F*eb. 1907.] 



55 



Saps and Exudations- 



REPORT ON RUBBER IN PANAMA. 



British Consulate, Panama, October 5th, 1906. 

 To the Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Grey. 



Sir,— I have the honour to refer to Sir E. Gorst's Circular Commercial of 

 April 28th last (13423) instructing me to report in the course of the present year as 

 full information as possible respecting the position of the rubber industry in the 

 Republic of Panama, the extent of the cultivation of rubber, the prospects of a 

 supply of raw rubber, and a comparative statement as to the exports of cultivated 

 and of wild rubber. 



The botanical name of the rubber producing tree in this Republic is Castilloa 

 elastica, is indigenous and grows wild along both coasts from sea level to altitudes 

 of two thousand feet. 



No statistics are available, and therefore it is impossible to furnish data 

 respecting the number of wild trees, but the production of raw rubber from this 

 source is more likely to decrease than to increase in the near future owing to the 

 ruthless cutting down of the trees in order to obtain the latex, in fact, to such an 

 extent has this been done, the wild rubber tree is nearly extinct in some districts. 

 In Chucunaque, a region of the Darien which has not yet been explored on account 

 of hostile Indians, it is claimed that forests of the Castilloa elastica are as common as 

 forests of other trees and that some of them are of enormous size ; but all attempts 

 of the rubber hunters to penetrate the territory inhabited by the Indians have so 

 far met with failure. 



There are approximately six hundred thousand Castilloa elastica plants 

 under cultivation in the entire Republic, some of them already six years old, which 

 are not enough to increase the supply of raw rubber to any extent in the near future. 

 It is estimated that after eight years growth, each of the cultivated trees will give 

 from five to six pounds weight of juice the first year they are tapped, which amount 

 is equivalent to two and a half pounds of pure rubber. 



The quantity of wild rubber exported from the whole republic in 1906 

 amounted to 214,750 pounds in weight and all of it went to the United States of 

 America, except 79 pounds sent to Europe. 



(Sgd.) C, MALLET, 



REPORT ON RUBBER IN MEXICO. 



Consulate of Mexico, October loth, 1906. 



To the Right Hon. Sir Edward Grey, Bart,, Etc. 



Sir,— With reference to Sir Eldon Gorst's Commercial Circular (13423) of April 

 the 28th last, I now have the honour to enclose a Memorandum on the Rubber 

 Industry in Mexico, 



There are no means of ascertaining the relative exports of cultivated and 

 wild rubber. The Rubber Industry of Mexico has been the subject of much 

 discussion in the United States owing to the adverse reports made by United States 

 Consuls-General Barlow and Parsons. 



I take this opportunity of forwarding a sample of Rubber made from the 

 Guayule plant, which I owe to the courtesy of Mr Adolf Marx, and to which I have 

 referred in a recent letter to the Principal of the Commercial Intelligence Branch of 

 the Board of Trade. 



(Sd.) LUCIEN J. JEROME, 

 H.M.'s Consul, 



