nd nine or more pieces of a rubber shoe. Consequently, as many
different compounds may be used, if desired, for the output of a
single factory for rubber footwear. The highest grades of native
rubber may be used for waterproofing the uppers of a fine overshoe,
while reclaimed rubber, of a cheap class even, may be good enough for
the heel, which requires only to be waterproof and durable, without
too much weight, and with no elasticity. Reclaimed rubber goes into
many classes of goods of high grade. The result is that such goods
have been cheapened legitimately, placing them within the reach of
immense numbers of consumers who otherwise would be obliged to do
without.

While the extensive use of reclaimed rubber is a matter of common
knowledge to all who are familiar with the rubber industry, there are
nowhere available any statistics of either the absolute or comparative
volume of its consumption, with the single exception of the official
returns of imports into Canada. There separate accounts are kept of
crude India rubber and of recovered rubber received in each year, and
as only a consuming market exists for these commodities in the
Dominion, the figures given below may be taken to represent closely
the actual consumption by the rubber factories of Ontario and Quebec.
It is interesting to note the heavy growth of the percentage of
recovered rubber shown in the table, all the figures representing
pounds:

Fiscal Crude Recovered Total
Year. Rubber. Rubber. Imports.
1885-86 739,169 19,499 758,668
1886-87 785,040 46,508 831,548
1887-88 1,225,893 88,471 1,314,364
1888-89 1,669,014 221,674 1,890,688
1889-90 1,290,766 147,377 1,438,143
1890-91 1,602,644 8,254 1,610,898
1891-92 2,100,358 106,080 2,206,438
1892-93 2,152,855 195,281 2,348,136
1893-94 2,077,703 529,900 2,607,603
1894-95 1,402,844 611,745 2,014,589
1895-96 2,155,576 643,169 2,798,745
1896-97 2,014,936 1,061,402 3,076,338
Percentage, 1885-86 97.5 2.5 100
" 1896-97 65.5 34.5 100

If it were possible to examine the books o