282 



THE INDIA RUBBER W^ORLD 



[June i, 1902. 



monograph by Mr. Th. F. Koschny, there are no fewer than 

 three different kinds of Castilloa — not counting the " Tuno " 

 tree — varying in the amount of therr yield of rubber. There is 

 a possibility, therefore, that not all the Castilloa plantations 

 now being made will prove productive, for the reason that the 

 seeds planted may in some cases have been gathered from 

 valueless trees. 



As for Mr. Garnier's remarks upon the fatal results to the 

 Caucho tree of tapping, the experience of the Peruvians is not 

 necessarily conclusive. In the collection of Para rubber — from 

 the //^^'^(^.s— some trees yield indefinitely while others are soon 

 killed, according to the degree of care in tapping. Observations 

 made in Mexico would indicate that a permanent annual yield 

 may be had from the Castilloa by proper management. As to 

 our correspondent's wonder that any rubbertree but the Heveas 

 should be planted, it is only necessary to suggest that there 

 are rubber producing areas in which the Pard tree will not 

 thrive. 



The data given above on the yield of Hevea fail to include 

 any statement of the number of times the trees are tapped 

 during the season. With the daily average yield mentioned, 

 the product of a tree tapped 100 times in a year would be 9 

 pounds 6 ounces of good rubber, and say 2 pounds of coarse. 

 But, as we have mentioned in several recent issues, the length 

 of the season and frequency of tapping are by no means uni- 

 form. 



NEWS AND VIEWS FROM MANAOS. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World: The 

 Brazilian nut crop now being over, the landholders are 

 turning their attention to the rubber crop for the coming sea- 

 son, and already large shipments of goods have been made 

 from Manaos to the rivers Jurud, Puriis, Japurd, and Madeira, 

 and rubber is trickling in from the Enbira,Tarauacd, and other 

 affluents of the Jurua. The nut season has been very poor, as 

 regards both quantity and price. 



The production of Upriver rubber is not expected to be so 

 large during the coming season, for many people are saying 

 that rubber at 4 $ 500 Brazilian is not worth working. Yet 

 the receipts are larger to date than last year at this time. The 

 price here is equivalent to 50 and 55 cents a pound for fine, 

 and further up it is selling at 25 to 30 cents. 



As indicating the tendency to introduce modern improve- 

 ments in Amazonian towns, it may interest some of the read- 

 ers of The India Rubber World to know that an electric 

 lighting plant has been installed at Labrea, on the river Puriis, 

 at the point where the Ituxy joins the Punis, 692 miles from 

 the Amazon. The plant was constructed by the C. & C. Elec- 

 tric Co., of New York, and is based on the Nernst lamp system. 

 The same company will probably supply a plant for Manaca- 

 purii, in the same region. The town of Labrea is also planning 

 to obtain a water works system. 



The Indians on the river Japuid have been out on the war 

 path, burning two or three rubber stations and killing some 

 thirty persons. 



The Amazon cable is as usual broken, so that business in 

 rubber has been done by fits and starts, depending entirely on 

 the arrival of ships bringing news of exchange rates from Para. 



The greatest present need of the Amazon country is a bet- 

 ter, quicker, and cheaper means of steamer communication 

 with the United States. 



THE CONWAY CONCESSION ON THE ACRE. 



Everybody here is talking about the concession by the 

 Bolivian government, of the Acre rubber district, to the 



American syndicate, of which THE India Rubber World 

 has lately published accounts. The river Acre rises in Bolivia 

 — in which country it is called the Aquiry — but enters Brazil 

 before discharging into the Punis, one of the largest tributa- 

 ries of the Amazon. The highest point on the Acre navigable 

 is 1058 miles distant from the Amazon. The chief towns (they 

 are called " cities ") are Floriano Peixoto, on the Brazilian sec- 

 tion, and Puerto Acre (or Puerto Alonzo), at the boundary, in 

 Bolivia. At the latter place a Bolivian custom house exists 

 and a fort is being built; a mule road is also being opened to 

 La Pdz, the capital of Bolivia. On the Brazilian Acre are 

 rubber stations at Apuhy, Arares. Nazareth, and the state 

 revenue station at Caquetd. On the Bolivian section there 

 are rubber stations at Flor de Ouro and at Bagaro, where 

 Galvez, the head of the late so-called "republic of Acre," fired 

 upon a Brazilian boat. 



The dispute at one time between Bolivia and Brazil over 

 the ownership of this territory arose from the trouble in deter- 

 mining the exact source of the river Javary, the division line 

 being specified as running from that point to the mouth of the 

 river Beni. This point having been settled, Peru now bases a 

 claim to a portion of the Acre district, on another imaginary 

 line, and has filed a formal protest against the validity of the 

 concession granted to Sir Martin Conway. 



That the Acre district is the richest portion of the Amazon 

 valley there can be no doubt, some of the seringales there 

 yielding from 8 to 12 kilograms of fine rubber a day, per estrada 

 of 180 trees. [This is equal to 2.3 ounces per tree. Elsewhere 

 in this paper the same writer refers to 1.5 ounces as a good 

 average yield. — The Ediior.] The Caucho has been largely 

 worked out on the Brazilian Acre, but doubtless very much 

 still exists on the upper waters of the river. 



At present the prices of goods are very high on the Acre, 

 owing to heavy freight rates and the fact that everything must 

 be imported. In 1900 I paid at the rate of $1 a pound for jerked 

 beef, and everything else in proportion. But a fairly active 

 man could earn $8 to •'?i2, gold, a day, at working rubber, and 

 in sixteen days I once made $1400 cutting Caucho on the Xa- 

 pury, a branch of the Acre. But the Caucho is gone m that 

 region, and rubber is selling at 50 cents a pound in Mandos and 

 r 5 to 20 cents on the Acre. 



Several steamers ply between the Acre and Manaos and Para, 

 at least two a week leaving Manaos for that river at the height 

 of the season. The Acre is somewhat rich in minerals, coal, 

 gold quartz, and tiny emeralds having been found in various 

 parts. L. G. 



ManSos, Brazil, April 14, 1902. 



"CAOUTCHOUC OIL FOR USE IN BOILERS." 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World : In a cer- 

 tain newspaper in Manchester I have observed a para- 

 graph, credited to your journal, giving particulars of the ex- 

 periments of a chemist in Hanover, Germany, in relation to 

 " Caoutchouc Oil for Use in Boilers." The story of the Han- 

 over chemist and his experiments is an old one. I myself saw 

 it in print six years ago, and made a note of the fact of its ap- 

 pearance. 



I always find that these experiments are very excellent in 

 their way, but their usefulness is spoiled, because no quantities 

 are given. Advice is freely given, but when it comes to recom- 

 mending the quantity per horsepower, the scientists fail to en- 

 lighten the factory owner, just as the Hanover chemist has 

 done with the Caoutchouc oil. a. w. trenerry. 



Bristol, England, April 16, 1902. 



