ii6 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 191.1 



Rubber in Argentina. 



By the Editor of The India Rubber World. 



Argfontino Possibilities — Wild Rubber in the Chaco — The Most Southern 

 Rubber Mill — The Journey to the River Plate — Quebracho^Off Lobo Island — 

 A "Pampero" — Up the River — First View of the City — A South American Paris 

 — Characteristics of the People — To the Rubber Mill. 



IT is the habit of Americans to speak wisely and albeit 

 sadly of the immense possibilities of Argentina and of 

 the fact that Europe is profiting hugely by its exploita- 

 tion while the Yankee is doinjj nothing. To see if this was 

 n 11 t a 1) 1 y ap- 

 parent, a 11 d 

 further, be- 

 cause of the 

 rubber inter- 

 ests there, I 

 went to Huciiiis 

 Aires after 

 visiting Bahia. 

 Rio, Santos 

 and other 

 Hrazilian cities. 

 The rubber 

 interests a p - 

 peared to be 

 three-fold. In 

 the first place, 

 there was the 

 statement o f 

 Ernesto Costa, 

 said to ha\c 

 acquired rub- 

 ber experience 

 ill Madagascar, 

 on the Congo, 

 and in the 

 Bolivian Mon- 

 tana, who dis- 

 covered rubber 

 trees in tlie 

 north w est- 

 ern part of the 



The ".■Xvenid.x." Buenus .'\ire 



Chaco." The Argentine Minister of Argi- 

 culturc at once dispatched one of his men to explore, 

 lie reported that he found a variety of trees called lecheroncs 

 and others called Ebcas {Ucveas.'). The latter were the best. 



priivince of Salta, where the trees were located. It was 

 further light on this interesting matter that 1 was seeking. 

 Then there was another matter. Buenos Aires has a rub- 

 ber factory, which is undoubtedly the farthest south of any 

 in this hemisphere. I wanted to see that, and a lot more. 

 The boat that 1 embarked upon at Rio was English and 

 carried tourists chiefly, with a sprinkling of .Vmerican, Eng- 



lish and Bra- 

 zilian business 

 men. i*or ex- 

 ample, t h e re 

 was one who 

 represented the 

 American dye- 

 wood agglom- 

 eration. H e 

 was interested 

 i n cpiebracho, 

 a wood much 

 used in tan- 

 ning. He told 

 o f thousands 

 of acres con- 

 trolled by his 

 company 

 — 4(111,000 in 

 Argentina and 

 900,000 in Par- 

 aguay — of big 

 m.lls and up- 

 to-date s h i p - 

 ping plants. 



" ^B '^9tSt^^^ftt^&SFWf^\ Then there 



1 ^ '^MEJ ' "^K '^B fcilBA were men from 



1/ 'J BCm ' ^ ■> mIJMBB '^''^ .'\merican 



-^ ^MT "llP^mW^B! Harvester Co., 



who told of 

 the use of 



.American machines, "because they couldn't get anything 

 else." Again, there were the freight and passenger-car 

 salesmen, who told of contracts given to .Americans only 

 when it was impossible to get goods in France or England or 



Across the Plains. 



The agent gave as the product of the large lecheroiies from 

 16 to 20 pounds of gum per tree. He further reported that 

 there were localities where rubber gathering was going on, 

 regular camps having been established, estradas laid out, and 

 workmen employed every year. .A year later the government 

 commissioned two agricultural experts to take up the study 

 of these trees, and. as far as known, they started for the 



The Docks, Buenos Aires. 



Germany. Allowing for individual prejudice, it did seem as 



if there was a decided leaning away from things American. 



The journey was pleasant in that the sea was smooth and 



the company good. As it was winter north, it was, of course, 



