374 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1908. 



Planting Results in Mexico. 



RUBBER YIELD ON "LA ZACUALPA." 



A REPORT signed by O. H. Harrison, president of the La 

 Zacualpa Plantation Co., on their "La Zacualpa No. I " 

 rubber plantation, in the Mexican state of Chiapas, says : 

 "During the past year and up to December 10 last (1907) there 

 were 257,760 different tappings of cultivated trees and the re- 

 sult was 40,000 pounds of refined rubber, giving an average of 

 2.52 ounces per tree from each tapping. A few of these trees 

 were 7 years old; some were 6, but we estimate the majority 

 at only 5 years, so that the average would be slightly under 6 

 years." 



The company plan to tap their trees three times this year, 

 but the report does not state how many of the trees dealt with 

 last year were tapped more than once. It is mentioned, as 

 showing the capacity of the trees Uiat several of the age of 7 

 years were tapped twice last year — yielding about three ounces 

 each at the first tapping and 8 to 11 ounces each four months later 

 when bled severely. 



The report continues: "The actual cost of collecting and curing 

 the 40,600 pounds of refined rubber in 1907, on La Zacualpa No. I 

 was $2955.40, or 7% cents [gold] per pound. Figuring ap- 

 proximately 8 cents per pound as additional for maintenance 

 and general expense of marketing, etc., makes a total of 15 cents 

 per pound as the cost of harvesting and marketing." 



MEETING OF MEXICAN RUBBER PLANTERS. 



The invitation for the summer meeting of tlie Rubber Plant- 

 ers' Association of Mexico is given in fitll below. The secretan.-, 

 writing at a later date, informed The India Rubber World: "I 

 regret that I am unable to give you the program in detail. The 

 committee having the matter in charge is composed of busy 

 planters who have not crystallized a program." The invitation 

 follows : 



At the meeting of the Rubber Planters' .\ssociation in February la«t, 

 it was decided to hold a discussion meeting during the summer somewhere 

 on the isthmus of Tehuantepec, and a committee was appointed to make 

 the necessary arrangements. 



This meeting will be held on July 31 and August i at San Geronimn, 

 Oaxaca. and papers will be read bv a number of gentlemen, among them 

 Dr. Pchr Olsson-Seffer, Mr. J. C. Harvey, Mr. V. O. Peterson, Mr. L. A. 

 Ostien. Mr. A. B. Coate, and Mr. Zeferino Dominguez. 



It was intended to put on exhibition at this meeting the various ex- 

 hibits which are to be shown at the International and Allied Trades Ex- 

 hibition in London, September 14 to 26. but it has been found that these 

 exhibits have to leave Vera Cruz on .Tuly 30, in order to reach London in 

 time. -\ special circular, with shipping instructions, will be sent to mem- 

 bers of the Association and exhibitors by the committee in charge. 



All interested in rubber culture, and especially all members of the 

 association, are cordially invited to be present at the meeting and to 

 present papers or subjects for discussion. 



Kindly inform Mr. V. O. Peterson, San Geronimo, Oaxaca, if you in- 

 tend to be present, in order that accommodations niav be provided. 



W. B. MURR-\Y, Secretary. 



City of Mexico, July i, 190S. 



Further details in relation to the Mexican display at the Lon- 

 don rubber exhibition appear on another page of this paper. The 

 post of secretary of the Association is now filled by Mr. W. B. 

 Murray, editor of the ,l/i'.nVfli( Inzrstor, his address being 

 Apartado 117 bis, City of Mexico. 



PLANTING COMPANY NOTES. 



The annual report of the L'tah-Mexican Rubber Co. (Salt 

 Lake City, Utah), after giving an account of the progress 

 of their planted rubber in the state of Tabasco, Mexico, refers 

 to the success of neighboring planters whose rubber is older. 

 One paragraph says: "Another neighbor, Seiior Acuna, "had just 

 returned from New York, where he had taken and sold 6000 

 pounds of rubber from 5000 cultivated trees of various ages." 

 The pamphlet includes a photographic view of the San Juan 

 Bautista store of Harburger & Stack, a New York firm (recently 

 illustrated in The India Rubder World), showing in front of it 

 what is described as 3000 pounds of rubber — "one day's receipts 

 from a Tabascan rubber planter." 



Mr. J. Herbert Foster, manager of the "Meriden" rubber 

 plantation, at Tula de los Tuxtlas, in Mexico, reports to his 

 company that he and two neighboring planters joined lately 

 in shipping to New York 3000 pounds of cultivated rubber. Mr. 

 Foster has resigned the secretaryship of the Rubber Planters' 

 Association of Mexico, in order to be able to give his whole 

 time to the Meriden plantation and has signed a contract to 

 continue as manager for two years. 



GUATEMALA. 



The Los Angeles Rubber, Lumber, and Fruit Co., organized 

 in New Orleans in 1901, still hold the land tihey then acquired on 

 the line of the Northern Railroad of Guatemala, about 30 miles 

 from the coast. The company are operating a banana planta- 

 tion there and have considerable planted rubber, now in the 

 seventh year. They are understood to be desirous of disposing 

 of their rubber property. 



The first annual report of Cie. Franco-Beige du Guatemala 

 [see The India Rubber World July i, 1908 — page 324] relates 

 to the company's acquisition of lands — now aggregating 30,000 

 hectares [^74,130 acres] — and getting the sugar and lumber in- 

 terests into shape. Evidently work has not been begun in con- 

 nection with rubber. 



RUBBER IN THE FRUIT OF A MEXICAN SMILAX. 



Reporting on an investigation of the fruits of a certain variety 

 of smilax found in Mexico, C. Mannich writes in the Notizblatt 

 of the Berlin royal botanical gardens (No. 42 — March 11, 1908) : 



"2i.7 grams of this fruit were placed at my disposal. The 

 average weight of the fruit is 0.196 grams each. 



"On breaking open the fruit, each seed proved to be provided 

 with a thin covering or shell of a very elastic, brown substance, 

 resembling rubber. This rubber like membrane was separated 

 by mechanical means from the skins and kernels. The product 

 thus obtained from 23.7 grams of fruit consisted of: 



Rubber shells 0.6 grams. 



Kernels 15.9 grams. 



Skins 7.2 grams. 



"The amount of rubber shells is consequently equivalent to 

 2.53 per cent of the total weight of the fruit. 



"Attempts were made to determine the percentage of pure rub- 

 ber contained in the rubber shells. However, during this test 

 such unforeseen difficulties were encountered as to make it im- 

 possible to conclude the determination. In fact, it was found 

 that the substance in question is insoluble in all of the com- 

 monly used rubber solvents. On the other hand, these solvents 

 caused each separate membrane to swell until it became a 

 gelatinous mass. Tests were made with the following solvents : 

 Carbon tetrachlorid, toluene, and chloroform. Toluene dissolved 

 10.8 per cent. 



"In view of these results it appears rather doubtful whether 

 the elastic shells which, in outward appearance, are exactly 

 similar to rubber of good quality, contain any considerable 

 amount of true rubber. The material at hand (0.6 grams) was 

 insufficient for making further tests." 



A COMMUNiCMiON printed in the New York Herald, from a 

 civil engineer, attributes the frequent bursting of fire hose while 

 under pressure at critical moments to the custom of folding or 

 creasing hose when it is stowed away in the carriages. This 

 correspondent advocates an immediate return to the old time 

 reel as better adapted to preserving the life of the hosi. 



