181 



;^I30, a price so high as to tempt the collectors to uproot it, a 

 process which is certain to exterminate it except on the company's 

 own lands. 



When it was first suggested that rubber could be obtained from 

 this shrub, a member of the daisy family, the greatest incredulity 

 was encountered, and the enHsting of capital in the enterprise was 

 a matter of extreme difficulty. At present, the total capitaliza- 

 tio.i of the interests engaged in this enterprise is said to be about 

 ;^ 1 30,000,000, and there is every prospect that even on this great 

 scale, the business will be very profitable. 



The collection of this variety is by a method unknown else- 

 where in the rubber industry. By it the entire woody portion of 

 the plant is finely ground, and the rubber extracted by liquids 

 from the dust. 



The third, and what we may call the new variety of Mexican 

 rubber, is also unique as to its character, and the methods em- 

 ployed in preparing it. It is produced by the Euphorbia elastica, 

 and is therefore a near relative of the Para rubber. 



This tree inhabits a region intermediate in location and climatic 

 character between those producing the two previously described 

 varieties, namely, the hilly country where the western edge of the 

 table-land breaks down into the coast slope, at an altitude mostly 

 of from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. The climate of this region might 

 be called subtropical. The banana and orange grow here, but 

 only exceptionally produce fruit. Some poor apples are grown 

 and corn is the staple agricultural product. Although there is a 

 long dry season, the rainy season is long enough, and its rains 

 abundant enough, to produce the crops without irrigation, for the 

 most part. 



This Euphorbia will not grow on the alluvial plains, but only 

 on the rough rocky hillsides, where the drainage is good. Its 

 arborescent associates are Randias, Acacias, Convolvuli, and a 

 number of Cactaceae. It is a gregarious species, the branches 

 often interarching over considerable areas, although many smaller 

 trees and shrubs are intermingled. It is a rather small tree, the 

 trunks usually less than two feet in diameter, and the height 

 usually under fifty feet. Its branches and branchlets are rather 



