August 1, 1911.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



411 



Mexican Rubber Plantation Notes 



By ii Special Correspondent. 



APROPOS of the remarks in The India Rubber \V(iri.d of 

 June last iiiuler tin* caption of "Theatres or Experiment 

 Stations." it may not be generally known that a few years 

 ago the -Mexican Government had an opportunity of establishing 

 a botanic garden and experiment station luider exceptionally 

 favorable conditions. The idea originated with J. C. Harvey, 

 whose special fitness for the direction of such an enterprise waS 

 well known, his credentials including personal recommendations 

 from a numlier of men eminent in botanic science. Mr. Harvey's 

 proposal embodied tlie offer, as a free gift to the government, 

 of his own valuable collection of rare indigenous and exotic 

 plants at La Buena Ventura, conjointly with the offer, likewTse 

 free, on the part of the Mexican Mutual Planters Company, of 

 Chicago, owners of the estate of La Junta, of an ample extent 

 of forest land conveniently located for the purpose named. By 

 means of suitable introductions and the aid of prominent officials 

 in Mexico City the Departniento de Fomento was approached 

 and negotiations initiated. After the lapse, however, of some 

 months, during which Mr. Harvey paid several visits to th"e 

 capital in furtherance of the project, its discussion was abruptly 

 terminated by an announcement on the part of the authorities 

 concerned that the matter had been duly considered and could 

 not be entertained. One of the principal objections advanced 

 against it was the fear that students of botany going down into 

 the malarial regions of the rubber country would pay the penalty 

 of their temerity by early and sudden death ! .At the time re- 

 ferred to rubber planting was at its height in Mexico, and it 

 can hardly be doubted that, had such an organization come into 

 existence then, providing means of systematic study, on scientific 

 lines and under actual field conditions, of the formidable array 

 of problems connected with the cultivation of Castilloa — many 

 of which have even yet reached but partial or tentative solution 

 — the status of the industry in this country today would have 

 been very different. For nobody will deny the immense value 

 of the practical assistance rendered to planters of Hevea in the 

 Far East by the botanic gardens and experiment stations at 

 Peradeniya, Singapore, Penang, etc., under such famous workers 

 as Ridley, Willis, Wright, Carruthers and many more whose 

 names are intimately associated with the technics of rubber cul- 

 tivation. In failing to come into line in the direction indicated, 

 Mexico has lost a great opportimity. 



The planting on El Chival estate, of the Orizaba Rubber 

 Plantation Company, of Chicago, Illinois, situated in the Depart- 

 ment of Palenque, Chiapas, was completed in 1909. The total 

 area in rubber is 1,528 acres, the estimated number of trees being 

 344,000, representing an average of 225 to the acre. The product 

 of the tapping season of 1909-1910 amoimted to 1.550 pounds of 

 rubber, which was sold at $1.75, gold, per pound. The current 

 season's tapping operations were delayed several months awaiting 

 the arrival and setting up of plant, which consists of a washing 

 and creping machine and hydraulic press, by Messrs. David 

 Bridge & Co., Limited, of Castlctcn, Manchester. F,ngland, and a* 

 Fairbanks & Morse gasoline engine. A hydraulic ram has been 

 installed in the Arroyo Chival, turnishing running water to all 

 departments and keeping tanks of 5.000 gallons' capacity full, for 

 use in case of fire. A rubber mill building, 48 feet by 56 feet, 

 with cement floor, has also been erected. A shipment of 1,700 

 pounds of creped and blocked rubber has just liccn made to 

 New York. 



Of what is known as the Markley group of rublicr plantations 

 in eastern Chiapas, that of Lumija, near the town of Salto de 

 Agua, was turned over to the stockholders two years ago, and 

 tapping has been proceeding since. The planting on the Wis- 



consin estate of the Wisconsin Rubber Company, in the same 

 district, has also been completed, and the property passed into 

 the hands of the stockholders last month. The planted area is 

 4,000 acres, with 640 trees to the acre. The transfer of the 

 adjacent Philadelphia estate of the Mexican Plantation Company 

 took place on the 1st of February, 1909, and the Development 

 Company is now going ahead under a new contract on behalf of 

 the stockholders. Tapping was commenced on this estate on 

 the 18th of July, 1910, with the Smith knife, three or four 

 V-shapcd cuts being made on each tree. The yield per tree has 

 run from one-and-a-half to three-and-a-half ounces of dry rubber, 

 the age of the trees ranging between six and nine years, tlie 

 larger yield naturally coming from the older trees. The latex is. 

 treated by a special process devised by the manager, Mr. H. H. 

 Markley, no coagulant being employed. The latex is first 

 strained, as usual, into tanks, and five parts of water added. 

 Twelve hours later the water is drawn off, and the residue, or 

 rubber cream, is dried on a revolving drum, heated by steam, the 

 latex cream being fed from a pan below. This pan is raised by 

 means of a lever until the cream comes in contact with the drum, 

 the surface of which, as it revolves, becomes coated with the 

 cream. The pan is then lowered and the coat of cream on the 

 drum allowed to dry — some seven minutes sufficing for the pur- 

 pose — when another coat is applied ; this operation being repeated 

 until the successive layers of latex cream have attained a total 

 thickness of about a quarter of an inch. The product is then 

 removed in the form of a sheet of rubber 3 feet wide and 18 feet 

 long, weighing approximately 50 pounds. In packing for ship- 

 ment, two such sheets are rolled up together and covered with a 

 petate, or piece of native rush matting. 



Some tapping has also been done on the Iowa plantation of 

 the German- American Coffee Company (owning the extensive 

 coffee estates of El Triunfo at Tumbala, near Salto de Agua). 

 acetic acid being the agent used in this case for coagulating the 

 latex. 



The Rio Michol and San Leandro plantations, situated in the 

 valley of the Rio Michol between the towns of Salto de .Agua and 

 Palenque, have been tapping for a couple of years, and are turn- 

 ing out rubber of fine appearance. • On these estates a tapping 

 tool similar to the Smith knife is used, and the latex converted 

 into rubber by means of calorific action. After the usual wash- 

 ing, the resultant cream, to which a small amount of formalde- 

 hyde is added (for the diminution of albuminous matter), is put 

 into porcelain lined kettles, each holding two liters, and im- 

 mersed in boiling water. In fifteen minutes the cream is brought 

 to boiling point and coagulation occurs. The content of each 

 kettle is then turned into a fran^e or mould, and subjected to 

 pressure, A dozen or more frames are placed on top of each 

 other and pressed simultaneously for a period of twenty-four 

 iiours, when the rubber is removed to the drying room. 



The eft'ect of the revolution in Mexico, combined with more 

 recent political developments, has been to create widespread 

 demoralization in the agricultural labor element, with serious 

 consequences to planters generally, almost all of whom have thus 

 suffered more or less, while in some instances field operations 

 have been completely paralysed. The "Maderistas" have released 

 large numbers of cnganches, or indentured men, on various 

 estates, which action has tended to breed discontent amongst the 

 voluntary laborers, who now feel that they must stand out for 

 shorter hours or smaller tasks and higher pay. (The usual wage 

 has thus far been 66 cents (Mexican currency) per day, with 

 food and quarters.) Such is now the case at the town of 

 Jaltipan, on tlic Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which has been an irri- 



