364 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agrtculturtst 



advances received, at from ten to fifteen cents 

 per pair. One man collects milk for six to ten 

 pairs per day. The dipping of a pair of shoes 

 occupies about fifteen minutes, and the figuring, 

 the same or less. 



The bottles are made by dipping a ball of clay 

 ormed around the end of a stick, which is re- 

 moved when dry or by soaking in water. The 

 rubber of Para is the best known, and thus far 

 has only been collected near the coast — but the 

 "Seringa" abounds throughout tho banks of the 

 Amazon and its numerous branch up to the 

 foot of the Andes, as well as along the Orinoco 

 and other parts of South America — hence the 

 supply will ever be inexhaustible. The collec- 

 tion is mainly confined to the dry season, from 

 the effect of the rain on the crops. 



It might be supposed that the luxuriant vege- 

 tation and tropical position of Para would pro- 

 duce a most unhealthy climate, but the very 

 opposite is the fact. The people are rudy and 

 hardy, and Para has the healthiest climate, I 

 have ever known within the torrid zone. The 

 sun scorching at mid-day, but the nights, with 

 mornings and evenings, are delightful. The 

 average of the mercury about 85 : but within 

 the towering forests, the air is always cool and 

 fresh. There are no roads in the country for 

 carnages. The river and its branches form their 

 grand highway. Hence every house is supplied 

 with canoes and galliotas, which are propelled 

 by paddles and sails. The plough is yet unknown 

 lrj.the province of Para. The land when cleared 

 soon becomes too much infested with grass and 

 weeds, to be kept down with the " tresado " or 

 cutlass, which seems to be their chief farming 

 implement. The held is then abandoned, and a 

 new one cleard, and the old one soon springs 

 up into a tangled forest. Corn and Rice are 

 the only grains raised. Plaintains, yams, and 

 sweet potatoes, are less used than in the West 

 Indies. In some parts broad "campos" or 

 prairies sustain large herds of cattle and horses 

 but in the forest little pasturage is to be found. 



RUBBER NOTES. 



More About The Guayule Positiox. 



Further information is to hand respecting the 

 supply of guayule. M'exico has been favoured 

 with an unusual abundance of rain during the 

 last year, which has meant much to the pro- 

 ducers of rubber in that country. In fact, ac- 

 cording to a large buyer of guayule rubber, tbe 

 principal form of rubber produced in Mexico, 

 these abundant rains have been the real salvation 

 of the rubber industry. Speaking on the matter, 

 Mr Charles T Wilson says : — "Production of 

 rubber in Mexico is attended by many difficul- 

 ties, of which the main is lack of rain. The 

 guayule rubber requires much water to repro- 

 duce quickly, and that is the reason an extensive 

 irrigation system is now being planned by the 

 Intercontinental Rubber Company. Without a 

 steady water supply, something that Mexico 

 never knows, the time that must elapse before 

 the guayule can reproduce is purely problemati- 



cal. The guayule rubber industry is still in its 

 infancy, and with the increased demand for 

 particular form of rubber among the manu- 

 facturers in this country has big possibilities." 

 Rainfall of the last twelve months has resulted 

 in a rapid growth of the small guayule shrub, 

 particularly on the large acreage of the Inter- 

 continental. This is not the shrub that has 

 previously been cut, but the small vegetation 

 that was not touched during the last few years. 

 The Intercontinental harvesters have been most 

 careful to preserve this small shrub, some- 

 thing that cannot be said of some of the other 

 large producers in Mexico. The result of this is 

 now apparent ; within the next two years the 

 Intercontinental should reap the benefit. Much 

 of the new shrub is now large enough to cut or 

 pull, and considerable rubber could be obtained, 

 intercontinental rubber managers,however, have 

 decided not to touch any of the growth for at 

 least a year, when, they say, the supply of rubber 

 that can be obtained from same will be greatly 

 increased. The Intercontinental, as conditions 

 stand today, must conserve its resources, and 

 for this reason is not going to make any more 

 large contracts for the next few months. Only 

 some 65 of the 140 pigeon mills at the Torreon 

 plant were in operation when the recent trouble 

 caused the entire shutting down of the plant. 

 This means that the plant was working at less 

 than 50 per cent of capacity, which is estimated 

 at approximately 1,200,000 lb monthly. On the 

 50 per cent basis this would mean a production 

 of approximately 600,000 lb. monthly, which 

 agrees with the averages of the last few months 

 as published by the " Wall Street Journal," 

 Contracts with the United States Rubber Com- 

 pany and one or two other large manufacturers 

 of America are all that the Intercontinental 

 wishes to handle at this time of uncertainty, 

 and tbe company is in a position to take care of 

 these for at least two years with the actual full- 

 grown shrub now on hand. Madero interests in 

 Mexico control approximately 35 to 40 percent 

 of the guayule output of that country. The 

 Intercontinental has probably 45 percent, which 

 leaves only 15 to 20 per cent for the other 

 guayule companies operating there. There are 

 four of these other concerns, of which the Anglo- 

 Mexican Rubber Company controlled by English 

 capitalists, is the largest. The Intercontinental's 

 large output is from one factory at Torreon. 

 The Madero people have an advantage, having 

 three factories, so that in event of an insurrec- 

 tory movement, as of the last month, it is possi- 

 ble to keep at least one of the plants running ; 

 consequently, there is never the complete 

 shut-down necessitated at the Intercontinental 

 works. At least 28,000,000 lb of guayule rubber 

 were produced in Mexico in 1910. Of this 

 amount it is estimated that nearly 10,000,000 lb 

 was produced by the Intercontinental, 8,000,000 

 by the Madero interests and the remaining 

 10,000,000 lb among the four other guayule rub- 

 ber companies. Any estimate of the 1911 pro- 

 duction is impossible now, but it will un- 

 doubtedly fall below 1910 because of the 

 troubles in Mexico. The proportionate pro- 

 duction, however, among the several companies 

 for the year will be about the same.— Financial 

 Times, March 15, 



>'8irT 58 <f N»M fl9«9 WR3 ,'4Hai 6W) 



