The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1921-12-21
NEW SOURCE OF RUBBER IN
ANNUAL CROP DISCOVERED
Continued from page four)


The New Source of Rubber
"The expanding use of rubber
following the discovery of treat
ments of the raw material which
made it available for many useful
purposes, threatened the supply of
the available wild plants.
"Cultivation in plantations then
began in the far east, Mexico and
elsewhere, and the boom, following
this, was accompanied by various
undes1rable financial developments
with which newspaper readers are
Rubber, like other staples, now
IS known to be available in a va
rlety OF climates and perhaps hun
dreds of plant species
,"One of these is the Mexican
plant, guayulc Latin Parthenium
Argentatum) of the Chihuahua des-
cru, IT'S habitat extending north in
to the Pecos region of Texas.
,.Ihls plant contains a caoutchouc
which long has been marketed in
limited quantities as taken from
the. wild plant.
But there is no purely wild plant
IN the world producing any general
article OF commerce which, if left
in its wild state, eventually will
not be exhausted by the demands
of trade. Use of wild plants means
thclr extinction; continued use ne
cessities their cultivation. And the
cultivation of guaule never was at
tempted until recently.
Hundreds of Varieties of the Wild
Plant.
HDr w u
tist widely known for his skill in
manipulation with living plants
selected an experimental location
comprising. several hundred acres
on the arid hills near the sea and
Santiago, California.
The first important result was
the. detection of several hundred
varieties of the wild plant. The
selection for the best began, a task
of magnitude, for these Varieties
were as wide in their difference
as are different varieties, for in
stance, of apples, the differences
pertaining not only to the exterior
appearance of the plants, but to the
quantity and quality of rubber
"Thc next step, with the methods
OF our ancestors, or their lack of
methods, might have occupied a
thousand years. Under expert mod
ern scientific guidance and devo-
tlon on 1t has taken only a short time.
me selection of small num-
Der OF varieties promising by rea-
son of the quantity and quality of
their product from the many thou
sands of plants grown from the
wild seeds, was the first necessity.
The next was the dcvclopmcnt
OF methods of cultivation which
would bring plans simultaneously
to maturity, making the establish
ment of harvest period of posi-
bility. i0'''
"The stage for this second act
was set on a great ranching Drop-
erty near Tuscon, Arizona, where
the Desert Laboratory of the Car
negle Institution is located. Here
the held expert conducted his ex-
perlments in collecting and ripen-
ing seeds, their termination and
transportation and cultivation in
helds, all of which had to be work
ed out through the expenditure of
an enormous effort and much time
Detalls at this stage, were multi
tudmous, and have been of such
great interest that scientists from
all parts of the world have come
to study them. With myself these
men have been deeply fascinated
by this thrilling chapter of the do
mcstication of a wild plantMa
thing not likely to be seen more
than once in a lifetime.
First Crop of the New Rubber Ripc
but now all has been accom-
plished and there are maturing in
these fields growing rows of shrubs
containing rubber which are even
~ matured. 1t is now believed that
they are ripe.
The determination of the exact
harvest time has not been made
put 1t is near at hand. 1t is safe
to say that an immense achieve
nent IS about to be announced.
-. "Guayuie Rubber is not exactly
like that known as Para It has
SPECIAL usefulness in the manufac-
tire Of most rubber articles, in
Guiding tires. This cultivation of
guayulc will be Of mighty moment
to the industry and will tend great
~ to extend the use of rubber.
Rubber, once it is produced in
quantities sufficient, will be avail.
able for thousands of purposes vet
undrcamcd Of. At the outset of our
TALK | mentioned street paving
wild as that statement may seem
now, II may not seem so later on:
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