PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF RUBBER. II 



that, nearly throughout the Amazon and its principal tributaries, 

 the mass of the population put itself into motion to search out 

 and fabricate Seringa. In the province of Para alone (which 

 now includes a very small portion of the Amazon) it was 

 computed that 25,000 persons were employed in that branch 

 of industry in the year 1854." 



Ten years ago the export of rubber from Para amounted 

 to 22,544 tons. During the last four years the exports of rubber 

 from the Amazon are estimated by Messrs Figgis, loc. cit., as 

 30,385 tons in 1904, 34,420 tons in 1905, 34,520 tons in 1906, 

 and 37,520 in 1907. These figures do not suggest any re- 

 duction of supplies from the Amazonian region in the near 

 future ; indeed it is the opinion of persons well acquainted 

 with the Amazonian rubber trade that still greater quantities 

 could be collected. 



With regard to the principal source of Central American 

 rubber, a recently published consular report states : " The 

 tropical forests of the coast provinces of Ecuador are the native 

 habitat of the rubber tree, Castilloa elastica, and the exportation 

 of the rubber derived therefrom has been now going on for 

 upwards of half a century." Although this report mentions 

 the " wanton destruction of the trees," it quotes the under- 

 mentioned figures as the exports of rubber from Ecuador 

 for the years 1897 to Z 95 : 



Year. Tons. 



1897 496 



1898 - 709 



Year. Tons. 



1902 - - 388 



1903 - 486 



1899 - - 644 1904 - - - 510 



1900 - 493 1905 - 576 



1901 - 317 



The Mexican rubber shrub (Parthenium argentatum, 

 A. Gray) has contributed considerable quantities of rubber 

 to the United States market during recent years. In 1907 the 

 exports of this rubber, which is known in the trade as Guayule 

 rubber, amounted to about 3,000 tons. It would appear, 

 however, that this source of supply is short lived, for the 

 United States Consul in Mexico City has recently reported 

 that, at the present rate of consumption, there is only sufficient 



