November i, igio.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



41 



Published on the lit of each Uonth by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING GO., 



No. 395 BROADWAY. NEW YORK. 

 CABLE ADDRESS: IRWORLD, NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, 



EDITOn. 



HAWTHORNE HILL, 



ASSOCIATE. 



Vol. 43. 



NOVEMBER 1. 1910. 



No. 2. 



BOBSCBipTiONs : J3.00 per year, $1.75 for six months, postpaid, for the 

 United States and dependencies and Mexico. To the Dominion 

 of Canada and ail other countries, $3.50 (or equivalent funds) 

 per year, postpaid. 



Adtbrtising : Rates will be made known on application. 



Remitt,\nces : Should alw.iys be made by bank or draft, Postofflce or 

 Express money orders on New Vork, payable to The India 

 Rubber PnBLisHiNG Company. Remittances for foreign sub- 

 scriptions should be sent by International Postal Order, payable 

 as above. 



Discontinuances: Yearly orders for subscriptions and advertising are 

 regarded as permanent, and after the first twelve months they 

 will be discontinued only at the request of the subscriber or ad- 

 vertiser. Bills are rendered promptly at the beginning of each 

 period, and thereby our patrons have due notice of continuance. 



COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY 



THE INDIA RUBBER PVBLISHINO CO. 



Entered at New York postofflce as mall matter of the second class. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE READING MATTER. 

 TO SOLVE THE "CASTILLOA" PROBLEM. 



WITH the planting of rubber trees has come a de- 

 mand for practical and scientific methods of 

 collecting and coagulating the late.x. By hundreds of ex- 

 periments extending over a score of years the tapping of 

 plantation rubber has advanced far beyond the machete 

 and the macliadinho. Particularly has this experimenta- 

 tion centered about the great rubber plantations in the 

 Far East. 



The wonderful productiveness of the Para rubber tree 

 {Hevea Brasiliensis) there is due not only to (he pres- 

 ence of wound response, but a knowledge of how to tap 

 day after day without injury to the tree. So far the 

 Hevea is the only tree that has shown wound response. 

 The others — Castilloas, Puntumias, and so on — nearly all 

 contain primarily much more latex than does the Hevea. 

 What is demanded, therefore, is a simple economical 

 method which will extract the maximum amount of latex 

 from such trees at one time, allowing the tree to rest as 

 long as nature requires before the second tapping. 



That this important problem may be brought to the 

 attention of those interested in Castilloa culture and be 

 solved. The India Rubber World will present at the 

 International Rubber Exhibition in London, 1911, a hand- 

 some and valuable trophy to whomsoever may come the 

 nearest to solving it. This cup, which is illustrated and 



l-IBRAfi 



described on another page, is offered specifically for the ^^.-^ v, 



solution of the Castilloa problem. It is well to remember,, ^,,YA■ 

 however, that if this is satisfactorily solved, a new value »j_^hl>£ 

 will be placed upon the Sapiiim, Fiintiimia, Ficus and 

 gutta-perchas of all kinds — including jelutong^ — as well 

 as the Castilloa Ulci. 



Millions of dollars have been expended in the planting 

 of Castilloa in Mexico and Central America, in the West 

 Indies, and even in .South America. Planting is still going 

 on. There are climates, soils and conditions for which 

 this tree is especially fitted, and where it thrives better 

 than any other. To-day what tapping is done is either by 

 the crude and destructive native methods, or by methods 

 that arc imitations of those followed in the Far East. 



It is in the hope and expectation tliat precedents may be 

 ignored, imitations abandoned and inventiveness and orig- 

 inality called upon that The India Rubber World by 

 means of its trophy draws attention to a vital problem in 

 rubber culture. 



FOOD AND AMAZON RUBBER. 



THE building of the Madeira-Mamore railway, to 

 reach the rich rubber fields of Bolivia, is in it- 

 self a most important undertaking, but what may 

 prove of even more concern to the world is the in- 

 fluence which the sanitation work installed in connec- 

 tion with it may have in tropical America as a whole. 

 Not only this, but the whole rubber trade of the world 

 may in the end benefit from the work now centered 

 in the Madeira-Mamore construction camps, which 

 camps, by the way, have lately been described in some 

 detail in The India Rubber World. 



It is no secret that the high cost of rubber from the 

 Amazon has been due largely to the sparse population 

 of that region, and the fact that conditions of life there 

 have been most unattractive to European laborers. 

 Not the least unfavorable condition has been the diffi- 

 culty of acquiring food of a suitable character and at 

 reasonable prices. 



A recent issue of the Porto Velho Marconigram de- 

 votes most of its space to the question of food supplies 

 in the railway construction camps, where more than 

 4,000 men are employed, most of whom are from other 

 countries and a number of them professional engin- 

 eers. It is pointed out in this paper that satisfactory 

 food conditions prevail already, and that there is a con- 

 tinued improvement in this respect. Fresh beef is 

 served to all the camps, being slaughtered and dressed 

 at Porto Velho. An ice making plant is operated suc- 

 cessfully. While the vegetables used have been de- 

 rived in canned shape from the United States, the 

 Marconigram mentions: "Lately we have been get- 

 ting fresh vegetables from a farm about a day's sail 

 down the river and from present indications this farm 

 will probably be able to supply quite a quantity of 

 fresh vegetables. Eggs are brought in by the natives." 



