November 1. 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



89 



rendered possible an exhibit in which all parts of the Peninsula 

 would share, as was done in this case. 



The growth of the Malayan rubber industry is a stimulus to 

 renewed eflfort. From the interesting booklet distributed in this 

 section, "The Story of the Rubber Industry in Malaya," its 

 progress is clearly shown : 



MALAYAN RUIiHEU EXPORTS. 



Pounds. 



1906 1,035,601 



1907 1.998,889 



1908 3,186,099 



1909 6,112.023 



1910 12,245,864 



1911 23,914.263 



(Estimated ) 1912 34.000,000 



Such a development is probably without a parallel in the his- 

 tory of the world's commerce. Whether the increased yield will 



F£DER.\TED M.\L.\V St.ATES. 



continue at the same rate depends on the number of trees reach- 

 ing maturity. The acreage planted from 1906 to 1909 averaged 

 about 50,000. That for 1910 was about 70,000, and that for 1911, 

 180,000. The direct result of the "boom" of 1910 was the heavy 

 planting in 1911 and the prospectively heavy yield for 1916. 



The samples shown were from about 80 estates and were dis- 

 tributed as follows among the various classes of rubber : 



Sainples. Pounds. 



Crepe 58 6.949 



Smoked sheet 33 5,406 



Scrap 22 3,264 



Sheet 6 628 



Block, etc 16 1,388 



135 



17,635 



One of the features of the Malayan exhibit was that compa- 

 nies which had in London exhibited independcntlj- now in almost 

 all cases joined in the general British Malayan display. 



Among the miscellaneous exhibits were specimens of good tap- 

 ping and recovery of bark, as well as a model of the Kuala 

 Lumpur Experimental Station. The tapping of gutta percha was 

 shown by photographs. The samples were in most cases about 

 100 pounds each, but in the instance of the Sungei Kapar Rub- 

 ber Co. were much larger; the exhibit including 1,548 pounds 

 of smoked sheet rubber and 1.104 pounds of block rubber. The 

 exhibit was in charge of Mr. Leonard Wray, L S. O., assisted 

 by Mr. W. J. Graham, who had come out from England for that 

 purpose. 



While the subject of Malayan rubber is probably today the 



most interesting to the industry, its products are to a large ex- 

 tent uniform in character. 



Mr. Wray referred to the hearty co-operation he had met with 

 from Mr. Cyril E. S. Baxendale, representing the Malayan 

 Planters' Association, and Mr. Noel Trotter, acting for the Rub- 

 ber Growers' Association of London. Malayan interests have 

 undoubtedly gained by the exposition. 



In the arrangement of the British Malayan exhibit the idea 

 of unity of feeling among the various states and possessions on 

 the Malay peninsula, has been very happily carried out. Mr. 

 Wray had been appointed by the secretary for the colonies, as 

 commissioner to the exposition from the Federated Malay States 

 and the Straits Settlements. Although his official commissioner- 

 ship only extended to the above two governments, Johore and 

 the other native states outside the Federation were likewise act- 

 ing under Mr. Wray's advice. The geographical — if not strictly 

 political — unity of all parts of the Malay peninsula was illustrated 

 by the fact that the enclosure surrounding the space occupied 

 l)y the British Malayan section bore the names of the various 

 states on the peninsula. 



HIGHLANDS & LOWLANDS PARA RUBBER CO. 



The Highlands & Lowlands Para Rubber Co. (Thomas Bar- 

 low & Brother, Ccyhin House. London) exliiliited the following 

 samples : 



a. Finest smoked sheet plantation Para rubber. 



b. Unsmoked sheet plantation Para rubber. 



c. Smoked crepe plantation Para rubber. 



(1. Unsmoked crepe plantation Para rubber. 



This company received the first award and gold medal for 

 smoked sheet ; being likewise commended for unsmoked sheet. 

 Its property, comprising 8,137 acres, is situated near Port Swet- 

 tcnham. Federated Malay States. The planted area is 3.760 

 acres, three-quarters of which had been planted before 1907, while 

 the output of dry rubber has been as follows : 1907 — 193,505 

 pounds; 1908—222,287 pounds; 1909—346,259 pounds; 1910— 

 511,724 pounds; 1911—637.449 pounds. Its dividend for 1910 was 

 SO per cent., while an interim dividend of 22!/2 per cent, was 

 paid for 1911. 



WATCHING THE RUIillER WORKERS. 



One of the most interesting features of the whole Exposition 

 — but one that possibly was missed by quite a number of visitors, 

 because it was at the remote end of the mezzanine floor — was 

 a display of moving pictures given every hour or so during the 

 afternoon and evening, showing the work that goes on in the 

 plantations of the Middle East. In a half hour's time the spec- 

 tator could get a better idea of plantation operations than hours 

 of reading could possibly give him. 



The first films showed the virgin forests, and then the work 

 of clearing. \\'hen the land was cleared off and burnt clean the 

 planting began. Two coolies moved along over a bed of soft 

 earth prepared for them — each at the end of a long board about 

 one foot wide, with notches at even intervals along the edges. 

 They put the board down on the ground, and at each notch 

 pushed a seed into the earth. The board was then moved along 

 its width and the process repeated. In this way, seeds were 

 planted at perfectly regular intervals, and the whole work was 

 done simply and rapidly without the necessity of any mathemati- 

 cal calculations. 



Then the process of weeding and keeping the plantations clear 

 of ants and other insects was shown. The scene was then trans- 

 ferred to a plantation of young trees about five years old and the 

 tapping was shown. The natives were seen moving swiftly from 

 tree to tree, making their incisions very deftly and attaching the 

 little tin cups. Next came the gathering of the cups full of 

 latex which was poured into pails and the pails in turn emptied 

 into a large tank on wheels, drawn through tlie plantation to re- 



