The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-06-22
RUBBER LANDS OF
MEXICO EXPLOITED
Forests Being Acquired by For
eign Interests at Prices No
Higher Than for Timber.

! MEXICO CITY, MEXICO, Wednes-
{ day.--In spite of an occasional setback
I from unfavorabie market conditions
the general interest In rubber produc-
! ton is upon the increase In Mexico
/ and frequent deals are closed for
! large tracts of land suitable for rub
Der growing, especially in the isthmus
of Tehuantepec region.
! Along the line of the rapidly i'm
proving and extending Pan-American
( railroad. which President David j..
Thompson, retired American ambas-
sador to Mexico. is pushing across
the suchiste river into Guatemala. to
connect with the Guatemala railway.
art forests OF wild rubber which are
being acquired by foreign capital at
prices no higher than are paid for
! ordinary timber in sections not SO
nearly primeval. This exploitation OF
virgin domains, together with the
fertilization OF big tracts, which Will
soon begin TO yield. promises for the
next few years a rubber output that
viii eclipse all records and prove a
surprise even to those in the bust
ness.
I One of the big undertakings In that
region In that of the Isthmus Plan
tation Assoc .ation, owing ten thous-
and acres of the TRACT being fully Gull
tivated in fabber and about four hun
ed acres planted In coffee, there
being two hundred and fifty thous-
md trees The property was acauir-
ed ten years ago and the last coffee
crop alone, which ran TO fifty thous-
and pounds sold at an average price
/ OF nine cents gold per pound.
( Or. Walter kempster. president OF
/ this company, vigorously com bats the
frequently advertised assertion thar
I ca stilla rubber trees can be economi-
caliy tapped under eight, years OF ass.
when they average only one or two
ounces apiece at each tapping. He
further takes the position that trees
should not he tapped more than six
times annually.
| On the isthmus plantation the eight
year-old trees average nearly one foot
| In diameter. This year the planta-
ton is doing its first commercial tap
ping. expecting to get 10000 ounces
from 5000 trees and to market the
product at eleven cents, gold. Next
year 100. 900 trees will he tapped and
three years henc 100000. with still
/ further increases to follow. Three
million ounces Of rubber from a half
million trees, three years FROM now,
should be worth approximately $780,
goo gold.
/ Consular advices show that in the
year 1903 rubber shipments from
Mexico through the one port of Vera
Cruz amounted to s2oT.a194o. the
product bringing "a to 81 Mexican
currency per kilogram. Most OF thu
output was In the form OF grena.
which is purer than pianeha, the form
| In which shipments were formerly
made.
While England is in the throes Of
a wild mania on rubber speculation.
thousands rushing into headlong pur-
chase of stocks, many falling victims
TO the rankest wildcat exploitation.
sbe United States Is steadily making
Roadway against Great Britain as the
/ rubber market for Mexico. New York
offers the ADVANTAGE OF allowing the
producers Of Mexico to deal directly
with the manufacturers. whereas the
London buyer Is almost invariably the
broker. Returns ara also much quicker
from the United States than from
England, witch often keeps the pro-
Queer waiting six months for his
money after shipment haH oeen made.
/ More attention 10 being paid to Gull
ture Of the Euayuis rubber shrub In
4
Government statistics show that al
ready guayuie production has in
creased more than any other product
l. of the northern section of the repub-
| lie. Only a short time ago this shrub,
now In sharp demand at SIS a ton.
went begging on the open market at
around $12. The guayule acreage
OF Mexico this year will be at least
thirty per cent. greater than that OF
last year.
| Monthly expectations from Northern
Mexico of crude rubber extracted from
guayule Is estimated now at one thous-
and tons. Wild guayuie Is assisting
cultivation in replenishing the supply
by self propagate n from seeds and
growth from the roots remaining in
the cell after tSe plants have been
pulled for the market.
Around Torreon and Chihuahua and
certain other districts of Coahuila
and San Luis Potosi interest mas so
increased owing to the doubling Of
| the price Of rubber that many ranch
ers are planting In guayule land that
was formerly devoted to other crops
| One land owner. L. Villareal
Madero, has set apart nearly million
acres near Torreon to be planted In
guayule. He has become convinced
| by experiments that the plant. growing
almost without cultivation. will pro-
ducc 10 per rent. rubber. The Rookie.
Teller interests have about $4,000, 900
worth Of Mexican lands In guayuie and
have nSurrA 4 Out thak every acre
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