Z50 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May I, 1908. 



THE GUAYULE RUBBER INTEREST. 



PARA PRICES AND PRODUCTION. 



rj'XPERIMEXTS cnntinue to be made in Mexico in the cul- 

 *—' tivation of the guayiile plant, and with results in some 

 cases that appear encouraging. Mr. Elias Delaford, a civil en- 

 gineer of Mexico City, whose interest in guayule has been re- 

 ferred to already in these pages, has favored The Indi.\ Rubber 

 World with some photographs of the guayule rubber plant under 

 cultivation, from one of which the accompanying illustration 

 has been made. The picture shows a plant exactly 18 months 

 old; an idea of its size may be gained by considering the coat 

 in the background, to be supported by men of average height. 

 Mr. Delafond writes: 



"It is not necessary to waste 15 or 20 years to exploit this 

 plant. At two years the plant is strong enough to give an 

 excellent yield in rubber, which is even superior to that obtained 

 from the wild growth. Here a problem has been solved which 

 I think will interest your readers. Important plantations are 

 now started." 



In an article on guavule rubber the Mexican Herald notes that 



Gu.wi-i.E Pi..\.\-r, iS .Months fkom Seed. 



the Society of Natural History of Mexico took up the study of 

 this plant as early as 1876, from samples secured in Zacatecas, 

 and reached the conclusion that the rubber produced was of 

 excellent quality. The plant did not attract attention, however, 

 before 1900, when specimens of it as a rubber producer were 

 sent to the Paris exposition. From that date inquiries began 

 to be received in Mexico relative to the plant, as a result of 

 which the now important guayule rubber industry has been 

 built up. 



It appears that the first communication on the subject of 

 the guayule plant to reach the royal botanic gardens at Kevv 

 was dated in December, 1902, and came from a London company 

 interested in Mexican lands, in relation to a note appearing in 

 a bulletin of the United States department of agriculture. Ref- 

 erences to this plant as a possible rubber producer of value had 

 been made already, however, in American consular reports, and 

 The India Rubber World had, as early as its issue of February 

 I, 1897 (page 117), described a sample of the product, received 

 from a correspondent in Mexico. 



Dr. Adolpho Marx, of Mexico City, of the Cia Explotodora 

 de Caucho Mexicana, was reported lately to have recovered 

 from an operation for appendicitis. 



"T^HE price of Para rubber is discussed at length by a 

 ■*• correspondent of the London Economist, who finds reason 

 for believing that a low price level is likely to prevail for 

 some time to come. After treating of the cjuse of the 

 decline, this writer comments as follows on the probable 

 effect on the production of rubber: 



"As to the future production of the Amazon, I do not think 

 that the effect of this decline will be a curtailment of produc- 

 tion. The greatest decline in price to the producer during 

 the present crop has been about 42 per cent, while at the 

 present time it stands at about 20 per cent. The margin of 

 profit on the merchandise sent up river in exchange for rubber 

 is very large, probably about 30 per cent minimum, and it 

 is this fact which has saved the situation in past years of 

 crisis when rubber has been sold at even below 2s. 6d. per 

 pound. The fact remains that the production of rubber on 

 the Amazon has steadily increased from 19,000 tons in 1894-5 

 to 38,000 tons in 1906-7. If our market should decline to a 

 3S. or even 2S. 6d. basis, the Brazilian would naturally have 

 to face these conditions, and meet them, for the vast trading 

 interests on the Amazon are too valuable to be abandoned. 



"That the Brazilians are alive to this possibility, and will 

 meet it, is proven by the fact that during the severe crisis of 

 the few months past the export duty was reduced from 

 22j4 per cent to 19 per cent, and further reductions would 

 undoubtedly be made if necessary. Increased transport 

 facilities have also cheapened the cost of production. jNIore- 

 over, the sanitary conditions on the upper rivers are much 

 better than in former years, and as there are still vast ter- 

 ritories of virgin forests which are practically untapped there 

 can be no falling off in the supplies from these regions. 



"Many years must elapse before the production of planta- 

 tion grades will reach sufficient volume to be a serious menace 

 to the Para grades, and during this time it is fair to presume 

 that the producer on the Amazon will have so perfected his 

 mthods as to enable him to meet successfully such competi- 

 tion, and to preserve the industry which gives us the standard 

 grade of the world." 



'fjic Bi'azilian Review, of Rio, in reviewing market condi- 

 tions on March 14, said; 



"At Para matters seem on the mend and rubber prices have 

 risen sd., from 3s. to 3s. sd., or about 15 per cent, and seem 

 likely to go higher still, if only the Para people can hold on, 

 as is devoutly to be hoped. We ourselves were always of 

 the opinion that rubber prices had been forced too low, and 

 that a little resistance on the part of sellers would bring about 

 a reaction. The rise has been heaviest in sertao, or rubber 

 from up country, which has risent 100 reis, whilst illias, or 

 down river descriptions, have only risen 300 reis. This would 

 seem to point to efficacious assistance from the Bank of 

 Brazil, which has an agency at Manaos, the center of the 

 business in sertao rubber, and that local improvement was fol- 

 lowed, not led, by a rise abroad." 



Dr. Hamilton Rice, a young man from Boston, who is 

 making a reputation as a scientific explorer, was reported 

 by the New York Herald of .'Kpril 9 to have just arrived 

 at Manaos. .After more than a year in studying the re- 

 gions about the headquarters of the Orinoco, Dr. Rice paid 

 special attention to the region of the rio Vaupes, which flows 

 into the Xegro, and this in turn into the Amazon, near 

 Manaos. Hitherto practically nothing has been known of the 

 Vaupes, and Dr. Rice's discoveries are reported to be of 

 much value. He reports the region covered with dense 

 forests rich in rubber. The Vaupes is situated to the north 

 and east of the Caqueta, a large tributary of the Amazon 

 down which not a little rubber is now being exported. 



