The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-09-17
INDIA B IMPORTS
GROWTH IN THE Las FEW YEARS
HAS BEEN REMARKABLE.
Thirty Million Dollars Worth of
Crude Rubber Annually Used in
Domestic Manufactures.

Special to the indianapolis Journal.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 16.-More than $780,
Co., 600 worth of india rubber has been i'm
ported into the United States during the
past four years. and more than 6o.ooo.ooo
worth in the last two years. A decade ago
the n importations of india rubber
amounted to about SIS. ooO. 900; now they ex-
coed SsO.OOO.OO and are steadily increasing.
Practically all of the importations of rub
Der CONF in crude form for use of manu-
facturers, who are constantly extending its
applications to various new lines Of Indus
try. Northern Brazil. southern Mexico,
the West Indies. central Africa, India. the
Straits Settlements 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 relations to manufactures,
and. consequently. commerce, in the past
few years than rubber AS a consequence
attention is now being given to the cultiva-
ton and systematic production of the vari-
Gus plants and trees from which it can be
produced.
The above statement is suggested by the
receipt by the Treasury Bureau Of Statis-
tics of a publication detailing the syste-
matte efforts being made for the cultivation
of india rubber trees and plants in the
British colonies. especially those of CEN
trail and South Africa. This, coupled with
the w~ell-known fact that our own Depart
ment of Agriculture has already begun
experiments and inquiries in this line in
the island territories of the United States,
adds greatly TO the interest In this ques-
ton and to the possibility that the $4,000
900 a year which we are now sending out
of the country for this product may be ex-
pended under the American flag and among
American producers. The fact that south
ern Mexico and Central America are nat
ural producers of india rubber in consid-
cradle and increasing quantities. and that
large quantities are produced in and ex-
ported from the islands and mainland i'm
mediately adjacent to the Philippines. sug-
gests great possibilities in this line. both
in Cuba. Porto Rico and in the Hawaiian
and Philippine Islands.
India rubber Is not, as is generally sup
posed, the product of a single tree, but, on
the contrary, is produced from a variety
of trees and plants. Some of these flourish
only in a moist soil and atmosphere, while
others thrive on stony soil, provided they
receive ample though intermittent rainfall:
cal climate is requisite. Most of the India
rubber of South and Central America and
India is from trees. but in the islands of
the Indian archipelago the supply of rub
Der Is chiefly from a gigantic creeper,
which, in five years growth. attains a
length of 200 feet and from twenty to thirty
inches In circumference. and which yields
annually from fifty to sixty pounds of
caoutchouc. Java, Sumatra. Penang. Sing
apcre and French Indo-China are already
large producers of crude india rubber. OF
caoutchouc, and its production in the West
Indies has been sufficient to indicate the
entire practical ility of its beine made an
important industry in Cuba and Porto
Rico, as well as in the Hawaiian, Philip
pine and Samoan islands.
The following table shows the value of
the importations of crude india rubber and
gutta percha into the United States In each
fiscal year from 1890 to 1900: