Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-26

Efforts to develop a domestic source
of supply for at least part OF Americas
enormous. requirements of rubber are
being continued as vigorously as ever
and with increasing encouragement,
despite the low cost of the imported
product and the consequent lack OF
prospects for profits in the near future.
The work is regarded largely as a
preparedness measure, made necessary
by the fact that the United States
consumes more rubber than any other
nation and is still almost totally de-
pendent on imports to meet its needs.
While a commercial product has been
obtained for several years from the
guayule shrub in Mexico and the
Southwest, which Bureau OF STANDARDS
tests show to be comparable for many
uses to the more commonly used Hevea
or Para type and in some respects SUI
perlor to it, the quantity is too small
and the costs generally too high for It
to have much effect thus far on the
huge rubber industry.
The Bureau of Plant Industry of the
Department of Agriculture is pursuing
its Investigations primarily with the
object of finding good rubber-produc-
ing plants which can be made to thrive
either under the humid conditions that
exist in Florida or the arid or Semi-arid
At the same time it is cooperating
with Thomas A. Edison in his work in
Florida and New Jersey, which is di-
rected largely toward the development
of means for the economical extraction
of satisfactory grades of the raw ma
terial from hundreds Of different latex-
bearing weeds, plants. shrubs and trees
which might be grown in or near the
United States.
The developers of the guayule rubber
In the Southwest are receiving similar
cooperation and are approaching the
problem from both angles, striving to
improve their processes for the extrac-
ton and refinement of their latex and
also to bring the wild shrub under
cultivation and increase its produce
tivity.
Looking into the possibilities Of near
by fields. which while not within the
boundaries of the United States, are
much closer than the Far Eastern
sources of major supply, which might
be cut of in event of a war, boycott
movement or q price-raising arrange
ment such as that which sent rubber
to high figures several years ago, the
bureau also is conducting experiments
In Hayti, the Canal Zone and Panama,
and assisting In similar efforts In Cuba,
Honduras and Ecuador.
ida in his last annual report, just pub
lished, he said:
1.-THE Hevea or Para rubber tree OF
Brazil, the same species that has been
planted extensively in the East Indies
and in other tropical countries, has
made rapid growth in Florida In the
last two seasons. and many of the young
trees have attained a height of Is feet
or more. No frost injuries occurred in
"a ~ 1T he
hevea trees with slat-house protection
continued to grow, even during periods
of cold weather. This Is further In
dication that the hevea is much more
resistant to cold than has been sup
posed, and that the development of
strains sufficiently hardy to grow read
lily In Southern Florida is not to be
considered as beyond the range Of
practical possibility. With protection
against the sea breeze, the young hevea
trees have grown as rapidly in Florida
as In Hayti or In Panama, and also more
rapidly than the other rubber trees
included In the Florida experiments.
Experiments with the hevea rubber
tree in Florida, as well as in Hayti and
Panama, are showing the existence Of
several specialized characters which
largely determine the requirements for
successful cultivation"
Describing the experiments in the
West Indies and Central America, he
continued:
After four years Of tapping expert
ments conducted on a group of hevea
trees at Bayeux, on the north coast Of
Haiti, it appears that the local condi-
tions are not unfavorable for produc-
ing rubber, since the yields are COM
| parable with those reported from SIM
liar experiments in the East Indies.
The behavior of hevea in other locali-
ties In Haiti and also at several places
in the Canal Zone and In Panama is