46 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



FKBr.uARY 3, 1906.. 



THE RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



The followiiit( information on the rubber industr}- 

 is extracted from an article in the Jmirndl of the 

 f^ociefi/ of Artt^, for December 1, 1905: — 



Tlie present total production of rubber is about 70,000 

 tons, of which nearly 30,000 come from Para. The increase 

 in tlie demand for rubber lias been stimulated by the 

 requirements of cycle, carriage, and motor tyre manufacturers, 

 and of the makers of electrical appliances. In the United 

 States, the demand for it is always very great for the 

 purposes of foot-wear. In 1902-3 tlie value of unmanufactured 

 India rubber and gntta i)ercha imported into the United 

 States was !?2C,092,000 ; in 1904-5 it had risen to !?4C>,2GG,000. 

 It is estimated that the world'.s annual consumption of 

 rubber at the present time exceeds =£16,000,000 in value. 

 Although in some places from which rubber is obtained, 

 more especially Africa, the reckless way in which the rubber 

 has lieen collected has seriously affected the output, the 

 possible supplies would seem to be ample. Rubber is to be 

 found in immense tracts of country, from Jlexico to 

 Paraguay, in America ; from Cape Blanco across Africa, and 

 down to the latitude of Madagascar, and on that great island ; 

 from Assam southward in Asia to Malacca, Borneo, New 

 Guinea, and a northern patch of Australia. Until recently, 

 rubber was obtained solely from plants growing wild, but 

 the cultivation of rubber-producing plants has now been 

 undertaken on a somewhat extensive scale. The cost of 

 opening and maintaining a plantation until productive is 

 considerable. 



Taking Ceylon, ilr. Ardan in a report on Ilevea 

 brai-ilieiisis places the total cost of opening up 500 acres of 

 land and planting with rubber trees, 20 feet by 20 feet apart, 

 at £5,946 17s. 6'/. sterling, or at the average of £11, ".*. 

 lOld. per acre. It might be thought that this considerable 

 outlay would prevent the rubber produced on these 

 plantations from competing with that collected by natives 

 from wild trees. But it has to be remembered that the 

 collection of what may be called ivild rubber is expensive, 

 and necessarily tends to become more so as the trees nearest 

 the coast are exhausted. It must be remembered, too, that 

 the rubber prepared from cultivated trees fetches a better 

 price — sometimes from Is. to Is, 6c?. per fc. higher — than 

 that collected from wild trees, because it is purer. The loss 

 from 'fine Para' is from 10 to 15 per cent, in manufacture, 

 whereas that from the ' biscuit ' rubber prepared from 

 cultivated Para rubbei- trees is generally less than 1 [ler 

 cent. Whilst it must be a long time before the wild rubber 

 trees cease to be relied upon for rubber, the advantage of 

 this method of collection as compared with plantation 

 growth is much less than may be supposed by tlicise who 

 have not gone into the matter carefully. The cultivation of 

 rubber trees is already a considerable industrj' in India, 

 Ceylon, and more particularlj', the Malay Peninsula. 



The Para qualities (fine Para and ncgroheads) give the 

 standard for the prices of the other kinds, which always 

 range in proportion to the quotation for these best two 

 products The lowest price for fine Para was in Seiitember 

 and October, 1861, when it fell to 1'. 6(7. In 1882 it 

 touched 4s. lid. In 1902 it was as low as 3s., but since 

 ■ then it has reached a higher figure than ever, and Para 

 is now quoted at 5s. 2d., thanks to American manipulators. 



other descriptions being quoted down to 3s., but cultivated 

 rubber fetching Cs. 



About 150 decorticated fre.sh seeds weigh a pound, 

 which is about 340,000 to the ton. It is estimated that 

 a Para tree jtroduces, on an average, 400 seetis per year, scv 

 that about | Um would be produced per acre. The seed 

 kernels contain 50 per cent, of oil of a light yellow colour, 

 somewhat resembling linseed oil. Analysis shows that 

 a cake prepared from Para rubber seed meal would compare 

 favourably wi;h other cakes as a cattle food, and that it 

 contains a particularly low proportion of indigestible matter, 

 that is to say, fibre. Specimens of both the seeds and oil 

 have been submitted to leading brokers. They report that 

 the oil could probably be used as a substitute for linseed oil, 

 and would be worth at present about £20 per ton, but that 

 oil merchants would not take it ui) unless they first had an 

 opportunity of testing it in bulk. The brokers consider that 

 it would be more profitable to ship the seeds themselves to 

 this country, as is done in the case of most other oil seeds. 

 They value the decorticated seeds at £10 to £12 per ton,. 



CANADIAN EXHIBITIONS, 1906. 



The following is a letter addressed to the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture by Messrs. 

 Pickford & Black, of Halifax, in reference to exiiibitions- 

 to be held in Canada during lUOti (see Agricultural 

 Ki'U's, Vol. IV, p. 397):— 



We are in receipt of your favour of the 16tli. instant. 

 No. 5,647, and carefully note all you say. 



We have engaged space at the Toronto and Halifax 

 exhibitions, and, as already advised, we will do all possible 

 to make it attractive, should the different islands decide to 

 send an exhibit. The managements of both exhibitions, 

 have expressed their wish to us that an exhibit from the 

 West Indies be obtained, and have also promised us the very 

 best of space to display the exhibit. 



The following further letter, received from Messrs. 

 Pickford & Black, is published for general informa- 

 tion : — 



Referring to our letter of December 27 regarding West 

 India exhiliits for the Toronto and Halifax exhibitions, there 

 IS no question but that if an exhibit is goL together for these 

 two exhibitions, it will be one of the best advertiseuionts the 

 West Indies ever had in Canada, and you can rest assured we 

 will dii all in our power to make the display a good one. 



BELLOWS FOR APPLYING PARIS GREEN. 



The followiDg ])aragraph in reference to a bellows 

 used by the Sea Island cotton planters for applying 

 Paris green is taken from a letter to the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, from a correspondent in 

 the Sea Islands of South Carolina, U.S.A. • — 



The planters used a new appliance last season for 

 applying Paris green. It is a small hand bellows with long 

 handles and a suitable nozzle. The powder is put in 

 a receptacle, and with a slight convulsive movement of the 

 handles it is blown out in little puffs. The bellows is .sc> 

 simple and efficient that it innnediately superseded all 

 jirevious ajipliances. 



Inquires are being made regarding this bellows, 

 anti it is expected that further information will appear 

 in a subsequent number of the Aijri.cultural Aeivs^ 



