September i, 1902.] 



THE iNDIA RUBBER \VORLD 



387 



nobody sleep lower than 30 feet from the ground ; to provide 

 water boilers and filters, and, in particularly exposed localities, 

 to give the men quinine and tincture of arsenic ; to permit the 

 use of spirituous liquors only in exceptional cases; to have a 

 good physician along and enforce the strictest discipline. If 

 these hygienic measures were observed in the rubber camps, 

 on board of the river steamers, and durmg the construction of 

 railroads and canals in swampy regions of the tropics, many 

 lives could annually be saved. 



" The foregoing, however, was not written to recommend the 

 exploration of the tropical swamps of Brazil or Bolivia, but to 

 call attention to the facility with which the great and rich ter- 

 ritories of eastern Bolivia and eastern Peru can be opened up 

 to the commerce of the world." 



* » * 



Our correspondent at Mardos reports that the state gov- 

 ernment has leased the trapiche ij de Noveinbro — a pier where 

 ships are loaded and unloaded, and the only one from which 

 dutiable goods (including crude rubber) may be shipped — for 

 sixty years, to a syndicate who propose to make certain harbor 

 improvements. This is the arrangement referred to by the 



consul at Pard, in a report quoted in this issue. 



* * * 



The thirtieth annual meeting of shareholders of the Amazon 

 Steam Navigation Co., Limited, was to be held in London on 

 June 16, at which time the accounts for the year ending De- 

 cember 31, 1901, were to be presented with a recommendation 

 by the directors that the earnings justified a dividend of 3 per 

 cent, in addition to 2 per cent, already paid, malcing 5 percent, 

 for the year. The dividend last year was only 4 per cent. 



* * « 



The India Rubber World has particulars with regard to 

 India-rubber lands for sale in Peru, situated on the rivers 

 Tapiche and Blanco, which unite and flow into the Ucayali, 

 the lands being within two days steam of Iquitos. About 500 

 estradas have been opened up along the rivers. The own- 

 ers are prepared to give title to 52,370 hectares [=129406 

 acres] of land. The presence of rubber in the district referred 

 to long has been known, in a way, but its remoteness tended 

 to discourage investments there. Now, however, that better 

 transportation facilities exist, much development may be ex- 

 pected soon in Peru. 



RUBBER YIELD OF GERMAN AFRICA. 



A NEW SCHOOL OF LITERATURE. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World : An un- 

 forseen benefit which has resulted from the establish- 

 ment of rubber plantations in Mexico doubtless to some minds 

 would justify these undertakings, even in the event of failure 

 to realize anything on rubber. Meaning the minds of several 

 gentlemen, who, chosen to visit the plantations in a represen- 

 tative capacity, have returned home to find themselves trans- 

 formed into authors. Their little books of travel are complete 

 guides to those who would visit Mexico later, dotted with 

 amusing incidents, and embellished with descriptions of forest 

 and stream, flowers and birds and sunshine— until the reader, 

 looking for information about his rubber trees, is charmed into 

 forgetfulness of everything but the literary charm of the " in- 

 spectors' report." 



It must be in the climate. Which suggests that some home- 

 stayers who are striving in vain to get into print might become 

 even litterateurs through a course of rubber plantation inspec- 

 tion. As for the man with money invested in planting who 

 wants to know how his rubber trees are growing — well, a trip 

 to Mexico doesn't cost much nowadays. C. elastica, 



July 19, igo2. 



THE official reports on the German colonies in Africa de- 

 vote special attention to the development of their India- 

 rubber resources, though the results in this direction have not 

 yet proved so successful as was at one time anticipated. For 

 one reason, as a recent report on Kamerun expresses it : " In 

 consequence of the falling off of the supply of rubber and ivory 

 in those parts of the country from which they have hitherto 

 been obtained, it is only by the opening up of fresh districts 

 that the trade can be kept up to its present standard." Still 

 rubber and ivory continue to furnish the larger part of the ex- 

 ports from Kamerun, Togo, and German East Africa, and now 

 and then, for a while, an increased yield is obtained. Mean- 

 while the government is seeking to encourage the forming of 

 rubber plantations, as well as to discourage the destruction of 

 native rubber plants. According to a British report on recent 

 trade in these German colonies, the value of the rubber exports 

 was as follows : 



Kamerun — £^->,fi')'i in 1899-lgoo ; ^102,926 in igoo-1901 — the in- 

 crease being due to higher prices realized. 



Togo — jf 18, 304 in iSqg-igoo ; ,^26,068 in igoo-1901 — more rubber 

 having been gathered. 



East Africa — /^66,859 in 1899 ; X52,g33 in 1900 — exports having 

 declined in volume. 



From various sources the following statement has been com- 

 piled for The India Rubber World of the outturn of rubber 

 from the colonies named, during the past ten years, though a 

 few blanks remain to be filled : 



KAMERUN. EAST AFRICA. 



Years. Pounds, ^'alue (Marks'. Years. Pounds. Value. 



i89i-g2... 710,600 1,024,000 i8gi 521,000 $240,000 



1892-93... 910,800 1,427,000 1892 686,000 282,000 



i8g3-g4... 880,000 1,304,000 1893 500,000 233,000 



1894-95... 752,660 1894 415,000 247,000 



l8g5-96... 707,340 1,090,728 1895 321,000 



l8g6-97... 670,721 82q,559 i8g6 



I8g7-g8... g6g,738 1,177,715 l8g7 619,264 rup. 851,298 



1898-gg. .. 1,328,536 i,g28,o8o 1898 418,636 " 702,978 



i89g-oc. .. 1,163,025 I,g30,264 i8g9 5gg,740 " q5i,947 



1900-01. .. 1,203,400 2,095,665 igoo (6 mos.) 181,636 " 324,686 



TOGOLAND. 

 Years. Pounds. Years. Pounds. Years. Pounds. 



1892 81,400 i895-g6 204,168 i8g8-gq 38g,530 



i8g3 63,800 i«96-97 iSgg-igoo. .. 217,560 



1894 68,200 1897-98 194,918 1900-01 140,116 



From these figures it would appear that the average produc- 

 tion of India-rubber in German Africa during the five years 

 covered by the latest available statistics has been 1,757,414 

 pounds. 



The imports of crude rubber into Germany from her African 

 colonies, during five years past, have been : 



Years. Togo & Kamerun. East Africa. Total. 



1897 pounds 744,700 167,200 gii.goo 



1898 698.280 70,180 768,460 



iSgg 1,111.800 140,800 1,252,600 



igoo go2,ooo 100,980 1,002,980 



igoi 847,800 120.340 968,140 



The yearly average deduced from this table is 980,816 

 pounds, indicating that the mother country fails to profit from 

 the handling of an important share of the rubber produced in 

 her colonies. ==During the same five years Great Britain im- 

 ported rubber direct from Togo and Kamerun as follows : 



1S1J7. 1898. iSgg. 1900. igoi. 



Pounds 152,208 177,632 156,688 146.944 147,728 



In addition to the various native rubber species in German 

 Africa, several imported species promise good results, and the 

 experiments made in planting, under expert scientific super- 

 vision, seem likely to be of benefit to the cause of rubber cul- 

 ture generally. 



