82 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1905. 



valves, and the like. The railways, in the use of rubber in air 

 brakes, have reduced danger in travel to a minimum. The 

 electrical industry (insulating tape, insulating tubes, hard rub- 

 ber sheets, etc.), and the bicycle and automobile industries 

 are indebted to rubber for their development and perfection. 

 The surgical use of rubber was also referred to. Mr. HofI 

 pointed to these various uses as the cause of the continually 

 increasing demand for crude rubber with which the former in- 

 crease in production could not keep pace. The objective of all 

 interested should be to devise ways and means to further the 

 production of raw Caoutchouc in order to meet the world's in- 

 creasing wants. Mr. HofI quoted figures to show the increase 

 in the consumption and in the production of rubber during the 

 past five years, indicating a very material decline in the world's 

 visible supply, all of which accounted for the rise in the price 

 of crude rubber. 



The speaker then touched on the manner of exploiting the 

 raw material in the producing countries, and supported the 

 proposition that "the endeavors of all interested should first 

 be directed to the creation of laws by which the piratical ex- 

 ploitation of Caoutchouc could be checked, and further to ad- 

 vance the cultivation of Caoutchouc plantations and to furnish 

 the necessary capital therefor." While in the resulting discus- 

 sion various opinions were expressed in regard to regulating 

 the exploitation of wild rubber, Mr. HofT's position in regard to 

 systematic culture in order to keep abreast of the increasing 

 demand for raw material was commended, and had much 

 weight from the fact that the manufacturers have a thorough 

 knowledge of the necessity of assisting in the obtaining of this 

 supply. Dr. Soskin comments: " This is as far as I know the 

 first open acknowledgment by them of the urgent necessity of 

 assisting the cultivation of rubber plantations financially as 

 well as by sharing in plantation management." 



Mr. Hoff recommends a police system for the protection of 

 the Caoutchouc forests in the German colonies similar to that 

 employed by the bureau of forestry. He cited the example 

 shown in this respect by the Congo Free State. To defray the 

 expenses of protection he recommended a tariff on the export 

 of rubber from the German colonies. 



He next referred to the lack of interest shown heretofore in 

 Germany in rubber culture, at a time when the endeavors of 

 the Americans in Mexico, the Belgians on the Congo, the Eng- 

 lish in the Far East, and the Dutch in Java had led to such 

 promising results. The hesitancy of German capital in this re- 

 spect he said was due to the number of years required for rub- 

 ber plantations to become remunerative, and the further fact 

 that considerable capital has been invested in other colonial 

 undertakings which have not always proved satisfactory. The 

 question of delay, however, he did not regard as so serious when 

 Hevea Brasiliensis has been found to yield in Ceylon and Ma- 

 lacca as early as six years, while Kick.xia in Kamerun and Man- 

 ihot in East Africa had given even earlier results. 



Mr. HofI exhibited some specimens of the leading rubbers 

 of commerce, which proved very interesting to his audience. 

 There was a piece of fine Upriver Para, the most valuable ordi- 

 nary sort, worth on that date 12.50 marks per kilo; a piece of 

 upper Congo obtained by the careful tapping of trees and vines 

 and losing but 5 per cent, in washing, and worth 9 marks per 

 kilo; a piece of Djuma obtained by piratical exploitation, con- 

 taining much wood, earth, etc., losing about 30 per cent, in 

 washing, and worth only 5 marks; and lastly, a piece of Ceylon 

 plantation rubber (//(rz/^a), showing how choice a product could 

 be obtained by intelligent cultivation. Such rubber suffered a 

 loss in washing of only 2 per cent., and was worth say 15 

 marks per kilo. 



The speaker urged participation in rubber planting under- 

 takings. Hesitation, he said, meant a serious loss to the na- 

 tional capital in the colonies, and every ton of rubber obtained 

 in their own colonies was a material gain to the empire in en- 

 hancing its independence of other countries. He solicited 

 earnest support for the Kolonial-VVirtschaftlichen Komitees, 

 which has endeavored to further rubber culture in colonial Ger- 

 many and is now preparing to send a Caoutchouc and Gutta- 

 percha expedition to New Guinea. He touched upon the im- 

 portance of granting valid titles to colonial lands for planting 

 purposes as a further incentive to capitalists to interest them- 

 selves in rubber culture. He regretted that this culture had not 

 started in the German colonies 20 years ago, in which event 

 rubber prices might not be so high to-day, and certain recent 

 failures of rubber factories might have been averted. 



In the ensuing discussion further proofs were offered of 

 the profits to be expected from rubber planting. Attacks were 

 made, however, on the newly organized Samoa- Kautschuk 

 Compagnie, which was accused of giving rise to too high'ex- 

 pectations of profits. In the absence of a representative of the 

 company. Dr. Warburg arose in its defense. He said it was 

 surprising with what energy and intelligence this company had 

 begun operations, in securing 400,000 young plants of Hevea 

 Jirasiliensis in Wardian cases and 700,000 seeds in various 

 packings, for shipment from Ceylon and Malacca to the new 

 plantation. 



* * * 



In section I — "Geography, Ethnology, and Natural History" 

 — Professor Dr. Volkens gave a " Synopsis of the most Impor- 

 tant Caoutchouc Sorts of Commerce, and of the Plants Yield- 

 ing Them." Like Mr. HofT he pointed to the ever increasing 

 demand for Caoutchouc, with which the production did not 

 keep pace. The production in the Amazon states had become 

 stationary during the past few years, and in some countries 

 a deficit is to be recorded. He mentioned an important Congo 

 trading company which during the year had furnished only 

 one-half its former exports. He contended that the exploita- 

 tion of native rubber forests would not suffice and that only syste- 

 matic culture could avert an ultimate rubber famine, following 

 which he mentioned the rapid increase in area of rubber plan- 

 tations in Ceylon and elsewhere, but proportionately the plant- 

 ing to date in the German colonies had been unimportant. 



Dr. Volkens, passing to the individual sorts, discussed the 

 Para rubber and the tree yielding it, showing that that tree is 

 susceptible of being cultivated over a very much wider area 

 than was formerly supposed. Mentioning Ceara rubber {Man- 

 ihot) he said 250,000 trees had been planted in German East 

 Africa. Castilloa elastica had failed under cultivation in some 

 countries, but New Guinea, where 270,000 trees of this species 

 are now growing, has shown better results. New Guinea has 

 also 250,000 Ficus elastica under cultivation. Similarly the 

 speaker referred to the other yielding rubber sorts, concluding 

 with a reference to the Guayule rubber of Mexico, which only 

 recently has appeared in the European market. The plant 

 yielding it, Parthenium argentatum, he said, is of special inter- 

 est from the fact that its Caoutchouc contained therein is not 

 found in the latex, but in the cellular tissue. 



High Price tor Rubber.— The Times of Malay reports 

 that at an auction sale at Singapore on July 26, $4.10 (silver) 

 per pound was paid for "Para sheets" from Plang estate, 

 owned by Edwin Philips, of Sungei Siput, Perak, Federated 

 Malay States. This price was equivalent, at the exchange rate 

 then current, to about 6s. ii;4d. [=$1.6834''] in London. The 

 rubber was reported to be of good color and free from mold. 



