Vol. XIII. No. 310. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



91 



RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



MANURES AND MANURING. 



FRENCH RUBBER TRADE. 

 A writer in the India Rubber Journal (January 17, 

 1914), whilst admitting the great success of plantation rubber, 

 and the wonderful future which without doubt lies before it, 

 thinks that from a technical point of view the rubber 

 obtained from African vines has still a brilliant future before 

 it, for the reasons that these rubbers possess peculiar proper- 

 ties, for example, exceptional visco.sity, a very great stability 

 when they are properly vulcanized. This opinion makes 

 •matters look a little more cheerful for the French tropical 

 possessions in West Africa. At the same time, an examination 

 of the statistics showing the import trade in raw rubber leads 

 one to think that a great deal of organization will be required 

 in the future in order to make French African supplies an 

 important feature in the production of raw material for 

 French manufactures. The following table show-s the French 

 imports of raw rubber for nine months during 1912 and 1913 

 respectively, in kilos.: — 



From England 3.573 000 3.100,000 



„ Brazil 4,051,000 3,100,000 



„ French colonies 3,154.000 1,910,000 



„ Other countries 3,772,000 4,700,000 



13,550,000 1. ".,110, 000 



It will be seen that the direct importations from Brazil 

 have fallen off rather heavily (about 2.T per per cent.), while 

 the imports from England have increased correspondingly, 

 indicating that French buyers are more and more prone to 

 make their purchases on the London market. However, the 

 tnost important fact shown by these hgures is a reduction of 

 1,000 tons in the quantity of rubber arriving from the 

 French colonies. It may be noted, in conclusion, that in 

 general the imports of raw rubber into France during the 

 past few years have shown an annual progression rising from 

 13,239 tons in 1909 to 19,119 tons in 1912. During 1913 

 there was a slight decrease but this is probably only a tem- 

 porary fluctuation. 



Figures are given in the India Rubber Journal (February 

 7, 1914), showing the Amazon rubber exports from 1898 to 

 1913. In 1898 some 12 million kilos, were sent to Europe 

 and nearly 10 million to the United States. In 1913 some 

 22 million were sent to Europe and about 1 7 million to the 

 United States. In 1912 the United States took almost the 

 same amount of rubber as l^urope did, namely, about 22 

 million kilos. It was during this year (1912) that the 

 maximum output of Para rubber was reached, being, as 

 already intimated, about 44 million kilos. 



The stock in Para on December 31, 1913, was put ^^ 

 1,600 tons as against 1,G20 tons at the end of 1912, 2,5^^5 

 tons at the end of 1911, and 772 tons at the end of 1910. 



An interesting article appears in the Journal d' Agricul- 

 ture Tropicale (December 1913) on the origin of the Heveas 

 growing in the French colonies of the West Coast of Africa. 

 After referring to the introduction of seed into Ceylon, and 

 later into British West Africa through the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, it is stated that the first importation into France of 

 Hevea seed destined to be grown in th'; French colonies was 

 carried out by private enterprise. It is mentioned that the fir.-5t 

 plants arrived in French Guinea in 1898 and were planted 

 in the garden at Cayenne. It was only in July 1898 that 

 the Minister for the Colonies took the initiative to distribute 

 ■ Hevea plants throughout the French African po.ssessions. 



JAPANESE PRACTICES. 



The following is an abstract of one of a series of 

 articles on Japanese agriculture, taken from the 

 Experiment Station Record (December 1913): — 



It is shown that the use of commercial fertilizers in 

 -lapan is of comparatively recent date, but is rapidly assum- 

 ing large proportions. The estimated total value of fertilizers 

 now used is from •■§34,860,000 to §39,840,000 annually. 

 The use of commercial fertilizers in supplementing, and to 

 a considerable extent, superseding the older practices depend- 

 ing upon the use of night-soil, straw ashes and similar 

 fertilizing materials. The use of animal manures has played 

 a comparatively insignificant part in Japanese agriculture 

 because the number of animals is small and the manure is 

 usually poor in fertilizing constituents. Green manuring, 

 especially with green grass, Astragalus siyiensis and Medicuf/ft 

 denticulata, is practised to some extent. Japanese soils are not; 

 naturally very fertile and the system of continuous cropping 

 which prevails is very exhausting to the land, hence the free 

 use of fertilizers has been followed with very profitable results. 



The imports of fertilizing materials into Japan are large 

 and include all of the usual fertilizing materials, mixed and 

 unmixed, besides a variety of oil cakes and miscellaneous 

 materials. German potash salts have only been recently 

 introduced and their use is still limited chiefly to a small 

 amount of sulphate of potash. The home-produced fertil- 

 izers include various kinds of oil cakes and fish manures, 

 bone, hoofs, horn, hair, rice bran, by-products from the soy, 

 the sake, the beer, and other industries, wastes from silk- 

 worm rearing and cocoon.?, a little sulphate of ammonia, 

 from gas works, a small amount of calcium cyanamide^ 

 besides superphosphates and mixed fertilizers of different? 

 kinds. The principal centres of fertilizer manufactures ara 

 Tokio and Osaka. 



The Osaka fertilizers were originally made largely for 

 use in aquatic agriculture (rice and rushes) and were com~ 

 pounded chiefly of ammonium sulphate and superphosphate,. •• 

 a mixture which seems best suited to soils in which th& 

 transformation of nitrogen does not, as a rule, go beyond the 

 ammonia stage and which does not have the same ultimata 

 acid effect as would the same combination of manures applied, 

 to dry land crops. . . . Partly from geological reasons and. 

 partly from manuring practices long continued, most soils ia 

 •lapan have a tendency to become acid and this is more 

 marked. . . in the case of non-irrigated fields. ... In the 

 manuring of rice, Japan is vsi-y far in advance of any other 

 rice growing country, in the manuring of mulberry JapaD 

 has no equal, in the manuring of tea she is behind 

 Ceylon and in advance of China, and in the manuring of 

 sugar-cane considerably behind Hawaii and In advance of the 

 Philippinps. Only within recent years has the manuring of 

 the winter cereals, barley, and wheat, received serious 

 attention. 



Recent vork with phosphoric manures, according to thd 

 Gardeners' C'tronicle (January ?1, 1913), seems to show that 

 the effect of superphosphate is greatest during the year ia 

 which the fertilizer is added, and that the amounts absorbed 

 decreased markedly in the second year, and yet more in tha 

 third year. It would therefore seem good practice, accord- 

 ing to conditions under which these results were obtaine.;l, 

 to manure with small quantities of phosphates annually, 

 rather than to add larger quantities at longer intervals. 



