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THE INDIA RUBBER ^VORLD 



[August i, 1901. 



stage in Soconusco, and to day there are many companies and 

 individuals gathering and shipping rubber from wild and culti- 

 ivated trees, or selling it in the Tapachula market. 



The time required to produce gum from the CastiUoa elas- 

 tica rubber tree depends upon the locality, rainfall, and meth- 

 ods used for its cultivation. My estimates of production and 

 tapping age are based upon my personal experience and close 

 observation, and not upon what others have written. The 

 cultivated rubber tree blossoms after the sixth year, and cannot 

 be tapped before this time without injury. The rainfall of the 

 previous year generally determines the earliness of the season, 

 the number of the blooms, the quality of the seeds, and the 

 flow and quality of the milk itself. 



The sap furnished by a seven year old rubber tree should 

 yield a mimimum of 1% pounds of pure rubber, and as every 

 tree increases its yield by no less than Yz a pound of gum an- 

 nually until its twenty-fifth year of age, at least from 15 to 20 

 pounds of pure gum should be obtained yearly thereafter dur- 

 ing the life of the tree. So an acre of land containing 220 rub- 

 ber-trees planted 14 feet'apart each way, will give at the end of 

 the sixth year — or to be more exact, in the first crop made during 

 its seventh year of existence — 330 pounds of pure rubber, which 

 at the rate of 50 cents gold, would give a revenue of $165. If 

 this estimate of i>^ pounds per tree should not seem conserva- 

 tive enough, let it be one pound to the tree, and the return per 

 acre will be Si 10. 



The hardiness of the CastiUoa elastica tree simplifies its cul- 

 ture very much, and as it possesses a vitality superior to that 

 of the weeds or of any other kind of vegetation, it does not re- 

 quire heavy expenses for frequent weedings. If without any 

 help from man such trees can grow for hundreds of years in 

 wild woods full of vines, briars, and many other plants, under 

 cultivation they can certainly outlive the weeds. 



I shall be very glad if the data contained in this letter con- 

 tributes to its object, which is to increase among agriculturists 

 and business men of enterprise the desire to plant on a large 

 scale fields of rubber-trees in the localities suitable for that 

 purpose. CHAS. g. cano, c. e. 



New York, June 21, 1901. 



[The writer of the above letter has spent nearly ten years in 

 the district to which the letter relates. He went there first, at 

 the request of President Diaz, to reform the customs service at 

 Tapachula. He next became manager of the large coffee plan- 

 tation "Guatima,"of L. R. Brewer, in Soconusco. He was 

 later employed as civil engineer on the line of the Occi- 

 dental railroad, in Guatemala, after which he became engaged 

 in the importation of Guatemala coflfee at San Francisco. He 

 has thus had ample opportunity to study the resources of south- 

 ern Mexico, and has taken special pains to become acquainted 

 with the prospects for rubber cultivation. — The Editor.] 



A PIONEER IMPORTATION, 



Last month was mentioned in this paper the initial ship- 

 ment, to the United States, on a commercial scale, of India- 

 rubber from a cultivated plantation, and described as such. It 

 was a lot received at San Francisco, on June i, by the steamer 

 Palena, for the Bowers Rubber Co., from La Zacualpa Rubber 

 Plantation Co., of Tapachula, state of Chiapas, Mexico. The 

 India Rubber World since has seen the original bill of 

 lading and consular certificate accompanying this shipment, 

 and, as it is the first transaction of its kind, it appears worth 

 while to record the details of the beginning of what doubtless 

 will become in time a very important business. By the way. 

 La Zacualpa Rubber Plantation Co. inform The India Rub- 

 ber World : 



Our resident director, Mr, O. H, Harrison, from whom we purchased 



La Zacualpa rubber plantation, has for some years past been shipping 

 rubber from this plantation to Messrs. Cotesworth & Powell, 148, Lead- 

 enhall street, London, the production of which has now reached about 

 30,000 pounds yearly. Of this amount, some 12,000 pounds is gath- 

 ered from 5000 cultivated trees planted by Jose Pelaez (from whom Mr. 

 Harrison purchased the plantation) in l88g and 1900, the remaining 

 i8,300 pounds being gathered from wild trees discovered to date on our 

 plantation. 



The shipment was made from the port of San Benito, Mex- 

 ico, by the Compafiia de Navigacion por Vapor en el Pacifico, 

 the invoice, dated May 20, igoi, being for — 

 7 Bales of rubber, net weight 



483 kilos («' $2 $966 (Mexican) 



— which would amount to 1063 pounds. It was accompanied 

 by Manager Harrison's draft on the San Francisco office of his 

 company for $500 (gold). There being no United States con- 

 sul at San Benito, the invoice was vised by the German con- 

 sul, to whom was paid $4.50 (Mexican) in fees. The invoice is 

 signed by the Empresa de Lanchos en San Benito, S. A., as 

 agent of the owner of the merchandise. The company further 

 report : 



This shipment of rubber is the first of this year's crop, and was cured 

 by the regular native method, which consists in spreading the milk on 



COAQULATINQ RUBBER ON LEAVES IN THE SUN. 



large plantation leaves and permitting it to coagulate in the sun. These 

 leaves are about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long. . - . This shipment of 

 rubber from our plantation has attracted a great deal of attention here 

 [at San Francisco] and Mr. Bowers has kindly allowed us to retain it in 

 our office, and also to put it on exhibition in Mechanics' pavilion during 

 the Epworth League convention, commencing July 15. Two bales of 

 150 pounds each are now in his factory, being washed and run into 

 sheets for said exhibition. This will enable him to definitely (ix the 

 grade of our rubber and its corresponding price, which we will send 

 to you as soon as received. 



SANTA MARIA CHIMALAPA PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantation at Santa Maria Chimalapa. district of Juchitan, state of Oaxaca, 

 Mexico, Offices: Bulil block, Detroit, Michigan, and Mexico City.] 



This tract of 87,750 acres, known as the " hacienda de Santa 

 Maria Chimalapa," owned formerly by the Duplan brothers, 

 was bought in January, 1901, by Sidney A. Witherbee, of De- 

 troit, Michigan, who had already important railway and mining 

 interests in Mexico. The location is on the north side of the 

 divide between the Pacific and the gulf, the tract being watered 

 by streams flowing into the river Coatzacoalcas, and near the 

 National Tehuantepec railway. The company was incorpo- 

 rated under the laws of Delaware, April 30, 1901, withan author- 

 ized capital of $3,071,250, in 87,750 shares of $35, each share 



