114 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April LS, 1908 



It was lately pointed out in one of the leading 

 Tiibber journals that the datiger of an appreciable fall, 

 ■under ordinary cireiniistances, in the price of rubber 

 Avas improbable, since, assuming such a drop to take 

 place tempurard}', the pruiluct would at once be avail- 

 able for a large number of uses for which t!ie present 

 price is prohibitory-, and for which more or less ineffi- 

 cient substitutes have now to be found. Such an 

 enhanced demand woulil, of course, tend again to put 

 up the price, until a natural e(pKlibrium was once more 

 -established. 



Another point to which attention may be drawn in 

 considering the prospects of plantation rubber is the 

 fact that while the demand is universal, the area 

 of production is a comjjaratively limited one, since all 

 the commercial rubber-yielding plants flourish onlj? 

 within the tropics. In this respect rubber differs from 

 sugar. The demand for the latter article is universal 

 also, but })roduction is carried on in temperate as well 

 as in tropical regions, and tlie supply is limited only by 

 considerations of profit. Even within the tropics, it is 

 only in suitable districts that rubber cultivation can be 

 i-arried on, and it would appear that in the future, 

 dealers will have to look chiefly to the Malay States, 

 Ceylon, Northern and Western Brazil, Central America, 

 a portion of the West Coast of Africa, and it may be 

 hoped, the West Indies, for the supply of plantation 

 rubber which will be needed to replace the annual out- 

 put now obtained from wild sources. 



It is evident from the above considerations that 

 estate owners and others w^ho may be debaiing the 

 prospects of rubber culture, need have no fear as to the 

 ultimately profitable nature of the industiy, provided 

 of course, duo judgement is exercised in the selection of 

 the variety grown, in planting only on suitable soils, 

 and in the actual ])lanting operations and after- 

 management. 



As regards the present status of the rubber indus- 

 try in the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago arc the 

 islands in which the greatest advance has been made. 

 More than a year ago there were thirty-three estates 

 engaged in rubber production in Trinidad, andshipments 

 weretakingplaco in fairly largequantities. Prices varying 

 from 4s'. 'Ad. to 5s. '.iil. were reported for Castilloa sheet 

 rubber. The Castilloa tree appears to do very well in 

 Trinidad, the conditions of soil and climate being 

 congenial. About ten estates are also jilanting Para 

 rubber as well. In .Tam.-iica, too, many planters are 

 now seriously taking up rubber cultivation. Para and 

 Castilloa being the kinds receiving chief attention. 



The rubber industry is likely to become promi- 

 nent in British Guiana in the near future. The 

 colony possesses large tracts of land well suited to the 

 requirements of Para and Cattilloa, while it is fortunate 

 in possessing quick-growing riative .= pecies of Sapiumr 

 which are reported to be very hardy, and to gi\e good 

 returns of rubber two or three years earlier than 

 Castilloa, and three or four years earlier than Para 

 trees. Different varieties of rubber are being experi- 

 mentally grown at the Onderneeming Farm School, 

 and have been under observation for some years. The 

 Combined Court of British Guiana has voted the funds 

 for the upkeep of a rubber E.xperiment Station in the 

 North- West district. It is stated that many applica- 

 tions for land for rubber-planting purposes have been 

 received since the conditions under wdiich such land 

 may be leased have been settled. 



In St. Lucia, there are some few hundred Castilloa 

 trees, chiefly planted through cacao estates, and from 

 nine to twelve years old. Tajipings of some of the 

 older trees have been undertaken with satisfactory 

 results, and about two years ago samples of St. Lucia 

 rubber wei'c valued at -is. per lb. in London. 



Castilloa is also regarded as the best rubber tree 

 for cidtivation in Dominica. The trees grow well and 

 can be expected to yield good rubber in eight to ten 

 years from the time of planting. The fact that sheet 

 rubber from Dominica was valued at o.s. 7(L to 5.s. 9(Z. 

 per lb. in London in 190(5 indicates that no doubt 

 need be entertained as to whether a product of high 

 quality can be produced in the island. Samples of 

 Para rubber, the first produced in Dominica, were 

 forwarded to London in 1907, together with further 

 specimens of Castilloa. Both were fa\-ourably reported 

 upon, but the Para samples were adjudged the best. 



In discussing this question of the development of 

 the rubber industry;' reference may again be made to 

 the International Rubber Exhibition, wdiieh is to be 

 held in London in September next, and of wliii^h full 

 particulars were given in a recent issue of the Agri- 

 cidtural Neics {Yo\. \MI. p. !)-i). It is satisflictory to 

 note that, as regards the West Indies, the Permanent 

 Exhibition Committees of Trinidad and Dominica have 

 already made arnmgements to .send samples of 

 rubber, etc, to this Exhibition. In addition to rubber 

 samples, portions of rubber trees showing the method 

 of tap])ing, together with specimens of leaves and fruit, 

 and photographs might besent,aswcllasdeeorativemate- 

 rial so as to make the West Indian section thoroughly 

 attractive. 



