96 



THE INDIA RUBBER V/ORLD 



[January i, 1902. 



of it may be regarded as an argument for rubber planting,- 

 though issued with no such apparent intent. Not only is 

 there hope, in the history of the domestication of these 

 other tropical species of plant growth, that corresponding 

 success may be attained in rubber cultivation, but positive 

 encouragement has resulted from experiments with rubber 

 itself. It appears advisable at least to plant any rubber 

 producing species of value, in the countries to which it is 

 indigenous, as for instance, the Castilloa elastica in Mexico. 



Another idea suggested by this list of tropical plants — 

 the cultivation of many of which has been confined to the 

 Eastern hemisphere — is that they might be grown profita- 

 bly in corresponding latitudes in the new world. Coffee 

 succeeds in Mexico, as do cacao, vanilla, and pineapples. 

 Why should not many or all the other tropical plants of 

 economic value ? The years required for rubber trees 

 to become productive are, at least to American ways of 

 thinking, a long time to have capital tied up without yield- 

 ing a return, and doubtless the practice of planting "short 

 crops " in connection with rubber, to afford a quicker in- 

 come, will become general. Besides, many planters of 

 rubber on this continent already have shown a preference 

 for diversified crops, over having " all their eggs in one 

 basket." 



For these several reasons, a study of tropical planting 

 in general ought to be of interest to the great number of 

 persons, of large and small means, who are investing in 

 rubber and coffee culture in Mexico. Such an interest 

 would be promoted, and the whole foreign planting ele- 

 ment in Mexico ought to be benefited, by the establish- 

 ment in that country of such an agricultural experiment 

 station as has been suggested of late by Mr. James C. 

 Harvey, a rubber planter in the state of Vera Cruz whose 

 name is familiar to India Rubber World readers. 



THE AMERICAN "WONDER MACHINE." 



"PACTS may be ignored, misunderstood, argued out of 

 •*■ e.xistence, apparently annihilated, but they still re. 

 main. The India Rubber World believes the new rub- 

 ber shoe machine to be a fact. The Gutnmi-Zeitung does 

 not believe it. To sum up its conclusions, published at 

 length in another column, they are about as follows : 



" It is doubtful." 



" It is impossible." 



" It is possible." 



" It cannot be done." 



" It has not been done." 



" Let us watch and wait." 



It is but fair to our esteemed contemporary to acknowl- 

 edge that the subject has been treated by it with courtesy, 

 good nature, and honesty, an attitude contagious to the 

 last degree, and it is in the same spirit that this brief an- 

 swer is indited. 



The " wonder machine " was not mentioned by us with 

 the wish to alarm any one. It was news matter pure and 

 simple, of present and paramount interest. Changes in 

 manufacture, in machinery, in product, have always been 

 announced in The India Rubber World as early as it 

 was possible to get the facts, and this in the interest of all 



concerned. Such facts are always carefully verified and 

 are not published until that is done. If the " American 

 cousin " is an incorrigible optimist, is not the (German 

 cousin an equally incorrigible pessimist ? And while he 

 may often have been wise in keeping out of some "un- 

 lucky inventions" and "revolutionizing improvements," 

 has he not lost much by an inability to discriminate be- 

 tween the unreal and the real, the lucky and the unlucky ? 



There is no question that the Americans in the past 

 have praised the hand made rubber shoes — extolled their 

 fit and beauty, boasted of their factory methods, etc. 

 And well they might, for they were the best as compared 

 with all others, the proof of this being that the whole 

 world imitated them. But is it necessary to point out that 

 excellence is only a comparative term ? Gutenberg's print- 

 ing press turned out "beautiful" work at a speed that 

 paralyzed the copyists, and that won the most extrava- 

 gant praise from all, but beside moderr, press work how 

 do his books stand to day ? From a typographical stand- 

 point are they not " abortions " ? Or to bring the com- 

 parison into our own trade and times, take the old fash- 

 ioned rubber belt, made wholly by hand, cured in open 

 steam ; was it not advertised as a marvel ? Would it sell 

 to-day by the side of the product that comes from the belt 

 machine, the belt press, and the hydraulic stretcher ? 

 Would it not be termed a relic of the middle ages? 



If the rubber shoe manufacture of Europe is perfectly 

 satisfactory to the Gummi-Zcitung, it certainly is not to 

 those who have their capital invested in it, for nearly 

 every company beyond the Atlantic has written to The In- 

 dia Rubber World, showing the most profound interest 

 and asking for further information. 



In spite of the fact that, in the first part of the article 

 under consideration, the Gummi-Zeitung doubts that such 

 a " wonder machine " exists, it acknowledges further along 

 that it is possible that it produces a cheaper shoe of more 

 pleasing appearance, but says it cannot have the durability 

 of those that are hand made. Vet the fact is that on the test- 

 ing machine the machine made shoes have proved far more 

 durable than the hand made, even when made of cheaper 

 stock. Suppose for the sake of argument, however, that 

 the same compounds be used in each, would not a more 

 beautiful, cheaper, and more valuable product be the re- 

 sult, and is not that demonstrable with mathematical pre- 

 cision ? Again, the suggestion that the hand made shoe 

 will possess more solidity than one made by machinery is 

 in direct contradiction of practical experience in the use 

 of plastic materials. It should be patent to any one 

 familiar with rubber manufacture that the pressure of the 

 hand roller applied by man, woman, or boy, cannot any- 

 where equal mechanical pressure such as can be exercised 

 by machine. Nor will the hand work be as thoroughly 

 welded and as homogeneous as the machine work. This 

 is proved in hundreds of instances in every day rubber 

 manufacture. 



Further, our contemporary gathers that in the new pro- 

 cess the rubber is " sprayed " on, or "softened " before- 

 hand, and then subjected to the cold cure. In this he is 

 so far astray that we would suggest that he read our arti- 



