe 

 for rubber planters to base their hopes of profits upon such ex- 

 traordinary yields, we should be pleased if every one of them, 

 at sometime, was rewarded with even a greater production 

 than that reported by our correspondent. — The EDITOR.] 



SOUTH AMERICAN RUBBER INTERESTS. 



A LETTER received by The India Rubber World from 

 the Amazon states that " On the Acre the foolish pranks 

 of the Brazilian consul have upset things so much that very 

 little rubber has been received from that quarter, although re- 

 liable information has been received [March 15] staling the 

 existence of 5000 tons, mostly Caucho, awaiting shipment." 

 Arrivals of rubber at Manaos during the first three months 

 of 1902, from the different rivers in the state of Amazonas, were 

 as follows : 



Purus iJfVoj 4,424,837 



Jarua 1.840,748 



Solimoes 729,446 



Madeira 1,010,482 



Various streams 239,290 



Total ,t//oi 8,244,803 



Total, same months, igoi 6,991,286 



Total, same months, igoo 7,779.985 



A correspondent at Mandos wrote recently that many per- 

 sons there were hoping for an advance in prices, and were for 

 that reason holding back rubber. Business was depressed, and 

 the large houses were not disposed to sell goods except on 

 strictly cash terms. The inspector of the treasury, Colonel 

 Felippe Minhos, and Dr. Portirio Nogueiro, secretary to the 

 governor, had gone to the United States to try to negotiate a 

 loan of $1,000,000, in return for which, it was rumored, the 

 lender would have very desirable concessions in respect to ex- 

 port duties on rubber. A law had been introduced in the con- 

 gress at Mandos to substitute a fixed duty of 2 or 3 milreis per 

 kilo for the existing ad valorem rate of 22 per cent. 



The South American Journal (London, April 12) contained 

 advices from Para stating: " A most important move in the 

 rubber business is about to be made by a Peruvian, named 

 Spinoza, who arrived here a few days ago from Iquitos, bring- 

 ing with him 70 workmen who understand working Caucho." 

 The idea appears to be that, on account of the exhaustion of 

 extensive Caucho fields in Peru, increased attention is being 

 given to Caucho in Brazil, where the preparation of the gum is 

 not understood, while the Peruvians are expert in it. It is 

 reported to be probable that on the Tocantins and other large 

 rivers in the state of Pard " large quantities of Caucho will be 

 found, and now that a commencement is about to be made, the 

 result will probably be an immense increase in the production 

 of Caucho in the next few years." 



The newspapers of Rio Janeiro, Brazil, bitterly condemn the 

 concession granted The Bolivian Syndicate [mentioned in the 

 last India Rubber World], covering the rubber districts 

 on the river Acre. La Gazeta de Noitcias, of April 12, says 

 "the system finds ready imitators, and that the Yankees will 

 soon be the actual owners of many regions in South America, 

 where they at present exercise a kind protectorate, without tol- 

 erating a rival, the excuse being the Monroe doctrine, which 

 excludes all European nations from America." 



