233 



with what it was a decade ago ; and, in spite of official denials 

 to the contrary, the refining is gradually passing into Japanese 

 hands. 



With the advent of extremely high prices undoubtedly the con- 

 sumption has fallen off considerably, and where possible the 

 public for certain disinfecting purposes have had to fall back 

 upon the less-esteemed naphthalin, in which a large business is 

 now done. This is, of course, only natural when it is considered 

 that the wholesale price of refined balls in large quantities in the 

 open market has been from 4s. to 4s. 3d. per lb. for over eighteen 

 months. It was thought that after the Russo-Japanese war there 

 would be a fall in price, but, on the contrary, the price rose to its 

 present quotation, and at the moment the position is regarded as 

 exceedingly firm. It must not be forgotten, however, that there 

 have been some exceedingly dull periods this year, and at times 

 the article has almost " gone a begging," the extreme prices 

 having frightened buyers. 



RUBBER IN THE FEDERATED STATES.*' 



In his annual report for the year 1905, Sir William Taylor, 

 K.C.M.G., the Resident General of the Federated Malay States, 

 states that the high price of rubber and the proved suitability of 

 land in those States for its cultivation have led to numerous appli- 

 cations for land in the four States, but more particularly in Se- 

 langor, where almost all the accessible land between the Klang 

 and the Selangor rivers has been taken up for rubber planting. 

 Large areas of land have been applied for and granted for the 

 purposes of this industry, and most of the large estates have been 

 converted into, or sold to, limited liability companies. Next to 

 the coast districts of Selangor, the Sungei Ujong district of the 

 Negri Sembilan appears to be the locality most in favour with 

 rubber prospectors. 



According to Mr. Carruthers, the Director of Agriculture, the 

 area alienated for the planting of Para rubber is some 100,000 

 acres, of which about 38,000 acres has already been planted. 

 Most of the Para rubber trees of the age of five years or more have 

 been planted 200 to the acre; some estates have as many as 300 

 to the acre. The number of trees of all ages in the Federated 

 Malay States may perhaps be put at six to seven millions. 



The rubber production of 1905 is estimated to have been 

 300,000 lbs. 



KAPOK.t 



According to H. M. Consul at Guayaquil (Mr. H. Cartwright) 

 kapok (the fibre of the silk cotton tree) is a new article of export 

 from that port. It has been enquired for from California, Liver- 

 pool and Belgium. The product is gathered from the districts 

 lying along the coast between Guayaquil and Manta, at Puna, 



" From the " Board of Trade Journal." Aug, 2.^, 1906, p. 37H. 

 ■ From tlie '-Board of Trade Journal," Auir, 16, ly06, p. 328. 



