DIFFERENT KINDS OF WILD RUBBER 35 



then stirs the mixture, and in a little time the rubber 

 coagulates into lumps, which float on the surface. 

 He takes these pieces of rubber out of the pan, and 

 kneads them into flat, round " biscuits." 



Our next visit is to Mexico. Here we will not go 

 into the forests, among the caucho-gatherers ; for 

 time is pressing, and rather than look at similar sights 

 to those with which we are alreadj^ acquainted, we 

 choose to make for a part of this country where we can 

 watch, amidst quite new surroundings, a novel pro- 

 cess of obtaining rubber from a plant which is quite 

 different from any we can see elsewhere. 



We are on the stony soil of a Mexican plain, standing 

 knee-deep in scrub. As far as the eye can reach in' 

 every direction the ground is covered wdth dwarfish 

 vegetation, which consists of a shrub called " gua- 

 yule." 



Guayule covers acres upon acres of the Mexican 

 plains. It contains a large amount of rubber, which 

 is secreted by all the plant-cells. Unlike most rubber- 

 giving vegetation, this shrub does not yield its riches 

 in the form of milk ; the milk naturally coagulates 

 within the cells and forms tiny particles of rubber. 

 Presently you will see how these particles are routed 

 out of their hiding-place. 



In the district we have come to visit, several Mexicans 

 are busy gathering in a harvest of guayule. As you 

 watch them at work, you notice that they pull up some 

 of the shrubs by the roots, but others they pass by. 

 No, the plants they leave in the ground are not by any 

 means poor specimens ; they are young guayules, as 

 yet under 18 inches high, which are being left to grow 

 and furnish another crop. 



