May I, 1907.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



235 



tinctly enhanced iiiulcr a new regime just beginning, 

 under which appoirUnieiits and promotions are to be 

 based, to a greater extent that before, upon the merit sys- 

 tem. All the consuls in the past have not been model 

 otticials, and probably all future ones will not be, but the 

 practice of insisting upon definite standards of qualifica- 

 tion, instead of paying political debts with consular ap- 

 pointments, marks an advance upon which the business 

 interests of the country are to ho congratulated. 



of other days wouid have been ashamed of such things, and 

 really it is hard to think of a true Indian handling a lawn 

 sprinkler instead of a tomahawk. 



PROSPERITY OF CEYLON. 



c 



EYLON appears, from all accounts, to be in an ex- 

 ceptionally prosperous condition. Tlie reports of 

 the large tea planting companies, most of which have held 

 their yearly meetings lately, indicate a favorable status 

 of their affairs. The estates are in good shape, the yield 

 ha? been satisfactory, and higher prices for tea are the 

 ruie. Not only this, but the cocoanut interest is assum- 

 ing larger proportions, and numerous other so called 

 "minor products" are becoming more important as staples 

 of export. The planters of Ceylon, in fact, regard their 

 colony as making a record second to no other British 

 dependency, and they have no such fears for the future 

 as existed at the time when their hopes in respect of 

 coffee began to be dissipated. 



Xot least of the encouraging featiuTS of the situation 

 is the success, to date, of rubber planting in Ceylon. 

 There may have been a time when some planters turned 

 to rubber as a sort of last resort wiien other planting 

 prospects were none too bright, but that feeling does not 

 now exist. Rubber has come tiv l^brni -o^rfe more profitable 

 crop, and thus removes the planters further from tlie 

 position of having "all their eggs in.dne basket." 



The more prosperous Ceylon as 3 whole, the better for 

 the rubber interest there, and the whole world is con- 

 cerned about new sources of rubber;, wherever situated. 

 What has been said here, by the way, about the one 

 colony, is becoming true more and more of planting in 

 the Malay States, and doubtless can be reported later of 

 the Dutch Indies as well as of the T.Jritish possessions. 



The REviv.M. of interest in cotton GR0^v^l^'G in many countries 

 at this time occurs under more favorable circumstances than 

 when the crop was first planted in some of them. Better ship- 

 ping facilities than formerly enable the product to be marketed 

 more favorably: better facilities and methods exist for pre- 

 paring cotton tor market; the seed now is a .source of profit; 

 and there is in prospect a permanently higher price than in 

 former years. It may be, therefore, that success will now be 

 attained where earlier results were disappointing. 



\\'hat is to become "1 iiiL .\.\iEi;k.\N Indi.-\n under the 

 paternal care of the government, which supplies him, free of cost, 

 with so many articles not suited to his character as lord of the 

 forest? For years Uncle Sam has been buying rubber hoots 

 and shoes for the red men and for their squaws and pappooses, 

 and this year tenders were invited for supplying Indians with 

 free gaiden ho?e and rubber belting and packing. The "braves" 



COTTON GROWING IN AFRICA. 



■"PllM total cotton production this year, directly or indirectly 

 under the auspices of the British Cotton Growing Asso- 

 ciation, it is estimated, will reach 40,000 bales, of a value of 

 say £500,000 [= $2,433,250]. Of this 15,000 bales is estimated 

 for the British colonies in West Africa. This is the result of 

 only four years' work, and the association feels much encour- 

 aged. The associaticfti"s shares have been subscribed for to the 

 extent of £254,494 [= $1,238,495], or more than half of the 

 total of £500,000. 



The Rhodesian Cotton Co., formed lately in South Africa 

 with £100,000 capital, have planted already several hundred acres 

 at Xew Fontesville. They i:se steam plows. 



The German colonial administration is in earnest in stimu- 

 lating cotton planting in Africa. This is one of the objects of 

 the Kolonial-Wirtschaftlchen Komitees, a semi-official body. 

 The latter have opened at three stations in Togo, a German 

 African colony, a Baiiniwollcschule (cotton school), with a 

 three years' course, for native boys. At a recent exhibition at 

 Palimc, in Togo, a cotton gin was shown at work, treating cotton 

 grown under the au.spiccs of the school, after which it was baled 

 by the most approved methods for export. But German East 

 .Africa is the Germany colony which thus far has led in cotton 

 production. Only statistics of values can now be given, show- 

 ing the exports of German colonial cotton. The figures in- 

 dicate marks : 



1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 

 Total from Gorman colonics... 15,212 84.300 200,635 306,643 

 From German East Africa 212 ".313 124,216 191,145 



Hut how small these figures appear in comparison with the 

 imports of raw cotton into Germany in 1905, amounting in value 

 to 470.oco.ooo marks ! 



The French Colonial Cotton Association, formed three years 

 ago by French cotton manufacturers to promote cotton growing, 

 (Iocs ncit, like the British association, exist for purposes of profit. 

 It has supplied free seed to the local inhabitants of the various 

 colonies of France, on the promise of buying all the cotton 

 grown from it. The association reports promising progress, 

 though only a small amount of cotton has yet been produced. 

 .\ Bordeaux journal points out the suitability of .Algeria for 

 cotton growing, as shown by the fact that, under the stimulus 

 of high prices for cotton during the American civil war, con- 

 siderable cotton was exported from that colony. The figure 

 for 1866 was 1,022,046 kilograms [= 4,497 bales of 500 pounds]. 

 The production then dropped gradually to almost nothing. 

 Bradstrccl's gives the cotton exports of the French colonies (ex- 

 cept Indo-China) at 37,802 pounds in 1904 and 198,861 pounds in 

 1905. French Indo-China exported 9,570,855 pounds in 1904 and 

 13,547,762 pounds in 1905, the latter equaling 27,0955/2 bales of 

 500 pounds. 



INDIA'S BIG COTTON CROP. 



The acreage planted to cotton in India in the year ended 

 March 31, 1907, was computed at 22,344.000, a large increase 

 over any former year. The product w'as estimated at 4,908,000 

 bales (of 400 pounds), an increase over the preceding year of 

 4.3-3 psr cent. The yields of previous years were stated by the 

 United States Consul at Bombay to have been 3,168.000 bales 

 in 1903-04 : 3,818,000 bales in 1904-05 ; 3,240,000 bales in 1905-06. 

 Indian cottons vary greatly in spinning value, the various grades 

 being quoted recently in London at an equivalent of 7 to 11 

 cents, with ordinary American selling at loYi to 135.^ cents per 

 pound. Considerable cotton from Egyptian seed is now grown 

 in Sind, India. 



