192 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, 1906. 



A NICARAGUAN RUBBER PLANTER AND TRADER. 



Mr. JulivS Amadek Belangkk, whose picture appears in 

 connection with this brief sketch — a picture, bj- the way, that 

 was secured by the writer not long since in Nicaragua, when 

 Mr. Belanger was in the undress uniform peculiar to tropics 

 — is perhaps the best known and most interesting figure in 

 Nicaragua to-day. He is thoroughlj' American although a 

 British subject, his birthplace being Montniagny, Quebec. 

 He has been in Nicaragua for some seventeen years and for 

 ten years or more has occupied the office of British vice 

 consul. During these years Mr. Belanger has taken a very 

 practical interest in the upbuilding of the business interests 

 of his adopted country, is connected with all of the large 

 mining propositions, and is also a large stockholder in rub- 

 ber plantations like " Cukra " and the "Manhattan." In 

 addition to this, he is the head of a large trading company 

 known as Belanger's Incorporated, which is perhaps the 

 largest company of its kind and the most successful in Cen- 

 tral America. Mr. Belanger is a great believer in the future 

 of rubber planting and has done much to further it, both by 



MR. J. A. BELANOER. 



investing money and by helping those who were making be- 

 ginnings at planting. He is a leading spirit of the colony 

 that centers in and about Bluefields and has the respect and 

 confidence of the Nicaraguan government. Personally Mr. 

 Belanger is short, thick set, very energetic, and does not 

 show in the slightest degree the effect of a climate that is so 

 apt to be demoralizing to the white man. 



RUBBER PLANTING IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



The Ceylon Observer gives some details regarding the 

 Davao Planters' Association, which is described as a "go 

 ahead body of Americans who are doing pioneering in Davao 

 down in the corner of Mindanao, " a wild and almost savage 

 region and "jumping-off place " of the island. It appears 

 that some forty Americans have formed a regular colony 

 there and are engaged in planting hemp and cocoanuts, 

 though rubber is attracting keen attention. Some experi- 

 ments have been made in planting Heiea and the Observer 

 says: "The plants already growing there are doing well, 

 and there seems to be no reason why the industry- should 

 not do as well in the Philippines as in the Federated Malay 



States and Cej'lon." One Davao planter hopes to form an 

 American company for rubber planting solely. The Obser- 

 ver reports the visit to Ceylon of one of the Americans who 

 visited some of the plantations there, and arranged for the 

 purchase of Hevea seeds for shipment to the Philippines. 

 The secretary and treasurer of Davao Planters' Associa- 

 tion has been appointed assistant to the governor in his 

 province. 



A RUBBER LATEX PROTECTOR. 

 An application for a Ceylon patent has been made by A. 

 H. Bury, for what he calls a latex protector, the object of 

 which is to protect the tin cups placed on the rubber tree to 

 catch the latex, from rain direct or slanting, or from the im- 

 purities in the way of bark, leaves, and the like, that are lia- 

 ble to find their way into the cups. The protector consists 

 of a zinc collar around the trunk of a tree, sloping down- 

 wards at an angle of about 45 degrees. The protector has 

 an edging of felt where it fits onto the tree, so as to catch 

 any moisture running down the trunk and allow it to drain 

 off the roof over the latex cup. The collar is fastened with 

 a stud fastening, there being several holes in one end of the 

 collar to allow it to be attached at various times to trees of 

 different girths. The idea is that the new device can be sup- 

 plied at a cost of a few cents each. 



BRAZILIAN PRIZES FOR RUBBER PLANTING. 

 The successful cultivation in southern Brazil of the indig- 

 enous Ceara rubber {Manihot Glaziovii), known locally as 

 " mani9oba, " has been referred to more than once in the In- 

 dia Rubber World. The Brazilian Revieiv reports : 



"The government [of the state of Rio de Janeiro] has 

 decreed a prize of 30,000 milreis, for any one who exhibits 

 100,000 mani9oba rubber trees within 18 months from now, 

 and other 3 prizes of 15,000 milreis, 10,000 milreis, and 

 5000 milreis, for the three next largest plantations, the 

 smallest of which in order to gain a prize must not be of 

 less than 20,000 trees. It appears that, not to speak of the 

 value of the rubber, the coffee trees benefit greatly by the 

 shade afforded by the rubber trees. This is another of the 

 man^- instances of Dr. Nilo Pecanha's intelligent efforts and 

 administration. Senhor Mauricio Haritoft", one of the chief 

 initiators of the planting of manijoba, in waiting on Dr. 

 Nilo to thank him for the decree in the name of the planters 

 of this important product, showed an account sales of a con- 

 signment to Hamburg which was sold at 7300 reis per kilo." 

 [At the rate of exchange current at the date of this publi- 

 cation, 30,000 milreis would be equal to about $10,000, gold.] 



AFFAIRS IN THE ACRE DISTRICT. 

 The Brazilian Revieiv (Rio de Janeiro) continues to report 

 an unsatisfactory condition in the Acre district, which, 

 since it was relinquished by Bolivia, has been administered 

 as a Federal territorj-, from the national capital. The pre- 

 fects sent out from Rio have failed to gain the sympathies 

 of the people, who regard their rule as despotic. It is re- 

 ported that the prefect of one of the three districts has been 

 levj'ing heavy additional taxes on rubber, increasing the 

 established duty of iS per cent, ad valorem to 23 per cent. 

 The state of .A.mazonas is making strenuous efforts to annex 

 the territory, which are being opposed by the people of the 

 district as strongly as they opposed the former rule by Boli- 

 via. What the people really desire is to have the district 

 organized into an independent state. 



