The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1911-02-09
MEXICAN WEST COAST RUBBER
TREES.
(From Consular Agent George C. Ca.
rothers, Torreon.j

Much transformation has been Civ
en- In regard to the different rubber
and sap-producing trees Of the Paci
fic coast OF Mexico. The palo amar
lilo and the palo blanco trees, which
are known to contain a low percentage
OF rubber. has been COMPOUNDED with
other plants that contain much
higher percentage thereof. and this
confounding has retarded the whole
industry. The object of the following
report is to classify in brief man.
ner the trees known to contain rub
Der that grow in the State of Sinaloa
and the Territory of Topic and to
show that there are trees that pro.
duce rubber in sufficient quantities to
make the extraction a profitable in
dustry.
Palo Amarillo and Paio Colorado.
There is very little palo amarillo
existing on the Pacific coast 1t is
principally found in the States of
Guanajuato, Durango, and Quetaro,
yet. strange to say, nearly everyone
who discusses rubber trees thinks
that all the trees on the Pacific coast
are palo amarillo. There is a very
low percentage Of rubber in the palo
amarillo-insufficien to make it pro-
fitable.
The palo colorado, better known in
Sinaloa and Topic as "chilte" where 1t
grows wild in abundance, contains a
very high percentage of caucho. An
analysis made in Mexico city shows
that this tree produces 81 per cent
caucho, dry. Another analysis made
by London professor gives the fol-
lowing percentages: Moisture, 26.44;
resin. 35.OS; insoluble fibrous matter.
1.20; rubber, 37.2S. The London anal
yst, in transmitting sample, says:
"The separated rubber, small
sample of which l am enclosing for
your inspection, is in my opinion of
very fair quality and would, il OBJ
tainable at reasonable cost, be of
considerable commercial value. The
separated resins are scottish white
crystalline bodies, which melt to a
pale amber color, and think 1t should
be possible to find market for them.
There Is no doubt of the existence
of sufficient trees from which to pro-
duce immense quantities Of this rub
Der. one company now operating in
the State of Sinaloa and Topic hay-
ing extracted 20 tons during the past
TWO months While teaching it's employ
ees how to extract 1t. One of the rea-
sons that good market has no. been
found heretofore is that the Indians
collected 1t in small quantities and
sold it at a small price, but not in suf-
ficient quantities to permit the mar
ket to depend upon them for steady
supply. Now that large tracts of land
have been either purchased or leased,
the Indians have been stopped from
gathering the rubber.
copal, or copalillo.
This tree is very similar to the palo
colorado, the difference consisting III
the color of the tree. The copal, Of a
dark earth color, grows in the valleys
Drincipally. whereas the palo colorado
crows on the mountains. According to
the different analyses made, the sap
contains a much higher percentage OF
rubber than the palo colorado, aver
aging So per cent, dry. For many years
the Indians near the coast have manu-
featured artificial flowers and curios-
tiles from the sap, merely drying the
milk, and forming flowers, small bas-
kets, etc, of beautiful creamy
white and with a grain like ivory