August i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



349 



the two lips of the wound would tend to separate, and the ten- 

 sion would become feebler.* 



As is seen, several causes contribute to render more effica- 

 cious the transverse incisions of the bark, with reference to the 

 flow of the latex. But are these sections to be exclusively rec- 

 ommended ? That is not my opinion ; for the cultivator ought 

 not merely to have the present harvest in view, but the possi- 

 bility of future harvests. From this viewpoint, the transverse 

 incisions may be disastrous, and the more so as they are the 

 more extended. 



Every wound made in a bark produces a scar more or less 

 rapidly by the formation of new tissues, and from this fact the 

 laticifers, at first continuous, are separated into portions, the 

 shorter as the incisions are the nearer. It necessarily results 

 that the future incisions meet only fragments of laticifers, 

 yielding only a small quantity of latex. 



In my opinion, and for the 

 reasons mentioned above, it 

 would be suitable, if transverse 

 or oblique incisions are to be 

 made in a shrub or tree, to first 

 make a number of incisions at 

 the same height — say 3 meters 

 from the ground— then to 

 commence afterward a little 

 lower, and so on until the last 

 incisions occur near the 

 ground. Then, on leaving the 

 tree at repose for a sufficiently 

 long period — at least a year — 

 new tissues will be formed in 

 the interior of the bark and in 

 these new tissues prolonga- 

 tions of the original laticifers 

 will penetrate. After this pe- 

 riod employed by the tree in 

 producing new tissues, con- 

 taining laticiferous ducts, in- 

 cisions can be made again, 

 identical and in the same 

 order. fig. 4. 



In no case should completely This view, not presented with M.Le- 



^ ^ conite's paper, illustrates a prevalent 



annular incisions be made, method of cutting the rubber tree (Cai///- 



n^, ■ .,, ^ , . Ax/ /-/fli/Zci;) in Mexico. 



This will prevent the circu- 

 lation of the sap and compromise the life of the plant. Too 

 wide incisions (distance between the edges of the incisions) 

 should also be avoided; for the healing of the wound is the 

 longer and more difficult in proportion as the edges are further 

 separated from each other. 



It will not be difficult to fix upon the plan of a certain num- 

 ber of methodical experiments and observations, which per- 

 sons living in the tropical regions, and having at disposal 

 rubber trees or plants, might undertake. The results of such 

 an inquiry would be important with reference to the future of 

 the plantations of caoutchouc which of late are coming into 

 existence so generally in all the tropical regions of the globe. 



*It IS not correct to say, as Bouyssou has in \.\\^ Revue GeneraU des Sciences , 

 that the latex is a kind of ascending sap. I do not think that any proof whatever 

 has been yet presented of the circulation of the latex in the duels. The fact that 

 the latex flows unequally at the lips of an incision is a direct consequence of 

 the difference of tension of the tissues on the different sides of the incision, and the 

 flowing may naturally be greater at the upper lip of the section than at the lower. 

 This I have verified with \.\i^ Landclpkia Jlorida in the hothouses of the Museum. 

 The fact that the incisions made near the ground yHcz^ea) produce moie latex than 

 the same at a height of 2 or 3 meters can scarcely be explained except by a differ- 

 ence of tension of the tissues at different heights. h. l. 



THE "PACIFIC RUBBER CO." GETS TIRED. 



WITH the approach of hot weather, the fraudulent " Pa- 

 cific Rubber Co." seems to have grown tired. The 

 Pacific company has been mentioned in this paper before. 

 First it claimed to have been incorporated in Maryland, but 

 the state officials there denied any knowledge of the fact. Then 

 it announced the purchase of an " established property yield- 

 ing rubber " in Mexico, though the reputed seller still claims 

 not to have made any transfer. The Pacific company's " long 

 card " was its promise to " pay 360 per cent, in three years." It 

 promised to pay monthly dividends at the rate of 20 per cent. 

 per year, for three years, and then return the par value of the 

 shares, after having first sold them at a discount of 75 per cent. 

 It appears that monthly dividends were paid for awhile, begin- 

 ning July 5, 1901. The India Rubber World at one time 

 pointed out how the company might be able to pay dividends, 

 as follows : — 



They will sell as much stock as you want for cash (which they 

 deposit in bank) to the extent of, say ft, 000 



They can afford to pay monthly dividends at the rate of 20 

 per cent, per year, for two years, amounting to 400 



After which they will have left $600 



— minus cost of advertising, printing, and office administration. 



A purchaser of "Pacific Rubber Co." shares informs The 

 India Rubber World that he received monthly dividends 

 regularly up to and including March 5, 1902. Getting nothing 

 in April, he began to ask why. The " United Securities Co." 

 (No. 66 Broadway, New York) wrote, April 10: 



Owing to the great increase of the number of stockholders, it has 

 been found impractical to send out all the dividends in one day, and as 

 they are constantly increasing in number, the Ixubber Company are 

 sending out a circular letter stating fully that the directors have decided 

 to pay the dividends quarterly hereafter, which will mean a saving of a 

 considerable amount of money to them monthly, there being then but 

 four months in the year in which to write up the books, make up the 

 amounts of dividends and mail same, instead of doing this twelve times 

 in the year, which will make a vast saving in clerical work. 



After waiting in vain for a quarterly dividend on June 5, this 

 shareholder called at the Broadway office, only to be told that 

 " the treasurer was sick," but that " everything would be all 

 right," after which he received a letter dated June 21, stating : 



Our contract with the Pacific Rubber Co. having expired, we have 

 been endeavoring to secure a reappointment as fiscal agents, and as the 

 president of the company is expected here within a short time, we have 

 no doubt the matter will then be satisfactorily arranged, and the ques- 

 tion of dividends taken up and attended to. We will keep you fully 

 advised as to this matter. 



But information regarding rubber has been a very scarce ar- 

 ticle at No. 66 Broadway since the date referred to. By the 

 way, the report of R. M. Miner, " treasurer " of the Pacific 

 Rubber Co., to be sent from Mexico to the shareholders, as 

 promised in a circular copied in The India Rubber World 

 of January I, 1902, never reached the persons to whom it was 

 mailed. 



To revise somewhat the financial scheme above reproduced 

 from The India Rubber World of September i, 1901, the 

 plan of working appears to have been as follows : 

 Paid in by a shareholder, say $1,000 



Deduct 9 monthly dividends at the rate of 20;' a year 150 



After which the company would have left $ 850 



— minus cost of advertising, printing, and office administration. 



What need had the " Pacific Rubber Co." of the milk from 

 rubber trees in Mexico, or anywhere else, when investors 

 nearer home could be " milked " in this fashion } 



