Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-10-26
the gum ana the mixture subjected 10


a heat OF about 265 TO 800 degrees,
Fahrenheit. for from thirty minutes 10
three hours tne material has changed
In character and is absolutely unin-
fuenced by changing temperatures. At
the same time It's elasticity is great.
ly Increased This Is called vulcan.
ization. From the time of Goodyear
tipied year by year and today rubber
is one OF the standard products of the
world.
Where does the gum come from?
II YOU will look at this map yon will
see that II comes from pretty nearly
every tropical country in the world,
It is ga hered not only from the trees
OF Brazil and Central America. but
from the lianas or vines Of the Art
can iungles, from the shrubs OF the
Congo and from roots and even from
grasses in various portions OF tae
tropics. The best gum is from the
Amazon valley In Brazil and the city
OF Para lis the main trading point. inst
as Chicago Is the grain market OF
America. The gums vary In price
from a few cents a pound up to S1.3',
for No l Para.
There il another thing YOU will no
tico from an examination Of this map
and that is that all the fields In which
| I, may be gathered are away from
the great centers Of population and
are, fer the most part, In portions or
the earth that are unhealthy and
where ferocions wild beasts dispute
with man for the mastery OF The
earth. II was stated by Commodore
Benedict, president OF tine rubber
trust. that ii is one of the most Ia
mentable facts connected with tue
| rubber industry, that every ton OF
rubber gum means a human life.
think II was Washington Irving
who told of the man who started out
to write the history OF his native VII.
lage, aud having started with the ere
| alton OF man. got as far along with his
| history as the exodus Of the Jews
from Egypt when death from old age
overlook him and his history Of the
town was never published. I'm afrai1
that some OF you who came here to
listen TO p talk on Colorado rubber
weed will put me in that veracious
| historians class unless I get around
10 Colorado pretty soon.
Here are some specimens of the Pic
radenia FIoribunda Utilis, or p. f. u,
as we call II for short. Most of you
have seen il on the ridges and hill
sides, and yet it is the easiest thing in
the world 70 be mistaken In 1t. Here
is another plant that is not the p. +.
U. and you will note how alike they
are. The surest test when you are
in doubt rs TO the real thing is to no.
tlce the cotton fiber on the lower part
of the plant. No other plant In Colo.
RADIO That ] know Of has that cotton.
Now for the history of the p. F. u.
The Indians call II NOS chill kaer," or
OWLS foot. on account OF the peculiar.
ity OF its leaves. Notice that the In
itation lacks that also. The Mexicans
call II pinguay, Both the Indians and
the Mexicans have long known that If
you chew the root YOU can get chew
ing gum, but IL remained for Mr..
Brownell of Denver, to discover the
commercial possibilities OF the gum
and to offer it TO the world. The dis
covery came about in this wise: Mr..
| Brownell owned ranch and this F.
! f. u. grew on II an unnoticed weed
until one day In the early spring, an
, eastern sheep, n sort OF teuderfoo,
ram that Mr.. Brownell had imported
at great expense. being unacquaiuted
with the edible flora of Colorado. took
his breakfast. and luncheon. for ali /
know. OFF of a patch of nice greel
iP f. U. and subsequently died. Mr.,
b. came up from Denver when he
heard that his pet ram was dead and
INSTITUTED a post mortem to ascertain
If the ram had been poisoned by en-.
vious neighbors. He found In the In.
testines Jumps Of black gum and in
the stomach the masticated remains
of Y. F. U. So he took the g,lm to
a Denver chemist and found that ii
rhe substance was not rubber it was
something very like it. He then en-.
gagged scientists and patent attorneys
""' nav 'Vsuh WdS lUt IOTInHtlOn 0'
the American Crude Rubber company,
Of which this company is a licensee.
| will show You some of the articles
that have been made from the gum.
The quality OF the P. F. U. compares
favorsbly with the medium grades o,
African. but OF course not with the
fara II is what might be termel 81
gum of about average value. Its en-.
act value can only be accurately Dc.
termined after II has been on the mar.
ket and competition has fixed ii.
As to its cultivation: Prof Payne
of the Fort Collins school has speu. |
a large portion Of the last two years
In the study of the plant. He has
found that the plant readily propa
gates from both the seed and the
rootlets that are left in the grounl
after the plant is pulled. He esti.
mates tina, a period of three years is
necessary for the plant to get sufri.
Client growth to harvest profitably. and
that the Weld would he abont four
IONS TO the acre. On this estimate
ne plant would yield about s25 nor
~ !