Arizona republican., 1904-06-03
A New Resource of the Desert.

ing been found that the shrub contains
 the ingredients of a good quality of
 rubber. Practical tests will soon de
 termine whether commercial rubber
 can be manufactured from the plant 1 on a profitable basis. One of the first requisites, of course, is a constant and l adequate supply of the raw material.
 Enthusiastic assertions that the des- ! ert will supply millions of dollars
 worth" cannot be accepted as correct.
 About the most that can be claimed is, 1 that there are great possibilities in this i new product of the desert region if it | shall be found practicable 10 grow it
 under irrigation. Experiments in i Colorado are to be made on practical l lines, according to the Denver Repub-
 lican:
 The managers of the company which has been organized to utilize the
 rubber weed found growing in the mountains have wisely determined to
 conduct a series of experiments in the cultivation of this plant. The purpose
 will be to ascertain what can be done
 to produce it from year to year and
 thereby maintain the supply of crude
 rubber which it is known to contain.
 If it should not be practicable to
 peTpetuate the growth of the plant,
 the manufacture Of rubber in this state
 would be an industry of comparatively
 short duration. Sooner or later the
 existing stock of plants would be ex- hausted.
 If, however, its cultivation is shown
 to be practicable, the industry will be permanent, and it will be possible t. extend it. indefinitely by increasing the area of plant production.
 The experiments in question will be carried on near Buena Vista, in the vicinity of which town there is a large area covered by the rubber plant. In its natural state 1t of course grows without irrigation. But at best this must be a slow process, and it remains to be seen, therefore, whether under irrigation it would be stimulated In this connection it is also to be consid- cred whether the product per acre can be increased.
 There is some reason to fear that under irrigation the yield Of rubber would be less in proportion to the amount of vegetable matter than 1t is In the wild plants. It is highly prob able that this is the case, but there may be compensation in the larger growth of the individual plants. These ! and ether matters will. it is hoped, be satisfactorily determined by the ex- periments that are to be conducted this summer"
 In The World Today for June is an optimistic article on the future of the . vests rubber plant" The discovery. ! in the words Of the magazine writer, sets at rest all fears of a rubber !. shortage. The rubber tree is a product peculiar to the tropics. The newly ! discovered plant of Colorado, however. grows at an altitude of from five thousand to twelve thousand feet. ! where the climate holds all the rigors | of winter and all the whitening force of raiuless summer. The discovery 1 of the rubber plant relieves the . worlds rubber market from it's depea- | ience on the tropics and makes 1t pos sible for rubber to become a staple crop. even in countries where extreme cold prevails"
 It seems that to F. E. Marsh. of Denver, is due the credit of the dis sovery. He went to Colorado two years ago, an invalid, and to regain his health went out on to the range with the cowboys. He struck the range near Buena Vista, that state, where he found the cowboys chewing the roots 1f a weed they called rabbit bush" After being thoroughly masticated the root left a gummy substance. When Mir. Marsh first noticed it he consider ed it of more than usual interest, anG 1t his first Opportunity sent samples Ii 'f the weed to Professor T. D. A. Cock .rell, botanist at Colorado college, for examination.
 The professors tests showed the ] ,ummy substance to be gum elastic. IT India rubber. When compared with other rubbers it WIS found to be equal O the best medium grade og the tropi- : al products.
 In his official report, published in the ollege bulletin, Professor CockereH avs:
 The roots tested were found to con ain from five to twelve per cent of rude rubber, soluble ip carbon bisul- hide and bepzOl It burns. giving off
 strong odor of rubber. Several tests were made which showed that powder made from the bark contained a much anger per cent than that made from he whole root. The crowns, when , leaned, contain about the same per ent as the roots; the wooI-hke sub tance surrounding the crowns con aims a small per cent, though it is not o elastic as that taken from the roots nd crown"
 It is estimated that the complete cost f pound of the new rubber will be ot more than twenty-five cents. But
 is tber difTic11It to ,tpdarcta,d bon,