A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW library 



OF THE NEWYORI 



BOTANICa 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. qaku^.. 



Vol. XII. No. 296. 



BARBADOS, AUGUST 30, 1913. 



Peice ]d. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



Bay Oil. .Act ion of on Lead 278 



Cotton Kotea : — 



Bending Cotton Plants for 

 Protective Purposes ... 278 

 West Indian Cotton ... 278 



Department News 287 



Departmental Report.s ... 28.'! 



Fungus Notes : — 



Mycological Work in 

 Southern Nigeria 286 



Gleanings 281 



Insect Notes :— 



Sugar-cane Pests in Brit- 

 ish Oaiaiia 282 



Java, Sletliods in 277 



Manual Labour, Krticiency 

 of, in Dift'erent Opera- 

 tions 279 



Manures. Mineral, World's 

 Production and Con.sump- 

 tion of 281 



Pao«. 



Market Reports 288 



Notes and Comments ... 280 



Plants, Watering of 281 



Plants, Wild, .State Pro- 



tection of 



280 



Rut)l)ev Exhibition Competi- 

 tions, Fourth Interna- 

 tional 280 



Ruliber. New Uses fur ... 273 



Students' Corner 28.5 



Sugar Industry: — 



Sampling Cane for .Analy- 

 sis 275 



Sug.'ir and tlie Cost of 

 Living 275 



Tropical Fruits, d imposi- 

 tion of 276 



AVest Indian Products ... 287 



New Uses for Rubber. 



A^'T^'HE cuiTeiit topic in the rubber indtistry is 

 r^ KX'lie fall in the iiricr of plantation Para and 

 ^b >cij'^ the coDtemplation of tho effects of the greatly 

 increased supply in the near future. Two main points 

 are at issue, and they must be clearly differentiated 

 between. There is first the contention that the differ- 

 ence betv.-een tho price of fino hard Para — the Brazilian 

 product — and the price of plantation Para — the 

 Eastern, and chiefly British-grown cummodity — is 

 artificial. The second point i^^ : provided plantation 



Para is given fair recognition on the market, can the 

 higher prices which would result be maintained in 

 years to come? These important questions can be best 

 dealt with separately. In regard to the lower value of 

 plantation rubber there are, it appears, as in every ques- 

 tioU; two sides. The ^uyer, on his part, maintains that 

 plantation rubber, seemingly of first grade quality — in 

 so far as rough and ready, but experiencfd, exam- 

 ination b}- the dealer can show — does not always prove 

 to be such when subjected to the practical test of 

 manufacture. The Brazilian product, however, is 

 seldom deceptive in this way. What the difference is 

 due to, chemical examination is unable to show, though 

 there seenas to be no reason why an accurate examin- 

 ation of the physical properties of the rubber should 

 be unreliable. The most satisfactory way out of the 

 difficulty, and a way which has been advocated strongly 

 in the Federated Malay States, is to establish stand- 

 ardizing departments in rubber-producing countries. 

 The commercial value of crude rubber depends, let it be 

 remembered, upon its value when compounded with 

 sulphur, or in other words when vulcanized. Hence 

 the institution of a vulcanization plant would, it is 

 believed, lead to the possibility of producers giving 

 guarantees which would enable them to sell direct to 

 the manufacturer and be entirely independent of the 

 prejudiced middleman. 



But even if the best plantation Para were placed 

 at the same market level as the Brazilian product, 

 there is the second problem to be approached — that 

 of increased supply upon demand. As already inti- 

 mated editorially in this journal, rubber is one of those 

 commodities, the demand for which is economically 

 elastic. A fall in the price of manufactured rubber 

 goods would result in a larger number of purchases. 

 But the manufacturer does not altogether desire this 



