RUBBER.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20179, 6 March 1931, Page 9

RUBBER.

; ARTIFICIAL SUBSTITUTE. MR, EDISON'S EXPERIMENTS. ' ; conversation at,bis. estateu ; near Fprt Alyer*, t Florida,'- Thomas "A*/ , Edison informally discussed 'tie progiesa of his experiments/in prancing". '. rubber from golde;arod, writes Howard . H. JBTolt,Hi;tae, < «NeTf York Times,V and conducted the writer, through-, the garden -and { the, laboratory, whejra- the , experiments are" being "carried oat. .\ Mr Edison was standing in his garden ' vih&n we .arrived."'"He showed-us* the bedß. of young goldenrod ■ 4Eat 'were :-" .planted; there, pointing out,!the differ- ,, Vat Biases/ Itheir.-respective 'jages "and ' qualities."JHft, talked Jof the different , species,, h^w'Jie;,had 'cultivated' th'ejri, '.. \Q.n<£ } crossbredv..tnem through various , stageß in.,different ways, to improve ' '.their. sap?produoing qualities of Rubber " contents ~ -'■■> ,>.,/,, ' .' *'; Mr ~ Edison, .asked what the probable; rubber,,' production per' , acre would .betf ro'ni.B, good.'variety of golden- - rod, <|M>d he, answered .offhand;, " Oh, 300 pounds of rubbery per acre, but X -. ,hcpe to bring ifup-to 150.',' ~ , ■ * " -. - ..,-,. -: , ~,t, t •'" ' InJJive Tears., ~',',, "\ In "answer to ;tb,et question,' "When ,* dc>i' you ~ expect.to'-"get''rubber producrticml'.' .Mr .Edison ,flv,o or"six'year's;-maybe. , I-am',going tf»" make' one'-* unit/ at,' Ford *s: place •' up' '- near 'Savannah',^and I expect '< to , try to, make, the], first; working establish- - ment up,l;h'ere.'. ■' ' '",■' He their that Mr-Ford had. . purchased,,.** - very '/large; tract of jland 1 ,nea'r, Savannah) thousr; \ andft of acres,.? where'he- planned, .to *■'-start, immediately.'th 3 /growing ; ' of j'goldenrod on l soon '' as he ge*ta the'still mechanism * worked - 'out,' Mr''Edisou added that he expected •to -build "the .first unit > on the Ford !pl«ee in Georgia.' m./ - ! - Mr; Edison-- said' that his. only hope a *ittj« present - was ' to, evolve a * product •; 'Whicft* would afford; an .'abundant rub-' " /' be* supply during' the stress of war-. , -time conditions,.and at the same time, ' give-''the American farmers a valuable ' \\ cash'-crop. This, he;hoped, would 'aid , '• is bringing about better'economic conditions among our agricultural classes; \ ..Jle 1 stated ; at> various "times that he '''hoped to Jiave the i-new" industry well 'established "within the noxt, five years. ( V ■] l Extensive ■Experiments. '. . . Z with more-. £han 14,000 .different plants, i'lto test theav.fer their rubber content. Of, this number he had found rubber in '. ~ 1840,'; Of these, more than half had a . . rubber, content. in'*fieir;j»Uint,juices of ~ sufficient proportion to;be potentially " - .'profitable;..'as N The great -. handicap, to most-of' jthem, is j£ , their' jjnprttctjcability.'as ,a . "sowable . 4'rid'.wowable' Mr'.Edison reniarSed..; He said that of .all. the "iin- , mortal-jeOO, 1 ? ."goldenrod ,was' the .one , 1 .-plant that'had'all. of the requiaitequali- , _• ties to. practical. an,d cheap .use, from, - a -,.the-standpoint of growing, reaping and , V manufacturing 'tew : rubber, v,While' < ,-*;,"'-,\V *-."'-■"!',>-' "'.-«.?'■ .. ~ , ;""■ ,-c* H'.v.'l,, . - ' , : : "».' -'; -i ' * - <» >/■ ■ j/~ ' ' ' ' . i

many other plants had a somewhat i higher content of rubber-producing 1 juices, they were .utterly impracticable a "growable .and mowable crop,'' and their manufacture would bo far' morecomplicated' and. expensive. J