238 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



JcLv 28, 1917. 



THE INDIA RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



The advent of the plantation industry has added a great 

 responsibility to the British Empire, which now virtually 

 controls the raw rubber of the world. Our Empire produces 

 thrice the total quantity of rubber derived from the whole 

 «f the African and American continents, and the fact that 

 this year's plantation crop is valued, on present prices, 

 at no less than £.55,000,000, is sufficient evidence of the 

 extent of our added responsibility. The experience gained 

 in 1916 .should help those engaged in the industry to make 

 better use of this national asset and to encourage them to 

 upply this product on every possible occasion. No oppor- 

 tunity of making advances in method and scope of rubber 

 manufacture in British factories, and in the production and 

 marketing of the plantation product should be omitted. 



Although every section of the industry has been seri- 

 ously affected in consequence of the war, the past year has 

 been one of success all round. The general trade has severely 

 felt the depletion of their staffs. Machinery makers have 

 had to come under the Munitions Act, and it has been with 

 the greatest difficulty that any of them have been able to 

 execute orders of any consequence either to plantation com- 

 panies or to ma luf acturers in this country. 



In the annual review of the industry for 1916 contained 

 in the India Rubber Journal of .January 6, 1917, it is shown 

 that, while the war has led to an increase in the u.se of certain 

 lines of manufactured goods, such as tyres, rubber boots. 

 Lose, trench caps, waterprooting and surgical sheeting, etc. 

 many other lines have, on the other hand, fallen considerably. 

 The petrol restrictions have incidentally affected tyre con- 

 sumption, and the declaration of lists of contrabrand has 

 made trade difficult in many ways. 



The net result of all the legislation and the depletion of 

 staff has been that the manufacturers in Great Britain have 

 had to put a check on their production, consumption in 

 private life of rubber articles has been diminished, and the 

 manufacture of tyiies of machinery and all forms of manufac- 

 tured rubber has been stimulated in the United States. The 

 rubber coniing from plantations and Brazil has all found 

 a welcome home, but the increased production of manufac- 

 tured materials is to be seen more in the United States than 

 in any other country. 



At present, in onler to encourage the importation 

 into the United States of the raw rubber, the proposed 

 10 per cent, ad valorem tax on crude rubber was struck out 

 of the War lie venue Bill recently before Congress. The 

 Chairman of the Rubber Committee of the Council of 

 Kational Defence emphasized the seriousness of the present 

 crude rubber situation by pointing out that, whereas, in 

 normal times, there is three months' supply of rubber at the 

 mills, at present there was only thirty days' supply, with 

 seventeen days' supply in transit and twenty-nine days' supply 

 permitted at ports of origin. 



It is some satisfaction to know that the rubber industry 

 has fulfilled functions during the war which were never 

 contemplated. Its u.se has been a pronounced success in 

 directions only understood by tliose who have for months on 

 end lived in trenches and successfully withstood the effects of 

 rain, frost and gas. MillifDS ot rubber appliances have been 

 used during the year to with.-tand the effects of gas attacks 

 alone. 



As a fair indication of the speculative character of the 

 raw rubber market, it may be stated that, whereas in January 

 the price was -ts. id. per ft)., there was a decline all the way 

 until August, the bottom price being 2s. 1 Jrf., that is a tiuc- 

 tuation of 1 00 per cent. The average prices published in 

 the annual reports of the various plantation companies have 

 rarely indicated an average of much beyond 2s. dd. 



The cost of freight for rubber from Eastern ports showed 

 a large increase, but much below that for tea. Tea had to 

 pay about 3d. per tt>. from Ceylon to Great Britain, whereas 

 rubber never cost more than lie?, per ft). Insurance rates did 

 not decline, but it can hardly be said they were excessive. 

 The total increase in cost of freight and insurance due to 

 the war has aVeraged a little over 2d. per lb. of rubber. 



In dealing with the subject of diseases and pests, the 

 review wisely considers that no expense can be too great in 

 instituting research which will enable all concerned in the 

 industry to tackle each disease as soon as it appears. It is 

 felt that the few scientific officers at present employed are 

 asked to give up their time entirely to sheer routine work 

 instead of to research investigation devoted to the attempt 

 to eradicate the diseases at present known. There is no 

 longer any excuse for planting organizations to refuse to 

 pi'ovide the scientific eciuipment on the score of having 

 no properly equipped imperial laboratory where men for 

 such research can be trained. The Imperial College 

 of Science and Teclinology, South Kensington, has established 

 a mycological department equal to any in Germany prior 

 to the war. Instead of being compelled to send mycologists 

 in training to other countries to complete their education, 

 we have the means at our command to finish off their train- 

 ing and to give them the best possible equipment for service 

 in the tropics. 



PRIZE HOLDINGS COMPETITIONS IN 

 GRENADA AND CARRIACOU. 



Competitions, the judging of which will take place 

 between September and .January next, for cotton in Carriacou 

 and for provisions and cacao in Grenada, have been announsed, 

 and the particulars of the different competitions have been 

 made known by means of circulars distributed among the 

 small owners likely to compete. 



In the cotton holdings competition, which is limited 

 to peasant proprietors of not more than •") acres of land, 

 [)rizes, ranging from 10.<. to £-3 lO.s-. and amounting in all 

 to £20, will be awarded for imiirovement in the cultivation 

 of cotton in Carriacou. The competition is divided into two 

 classes, the first for owners of 3 to 5 acres of land who must 

 cultivate not less than 1 acre, and the second for owners 

 of less than 3 acres with not less than i-acre under 

 cotton cultivation. Among the conditions laid down 

 are that the land must be forked and drained before 

 May 31, 1917, and must be planted with cotton seed 

 supplied, free, by the Agricultural Department. In judg- 

 ing, the following points will be considered and the following 

 marks awarded: forking, 40 marks; draining, 20 marks; 

 manuring, regularity of planting and spacing, number of 

 plants in a hole and general condition of the lot, 10 marks each. 



The competition for the best provision gardens in such 

 parishes of Grenada as may be fixed by the Agricultural 

 Society will be restricted to peasants owning or leasing not 

 more than 10 acres of land, and the prizes will be allotted in 

 two classes, the one being confined to 1 acre or more of 

 mixed provision crops, the other to |-acre or more planted 

 exclusively in either yams, tannias, eddoes, beans or peas,, 

 except pigeon peas. The prizes for the two classes amount 

 to £lb, and range from £2 to £1. 



