Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-12-30
"A FOREST OF RUBBER TREES.
Discovered on the Steep Sides OF Ha-
waiian Volcano.
(New Orleans Times-Democrat.)

Lnat may TeNOluIlOnlIe the ultlmatS
cost OF automobiles and bottle-fed
babies, has recently been discovered
on the Island Of Hawaii by j. =.
Rock, Of the College of Hawaii, aud
territorial botanist. This is nothing
less than forest Of a few millions
Of rubber trees. Think Of that, O all
ye who tenderly nourish and care for
with the last shred Of your depleted
winter energy, a lone, lorn rubOer
plant! Here's a forest full OF 'em, 4
forest OF rubber spread thickly over
5000 acres OF the sloping sides Of
volcano. The trees. which are from
ten to twenty feet high and several
inches thick, number, according to
the conservative estimate OF a most
conservative scientist, upward Of two
millions, with new plants coming on
all the time. Just what the rubber
yield will mean in actual dollars and
cents botanists here decline to
reckon. Commercial rubber experts,
however, say the possibilities OF this
great forest are enormous.
Mr.. Rock made the discovery last
March whilo on botanical invoSti-
cation for the Territory and his col
lege. He tapped one OF the tieCs and
secured n bottle Of the fluid which he
brought back 10 Honolul for analy-
sis. 1t proved to be Il per cent pure
rubber. With characteristic prccau-
ton he kept quiet about his find,
wishing to make further research be-
fore giving the matter to the public.
But a rumor of the discovery leaked
out and rea chcd the ears Of a Homo
lulu rubber concern, which promptly
dispatched its rubber expert to the
big island to look into the CONNER
cial importance of the forest.
To do this was no easy matter. AL
though occupied by the Puuwaawaa
cattle ranch, and a. comparatively
comfortable place for the agile COW
to Craze after she gets there, this
rubber forest is almost inaccessible
to a man unaccustomed to mountain
climbing. This may account for it's
remaining so long unobserved. 1t is
high up the volcanoes side, stretching
from two to three thousand feet
above sea level, and to reach it from
the plain below one must scramble
through the great lava flow Of 1911,
picking his way through the 'n~cct
burning rocks TO tGo aOo '.a' cdEH O.
tho forest. Tho rUl 3g- cumuanv.s
rTpe.t dI1 Car. ana Nas Wora tnnl
rel,1iu f,~ Ms DuinB ~, trys-uIn.
lions sur1tieI him th", .4.. 1,ouk
estimates had been away inside of
the actual existing conditions, and
the gum he carried back with him
which was in quantity sufficient to
be worked up into n utilizable pro-
duct, proved that not only was the
yield far greater than he had antici-
pated, but that the quality Of rubber
procured from the eXlIation was
exceptionally fine.
On Government Land.
The land on which this forest is
growing belongs TO the government.
At present, however, it is leased 10
Robt Hind for grazing purposes, and
thousands Of Puuwaawaa cattle roam
over 1t at their own sweet will, nib
bling away at whatever green thing
most tempts the bovine appetite. So
far they have skipped the rubber
trees, but the lease has six years to
run. A cow can do a lot OF eating
in six years, and five thousand COWS
can do five thousand times as much.
Doubtless when everything else
pleasing to the COW palate has been
converted into porterhOuse steak and
oxtail soup these cattle will begin
munchng the rubber plants. 1t is
narrowing to quiet mind to think
what the results may be. A few weeks
OF such feeding, judiciously applied,
and an aspiring cow should be able
to reach the topmOst buds OF even
the tallest rubber trees. Perhaps a
new species Of giraffe may be bred
IN that same rubber forest. Who
knows? This country-in fact, the
world at largo--is about out of gi-
raffes. There's an alarming dearth
of these inquiring animals. Ask the
advance agent OF any circus He will
tell you that his show has the only
pair Of unstuffed giraffes to be found
alive in its native forest anywhere in
the world. But just you wait till
the Puuwaawaa cattle begin feeding
themselves on that Puuwaawaa rub