632 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1917. 



Your Corona is made of Mullein, not tobacco. I only make a 

 box a year and that is why, including the. years of experiment, 

 they cost me so much. How do you like them?" 



"Pretty good imitation, as far as the 

 appearance goes," said the Guyer ju- 

 dicially, dropping the unconsumcd half 

 into a cuspidor, "but, of course, you can- 

 not really imitate tobacco to the con- 

 noisseur. You cannot get the fine fla- 

 vor, the delicious aroma, the pearly ash. 

 the sensuous sedative effect — " 



"Man without imagination is a ma- 

 chine, a clod," said Chang. "You have 

 vision, imagination, great. I never even 

 saw a Mullein leaf. You were smoking 

 a Corona Corona of real tobacco. Have 

 another and don't be angry. Remember 

 the stories you have been telling to a 

 credulous Chinaman. Remember also 

 that lying was a fine art in China beffirc 

 America was discovered. Shall we cry 

 ■quits and say pax vcrbasctim?" 



I met Chang again on the "China" 

 ■going from Hong Kong to Shanghai in 

 1905. Then I got better acquainted, and 

 dining with him in the last named city, 

 linally sized him up as one who would 

 be a big man in any country, and, fur- 

 ther, one who because of his unusual 

 persjiective would be a very sage and 

 sane analyst of world conditions in the 

 rubber or in any trade. 



He was an omnivorous reader, and 

 as he was a graduate of a leading Eng- 

 lish university his outlook was exceed- 

 ingly broad. India rubber was his hobby. 

 He knew it wild and planted. Not only 



that, but he 



knew the big 

 factories the 

 world over, had 

 a good idea of 

 machinery and 

 processes, and 

 had formed 

 opinions of the 

 leaders of the 

 trade that were 

 surprisingly ac- 

 curate. 



As I neared 

 Shanghai, I. 

 therefore, read 

 again a letter 

 received from 

 him in New 

 York the day 

 before I had 

 started for the 

 Philippines. It 

 read : 



Tu Chung Rubber Tree, 8 Ye.krs Old. 



Arnold .Arboretum, Boston, M..\ssa- 



chl'setts. 



you would be most enjoyable, and I think interesting to you. 

 Your old friend, 



Chang. 



In time we hove to off the mouth of 

 the Vangtse Kiang, waited for a pilot, 

 and went up the great river, and the next 

 day were ashore with two days of shore 

 leave ahead of us. 



I at once looked up Mr. Chang in his 

 modest but luxurious apartments. 



Skipping over the preliminaries of 

 greeting and trade gossip, and getting 

 at once to the matter that was on his 

 mind, said he rather abruptly : 



"Why do not the .'Vmericans grow 

 rubber at home?" 



"They are experimenting with guayule 

 in Texas," I replied. "Nothing else 

 seems to be in sight at present." 



"I wonder why our Tu Chung rubber 

 would not be of interest to your people. 

 You know it?" 



"Only in a very misty way," said I. 

 "You mean the product of the Chinese 

 tree Eucommia iilmoidesf" 



"That is it. That is just it, and it has 

 a future, I am sure. The tree is about 

 the only rubber producer in the world 

 that thrives in the temperate zone. It 

 .stands winters such as you have in New 

 York state without any trouble at all. 

 The bark is full of rubber. I have many 

 times taken a piece of the dried bark of 

 tlie tree, broken it and found it full of 

 threads of rubber. It looked like the 

 product of the grass rubber vine of 

 Afric.1. ' 



jijhin Im^^ 



B.vrk of a Tu Chung Rubber Trse Showing Threads of Rubber. 



Photograph from the Bureau of Phut Industry, Washington, D. C. 



My Dear Mr. Pearson: 



To us slow thinking Orientals the tremendous grow-th of 

 your American rubber business is startling. It is fully as 

 remarkable as the rise of the British rubber planting interest 

 which you will recall I forecasted pretty accurately in 1904.* 



There are still surprises and wonderful developments in 

 store for your trade. I could greatly desire to discuss them 

 with you. Many American rubber men stop here en route 

 for the Eastern rubber fields. Why not you? A visit from 



"What quality 

 of rubber?" 



"Ah, that I 

 don't k n o w. 

 The idea only 

 came to me late- 

 ly to try and in- 

 troduce it into 

 America, per- 

 haps as a refor- 

 estation scheme. 

 The tree really 

 has very profit- 

 able possibili- 

 ties. Here in 

 China we use 

 the dried and 

 powdered bark 

 as a m e d i - 

 cine and it sells 

 for $1.50 gold a 

 pound. It is a 

 specific for cer- 

 tain kinds cf 

 rheumatism.and 



is not poisonous. Now this same bark contains rubber, about 

 3 per cent, I believe. Just picture the possibilities, say, $1 a 

 pound for a valuable drug, and more than enough rubber in it 

 to pay for the cost of cultivation and gathering. Do you not 

 think the experiment worth the trying?" 



* The prediction of this amazing Chinaman was that the rubber produc- 

 tion of the Malay States in ten years (1914) would be greater than that of 

 the Amazon Valley. 



