AUGUSI 



1905-] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



369 



duce 280 to 400 kilos of rubber, would, at the rate of 5 marks 

 per kilogram rubber, be equivalent to 1400 to 2000 marks [ = $333 

 to $476] gross receipts. 



Future experiments must show whether, in the case of Guay- 

 ule cultivated on better soil, rich in lime, the proportion be- 

 tween the weight of the plant and the output of rubber will be 

 equally favorable when compared with the wild growing plant. 

 However, even if the proportion of rubber in plants cultivated 

 in good soil should be less than that found in the Guayule grow- 

 ing on the sterile mountain slopes, the increase in the gross 

 weight of the plants harvested might make up the difference. 



The Guayule offers the following advantages over other rub- 

 ber producing plants : 



1. Its requirements in the matter of soil and moisture are 

 limited, and it may consequently be used for making sterile 

 lands productive, providingthe soil contains a sufficient amount 

 of lime. 



2. It grows in a splendid subtropical climate, a fact which is 

 especially important on account of its bearing on the question 

 ol labor. The plants, moreover, do not suffer Irom night frosts. 



3. The plants may be gathered throughout the year. 



4. In suitable districts its cultivation promises high net re- 

 turns, provided it is carried on conjointly with the manufactur- 

 ing of rubber. 



Now, as in a large part of German Southwest Africa natural 

 conditions (soil, climate, altitude, etc.) are similar to those pre- 

 vailing in the northern part of the Mexican highlands, it be- 

 comes highly probable that the Guayule plant with its very 

 limited requirements would likewise flourish in many districts 

 of that colony. 



DRAWBACKS TO THE RUBBER TRADE. 



THE following reports, derived from various sources during 

 the past month, are presented as specimens of the many 

 drawbacks to the crude rubber trade in the Amazon valley, all 

 of which have an influence in increasing the risks of the busi- 

 ness and operate against the cheapening of rubber to the con- 

 sumer : 



I. 



The directors of The Amazon Steam Navigation Co., Lim- 

 ited, at the thirty-third ordinary general meeting of the share- 

 holders (London, June 29) reported : " Unfortunately the navi- 

 gation of the rivers, and especially that of the Upper Puius, 

 Acre, and Junia districts, from which the company derives a 

 large proportion of its revenues, was attended by exceptional 

 danger, owing to the unusually large number of partially or 

 wholly submerged logs, from striking which very many casual- 

 ties resulted. The board deeply regret that among the steamers 

 which were lost or severely damaged from this cause were the 

 company's vessels Anionw Lemos 3.t\A Barcellos. The former — 

 a sternwheel steamer — was holed and submerged in the upper 

 Pun'is, in November last, while the Barcellos suffered similarly 

 early in December in the same river. There is reason to hope 

 that when the rivers are at their lowest, which is expected to be 

 early in July, it may be possible to effect considerable salvage. 

 With this object in view, properly equipped expeditions have 

 been despatched from Pard and every effort will be made to 

 refloat the two steamers, the book value of which is ^26.000. 

 Meanwhile as a provision for the eventual loss which may re- 

 sult, the extent of which cannot yet be determined, the direc- 

 tors have charged to the insurance fund ;£i6,ooo, which amount 

 is replaced by a transfer from profit and loss account." 



In The India Rubber World of October i, 1904 (page 18) 

 a Manaos contributor wrote : " The expenditure of a million 



dollars for improving the waterways in that region [the Acre 

 district] would work a wonderful improvement in navigation, 

 and do much to stimulate the business of gathering rubber. But 

 where is the money to come from, and who would undertake 

 the work ? There is no private interest prepared lor it, and 

 government undertakings in the Brazilian states require an im- 

 mense amount of time for results, if any are ever reached. 

 During some months of each year the Acre itself is a very nar- 

 row and shallow stream. It could still be navigated by steam 

 launches, however, but for the many trees which fall into it and 

 which it ts nobody's business in particular to remove. Yet the 

 total cost of removing such obstacles, and of dredging here a 

 bit and blasting there a bit, would not be great, in view of the 

 benefit to be derived, and the stream could be made navigable 

 all the year and for larger vessels than can now pass through it 

 during low water. At present communication with the rubber 

 districts on the Acre is practically cut off for months at a time. 

 Not only does no rubber come out, but the settlers there have 

 no means of obtaining supplies. All their food is imported, 

 and at times their condition becomes one of real hardship from 

 the lack of food, resulting in weakness and inability to resist 

 the fevers so prevalent there. The keeping open of the .Acre 

 alone would work a great change in the rubber business of the 

 Amazon valley." 



n. 



The United States consul at Para, Mr. Louis H. Aym6, re- 

 ported on May 11 : "The usual period of low water (vasatite) 

 on the upper Amazons has set in this year much earlier than 

 usual. In consequence a fleet of 21 steamers and a very large 

 number of sailing and rowing craft of considerable burden, all 

 heavily laden with the annual supplies for the rubber camps, 

 are stopped at the mouth of the Purus river, many of the boats 

 being high and dry on the banks. Some of the supplies are 

 more or less perishable and all are sorely needed ; failure to 

 get them to the camps will mean heavily diminished returns of 

 rubber next season. At the same time the unusual and very 

 heavy rains in the lower river region have severely aflfected the 

 production of Islands rubber, and very little may be expected 

 for the next six weeks or more. The trees begin to blossom in 

 June and during this time the production of lahx diminishes, 

 so that very little Islands rubber is to be expected in this mar- 

 ket for the next four months or more." 



III. 



BoRGES, Hall & Co. have protested against the extra 3 per 

 cent, duty recovered by the Manaos customs on a parcel of 

 rubber shipped by this firm. Duties on Acre rubber were for- 

 merly 15 per cent, but were this year raised by the budget to 

 18 per cent. Before the news of the increase reached Manaos, 

 Messrs. Borges, Hall & Co. seem to have despatched and 

 shipped a large parcel at the previous rate, on which the cus- 

 tom house has now obliged them to pay the difference, amount- 

 ing to 3134 milreis. Clearly, if the government fail to keep 

 even their agents properly informed of fiscal alterations, the 

 public can know nothing about them and cannot be made 

 retroactively liable. Messrs. Borges, Hall & Co., in all proba- 

 bility, bought and sold the rubber in question on the footing of 

 15 per cent., and if obliged to pay 18 per cent, will stand to lose 

 3134 milreis, through the failure of the government to keep the 

 customs at Manaos properly posted. This is not right and, no 

 doubt, will be taken into consideration by the minister and al- 

 lowance be made for this particular and similar cases. — T/ie 

 Brazilian Review, June (5, /pi05.==[The amount named, 3134 

 milreis, would equal, with exchange at 16 pence, $1016.77 gold, 

 on a shipment of the total value, as indicated by these figures, 

 of S33.892-] 



