Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1910-11-13
GROW RUBBER
IN ARIZONA
Captain Ord Believes Thai
/ Gan Be Done
THE MEXICAN YULE PLANT
Brings Specimen From the
Southern Republic and
Presents It to Governor
Sloan-Worth SITS a Ton
Prospects of Industry.

! Nule, Mexican SHRUB worth Slt0
ton because of the rubber it con-
tains, cannot be grown in Arizona,
are to be conducted by Captain Ed
win O. c. Ord, Inspector general of
the National Guard of Arizona. Cap
I tain Ord returned yesterday from an
extended trip to Mexico He has
! large holdings of land i'm the state
! of Coahuila, covered with the yule
shrub and brought back with him
one Of the bushes, which arrived in
perfect condition and was presented
to Governor Sloan. The governor
turned it over, to the gardener Of the
capitol grounds.
Captain Ord went first to Monte
rey, where he visited his brotherin
law Major General Geronimo Ire
vinio. in command OF all Mexican
troops along the northern frontier.
| Together. they attended the celebra-
ton in Mexico City. The principal
object of Captain Ord's Mexican trip
was to visit the states of COahuila
and Torreon. where the yule flour
ishes i'm greatest profusiOn. His own
lands are in Coahuila and the plant
he brought to Governor Sloan was
procured in the western part of that
state, at an elevation of about 5000
feet,
General Trevinio is the owner of
large estate in TorreOn. his land
also being covered with yule. Re
Gently he disposed of the yIIfe on his
estate for sl25,00O gold There are
three big rubber factories i'm Tor
reon and they pay s175 a ton for
the plant
At a distance yule is easily mis-
taken for sage brush, the bushes
being of about the same size and
height but more symmetrical On
closer examination, however, the
points of difference are, quite APP
parent. The leaves are green and
about an inch long. ending i'm a point
and having a little spear on each
side, near the stem. The leaves Ia ~
.somethig like sealing wax. The I mbs
are round and quite flexible. Al
the base full grown yule is three
or four inches fin diameter.
The yule attans its full growth
at three years and is then ready To
harvest for rubber making purposes.
From fifty TO sixty per cent of the
entire plant including the roots is
rubber. The percentage of rubber is
not so great in the younger plants
Yule grows from either the roots
or seed. The seed are so fine that
they are almost microscopic and re
semble pepper seed. The flowers are
little yellow blossoms about as large
as forget me- nOts.
This remarkable plant is found
throughout central Mexico. 1t grows
at attitudes of from three to five
thousand feet and is not affected by
extremes of temperature. The noun
where it seems to flour
ish best, are quite cold.
Though he has searched through
all the botanical works and ency-
clopedias which he has been able to |
find. Captain Ord has found no ref |
erence whatever to yule. 1t seems to !
have been discovered about seven |
years ago and its value as a rubber /
producer was soon brought to the at /
tention of capitalists. Since the fac
tories were established in Torreon
the Mexican population is denuding
The entire country 7of yule. Even
he roots are being dug up and sold
at the regular rate of S175 a ton
IN Captain Ord's opinion ii viii not
De many years until the supply of
Mexican yule is exhausted The
Mexicans are making no attempt to
replace lthe plant where it is being
ut off.
As soon as he saw yule and the
.h1 n "a "a
I grows. Captain ord began to won.
Ter if it would not grow in Arizona
n fact, he has his suspicious that
t may be growing somewhere in this
erritory. The mountains of Yava-
,ai he says. seem to offer an ideal
,lace for the growing of yule. 1t is
Ilso possible that the plant will grow
n the Salt River valley but Captain !
ord fears that this altitude is too
ow. Every effort will be made. i
nevertheless. by the capitol grounds
gardner. to keep alive the pant
which the captain presented to Gov
rnOr Sloan. II is one year old and
bout two feet long Nearly all the
caves and some of the flowers are
till on it, i
Captain Ord returned from Mexico
~ way of FL Paso. Albuquerque and
Prescott. At. Prescott he stopped
everal days and showed the plant to
professional gardner of his ac-
uaintance. The gardener looked
trough all his books but could not
ind out anything about the shrub
'aptain ord gave him some seed
which he will plant in the mile high
own At that altitude the yule
hOuld do quite We'll
i can see no reason why yule
houid not grow in Arizona and
make thousands Of acres of our nom
Productive lands bring in rich reve-
ues," said Captain Ord last night.
| will do everything in my nnwer |