The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-17
Hecht & Company,
513-515 Seventh Street.
INDIA RUBBER IMPORTS.
Value of the Product From Abroad
s3O.OOo.ooO Year.


More than one hundred million dollars
worth of india rubber has been imported
into the United States during the past
four years, and more than sixty million
dollars worth in the last two years. A
decade ago the annual importations of
india rubber amounted to about sl5.OOO.-
600. now they exceed $50. 100000, and are
steadily increasing. Practically all of the
importations of rubber come in crude
form for use of manufacturers. who are
constantly extending its application to
various new lines Of industry. Northern
Brazil Southern Mexico. the West Indies.
Central africa India. the Straits Settle
ments, and the Dutch East Indies supply
this increasingly important feature of our
importations Probably no single article
has made a more rapid growth in its re-
Iations to manufactures. and consequently
commerce. in the past few years, than
rubber As consequence, attention is
now being given to the cultivation and
systematic production of the various
plants and trees from which it can be pro-
5duecl.
= T3e 1boye statement is suggested by
I. tsia rcceipsa 6y the Treasury Bureau of
fSfzfistics of a publication detailing the
ssyste:uatic efforts being made for the cul-
Stiva lion of india rubber trees and plants
I'm tho British colonies. especially those
OF Central and South Africa. This, Cou-
plsi with the weil-known fact that our
own Department of Agriculture has
already begun experiments and enquiries
liz this line in the island territories of
the United States, adds greatly to the
interest in this question and to the pos
siDility that the $50, 600 year which
we are now sending out Of the country for
this product may be expended under the
American flag and among American pro-
ducers The fact that Southern Mexico
and Central America are natural produc-
vrs Of india rubber in considerable and
increasing quantities, and that large
quantities are produced in, and exported
from the islands and mainland immedi-
ately adjacent to the Philippines. sug
gests great poss Utilities in this line both
in Cuba. Porto Rico and in the Hawaiian
ard Philippine Islands.
India rubber is not, as is g-nsTally
supposed the product of a single tree
but. Gu the contrary. is produced from
a variety of trees and plants. Some OF
these flourish only in a moist soil AID
atmosphere, while others thrive On stony
soil. provided they receive ample ;housh
intermittent rainfall though in all cases
II trCplcal OF SUI NHiS't Niit -
uuisite Most of the india rubber OF
South and Central tmerica and India s
from trees, hut In re islands of the In
dian archipelago the supply OF rubber is
chiefly from cigar ic crceper, which in
five years growth TT aims q length CT s0)
feet. and from 20 to 80 inches in circum-
ference, and which yields annually from
fifty to sixty pounds of caoutchcur. Java.
Sumatra. Penang. Singapore, and French
Indo- China are already large producers
of crude india rubber, or caoutehcue, and
its production in the West Indies has
been sufficient to indicate the entire prac-
ticability of it's being made an important
industry in Cuba and Porto Rico. as we'll
as in the Hawaiian. Philippine, and Sa-
moan Islands.
The following table shows the value of
the importations of crude India rubber