. The Popular science monthly . Fig. 9. Semi-diagrammatic Sketchof Two-year-old Guayule Stem inTransverse Section. THE GUAYULE 321 rays and cortex (and certain others which we need not mention here)contain rubber. There is no rubber in the canals, nor is there anyrubber, or rather latex, vessels. It is for this reason that, while it isnot possible to extract the rubber by tapping, it is possible, by com-minution of tissues, to work together or agglomerate the minute par-ticles of rubber set free by breaking the cells which hold them. It isequally evident that chemical agents may be used for ex
. The Popular science monthly . Fig. 9. Semi-diagrammatic Sketchof Two-year-old Guayule Stem inTransverse Section. THE GUAYULE 321 rays and cortex (and certain others which we need not mention here)contain rubber. There is no rubber in the canals, nor is there anyrubber, or rather latex, vessels. It is for this reason that, while it isnot possible to extract the rubber by tapping, it is possible, by com-minution of tissues, to work together or agglomerate the minute par-ticles of rubber set free by breaking the cells which hold them. It isequally evident that chemical agents may be used for extraction bysolution, but this process is of less interest in this connection. We maynow pass on to examine the methods of handling the shrub and theprocess of mechanical extraction. Collecting the Shrub The primary problem of collecting the shrub and transporting it tothe factory is a difficult one. The shrub, growing wild, being con-tracted for, the purchaser is free to go and get it. This means that. Fig. 10. Hauling Guayule in Mexico. peons must be hired to collect the plants in desert places often far re-moved from water and other supplies. They and their burros find theirway into steep and rocky places unapproachable by other means. Hav-ing pulled up by the roots a carga of shrub, it is loaded on a burro andso off to a central camp, campo de guayule/ placed so as to be ap-proachable by wagon. Here the shrub is baled after the fashion of somuch hay. The bales are then hauled to the nearest railway station,sometimes 100 kilometers away, to be shipped to the factory. Arrived there, the bales are weighed for comparison with the fieldweight. A certain amount of shrinkage is of course expected, owing to 322 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY the drying out of the shrub and breaking off of twigs. Since it wasfound possible to increase the field weight by methods devious and oflittle cost, thus selling stones or water at an exceptional price even in acountry where that commodity is not c
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