Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-06

grain trodden out by the feet OF horses Or
donkeye. The wheat r. then cleaned by
throwing Il against the wind. which
blows away the chaff. the wheat falling
on a sheet or blanket. On the larger ha-
ciendas modern machinery is used. and
there are some which have steam thrash
ers and steam plows.
The tropics of Mexico seem TO be es-
pecially attractive 10 Americans There
are extensive tracts on the eastern and
western sides of the country. rising from
the seacoast TO the mountains which
have every climate known to man The
lowlands will grow all sorts OF tropical
fruits. and higher up are coffee and
cacao. Experiments have shown that tea
can be produced. and also ginger. nutmess
and spices There are some profitable
cacao plantations. this fruit having been
raised since the times OF the Aztecs. AZ
to coffee, the trees thrive almos; any
where at an elevation OF from 900 10
1000 feet. and from so 10 ! 900 trees can
be grown on one acre. The production OF
coffee last year was about 66.Oa0o
pounds. The coffee costs about Z cents 1
pound to raise. pick. clean and sack.
whereas the selling price at the plania-
tons for 1t is about ~ cents a pound
An acre should produce from 80 10 30
pounds
You have heard a great deal in the
United States about Mexican rubber The
BEST lands for this crop are In the south
ern part OF the country. Rubber Is very ca
PRECIOUS. and IL Is most productive where
there is plenty OF water in the soil and
wne'e' nevertheless. the dry season i
long Rubber trees grow well in Chiapas
ana Tabasco, two states which will he
opened up BY the Pan-American railroad
most interesting form OF the rubber
now being exported from Mexico is that
known as guayule. This comes from a
plant which grows wild on the highlands
and which 10 bringing in millions OF dol
lars year. Guayule has long been
known to contain rubber. but the rubber
in IT was thought 10 be OF little value. IL
Is now known to be excellent The sup
ply. however. is limited. Only little
comes from each plant. and 315.ooo tons
Is estimated TO be the total possible out
put.
The best regions are now yielding
about quarter OF a ton per acre. and
although the territory where the plant
grows IL large. the area where il can
be probably exploited is not as great a.
that of South Carolina. Ii is found as far
north as Texas and as far south az
Pschuca- in Mexico. having a native hab
itat as large as California But IL IN
round only here and there growing at
varying attitudes and usually on stony
ground The rubber in the merchandise
the weight. and so far the most of the
product has been from the wild plants
Mr. Salvador Madero OF Monterey, who
Is largely interested in the industry tells
me that attempts to force the growth OF
the crop by irrigation have been failures
The plants thrive, but they yield no rub
Der to speak Of. / understand that 500
OO.OO Is now invested in the industry.
There is another product here in
which Americans have been making a
great deal of money. This il chicle.
which forms the base OF our chewing
gums. and of which we consume mil
lions OF pounds every year Chicls
comes from the sap Of the sapote tree,
which is tapped for the purpose The
sap il collected in about the same way
as that OF the sugar maple; save that
the trees. instead of having holes
bored into them, are cut in V-shaped
missions and the sap flows out into
! trough at the center and drops into
pail at the foot of the trunk
The chicle trees grow only in the
: tropics. They are from forty TO fifty
feet high and they have a pear Xix Q
fruit. 1t costs little to take care OF
! them. They are planted at about ten
feet apart, or about 400 to the acre
and they should yield at eight or ten
pounds OF gum. and IL carefully tapped
should continue to produce for twenty
: years The chicle industry il now con-
. Quoted by a trust operated under q
) concession from the Mexican govern
, mont. which gets a certain percentage
: OF the gum were in the neighborhood
Of 100000 and il is estimated that
in bulk they were SUFFICIENT to have
made Washington Monument OF solid
chewing gum blocks.
FRANK G. CARPENTER