306 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1Q07. 





Typical Rubber Barracks on 



irregular. Under such circumstances the rubber working forces 

 increase slowly, and what would be considered cheap labor in any 

 other country cannot exist. Ultimately, no doubt, better con- 

 ditions may exist, with more effective labor, and more econom- 

 ical production of rubber, but progress in this region is so slow 

 as to be hardly perceptible. 



In strong contrast with these conditions is the situation in 

 Ceylon, for example, where systematic cultural operations, based 

 upon long experience in tea estate management, render the 

 production of rubber something to be planned as carefully and 

 the cost and profits to be calculated as exactly as any business 

 undertaking in any part of the world. 



CAMPHOR TO BE CULTIVATED. 



nPHE increasing use of gum camphor and the restricted sources 

 •»■ of supply, coupled with the fact of its having become a 

 monopoly of the Japanese government, have tended to the estab- 

 lishment of a higher level of prices, which is being felt seriously 

 in certain lines of industry. Before the invention of celluloid 

 and of smokeless powder, in the manufacture of both of which 

 camphor is essential, no such prices for the raw material had 

 ever been recorded as now prevail. An English writer has com- 

 piled figures running back to the time when camphor was pur- 

 chasable at one-eighth of the present price. 



Since the Japanese gained control of the island of Formosa, 

 whence most of the camphor comes, the area producing this 

 gum has been widened, and better methods used for producing 

 it, but this has not tended to lower the price, on account of the 

 growing demand, to say nothing of the monopoly now existing. 

 Meanwhile the Japanese are reported to have succeeded, in com- 

 petition with European and American refiners, in producing 

 refined camphor of such quality that they may in time control 

 the whole situation by allowing no crude camphor to be ex- 

 ported. This has led to serious attempts, particularly in Ger- 

 many and France, to produce a substitute for camphor. These, 

 however, do not appear to have yielded important results as yet. 

 .-Knother means of escape from the Japanese monopoly may 

 "xist through the cultivation of the camphor tree, which is about 



THE River Juru .'il. 



to be encouraged in a practical way by the government of 

 Madras, in India. It is asserted that the tree will grow there, 

 and Mr. J. McKenzie, of Prospect estate, Nedivattam, is the 

 first to obtain from the government special favors in considera- 

 tion of planting 60 acres in camphor. Cultivated trees are ex- 

 pected to yield camphor within 5 years. 



The importation of camphor into the United States varies in 

 amount, but of late has been heavy. The following figures, re- 

 lating to imports of crude camphor, are supplied by customs 

 reports : 



Imports. Av. per. 



Ye.^r. Pounds. Value. Pound. 



1892-93 ^-733,425 $446,548 25.6 cents 



1896-97 1.496.587 .332.745 -22 cents 



1903-04 2,472,440 874,665 35.3 cents 



1904-05 1,904,000 638,744 33.5 cents 



1906-07 (8 months) 1,580,527 759,004 48 cents 



Crude camphor is entered free of duty, and refined is dutiable 

 at 6 cents per pound. Imports of refined in the fiscal year 

 1904-05 were 214,050 pounds, valued at 54.8 cents. Late quotations 

 at Xew York were $i.24(g$i.25 for American and $i.30@$l.33 

 for foreign refined. 



THE SALE OF RUBBER SEED. 



THE rapid extension of rubber planting in Ceylon and the 

 Malay States has created a demand for seeds and plants 

 which has added materially to the profits of some of the planta- 

 tions already existing, the young Hevea trees beginning to fruit 

 even before reaching the tapping age. Some planters, however, 

 insist upon buying seeds only from mature trees. A recent Ceylon 

 paper contains advertisements from more than a dozen estates 

 offering rubber seeds and plants for sale, the usual price being 

 equivalent to $1.62 (gold) per 1,000 seeds and stumps as high 

 as $6.50 per 1,000. One of the planting companies, in its latest 

 annual report, credits $11,346.83 (gold) to the sale of 3,000,000 

 seeds and 41,500 plants; another reports sales amounting to 

 $8,478; a third, $22,707; a fourth, $5,752, and so on. 



