THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



The Production of Guayule Rubber — 11/ 



From a special report by Henry C. Pearson, prepared for the Burcnit nf f, 



Don,. 



HABITAT OF GUAYULE— PARASITIC ENEMIES. 



GUAYULE at its best is found growing on the central Mexi- 

 can plateau in great quantities. The district is nearly rain- 

 less and is very sparsely populated by a race partly Indian, 

 partly Spajiish The region is practically grassless and contains 

 no large trees being a t%pii.al desert (.ountr\ The alkali earth 

 which IS found over most of tht plateau is in realit\ a rich soil 

 needing onl> sufhcient u Uer i make the region a \ct\ fertile one 

 The gua\ule is imlu'-noi s in a compaiatu el> small area in 

 southwestern Icxi ml lu rtlitrn Mexico It nid\ be b muled 

 as follows Ir m t n. w l ttrn i\ remit\ tin lit ii t\ 

 Te.xas the line run uhii v, t 1 h . 1 r i he ,e 



northern b<ain(Ur\ t Ouim., Mexu lu ir Sunt I.arb ira. 

 Chihuahua then southeast parallel with the \kxiLan Leniial 



GATHERING AND TRANSPORTING THE SHRUB. 



Although the most important guayule districts command good 

 railway facilities, there are large areas whose exploitation is 

 difficult on account of the lack of means of transportation. 

 These difficulties are mainly due to the fact that water for the 

 pack animals can not be found on these desert lands. 



The gathering is done under contract by natives, who simply 

 pull the plant and load it on the back of burros. It is then ear- 

 ned to a central station, where it is baled by ordinary hay 

 balers. These bales are loaded upon large wagons, which are 

 drawn across the desert by teams of mules, often 12 to 14 ta 

 the team. The cost of transportating the crude material is not 

 great. A burro driver gathers the loads for two or three 

 animals, each carrying an average load of 165 pounds. For an 



Railway about IflO kilometers (62 miles). Beyond the .State of 

 DurangD the boundary runs still farther east curving northward 

 again not far from San Luis Potosi. The one hundred and 

 first meridian marks roughly the eastern boundary, lying some- 

 what west of it till beyond Saltillo, where the line then curves 

 slightly west of north, reaching the eastern limit in Texas" at 

 Langtry. The northern limit is marked approximately by Fort 

 Stockton. The total area is approximately 130,000 square miles, 

 a large part of which is in the Chihuahuan Desert. This area 

 varies in altitude from 2,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level, and 

 the most important acreage is not much above 6,000 to 6,500 

 feet. 



-According to Lloyd,^ guayule has few parasitic enemies, either 

 vegetable or animal. Of the former, two are species of fungi, the 

 Puccunia parthenii and the dodder (Cuscula sp.). Of the lat- 

 ter there are Coccidae that attack the tap root. There is also 

 a scale, Targionia dcarnessi Ckll., which attacks roots. The 

 leaves are sometimes attacked by a gall insect, and there is 

 a bark-boring beetle, the Pitgophthorus nigricans Bland. 



entire day's journey (12 kilometers and return) and three loads 

 (495 pounds) the transportation charges per ton of crude ma- 

 terial would be, say, $2.50 to $3. For long distances, however^ 

 the cost sometimes runs as high as $12.50 per ton. 



PRICES OF SHRUB AND COST OF EXTRACTED RUBBER. 



The price of dried guayule plants, including charges, began 

 at $7.50 a ton. Later, when several competing enterprises 

 erected factories, the price rose to $15 and $20 per ton, accord- 

 ing to the distance between the places of origin and the station 

 or works. During the "boom" growing guayule was bought un- 

 harvested at $30 gold per ton in the field and up to $50 gold 

 per ton delivered at the factory. A fair average of the cost of 

 guayule shrub to the leading concerns was about $30 gold per 

 ton c. i. f. factory, allowing for shrinkage until used, which 

 must be within 60 days of cutting to prevent deterioration' 

 of the rubber. 



Calculating the high cost of coal and water, it was estimated 

 that the rubber could be extracted and freighted to New York 

 and sold there at a cost of 20 to 25 cents per pound. This 

 included all costs, taxes, traveling options, office expenses, etc., 

 but not royalties on processes used. 



