138 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1912. 



PRINCIPLES OF PLANTATION RUBBER CULTIVA- 

 TION. 



"-pHE history of plantation rubber is one of the most prominent 

 ■I features of modern commercial progress. Beginning with 

 the despatch of Para seedhngs to Ceylon in 1876 by H. A. Wick- 

 ham, the pioneer in this work, it has assumed enormous propor- 

 tions and is still growing. As the German Colonies have been 

 among the last to take up the question, interest attaches to a 

 paper read by Dr. E. Marckwald at the recent Congress of Ap- 

 plied Chemistry, entitled "The Treatment of Rubber on Planta- 

 tions, with Particular Reference to Personal E.xperiences." 



Dr. Marckwald last year visited German East Africa and pub- 

 lished his experiences in a booklet reviewed in The India Rub- 

 ber World of March 1, 1912 (p. 269). This paper deals with 

 the general question of plantation rubber, and thus brings out 

 various new points, following up and supplementing his previous 

 remarks. 



SCIENTIFIC PL..\NTING. 



It might have been expected that the mistakes committed in 

 the German colonies, caused by insufficient experience, would 

 have been avoided elsewhere, but such has not been the case. 

 Even in the English colonies, it is remarked, scientific and prac- 

 tical tests have not been carried out to the anticipated extent. 

 It is added that today the best wild rubber, Brazilian Para Hard 

 Cure, is so far superior to plantation rubber that the latter, not- 

 withstanding its attractive appearance, cannot be used in articles 

 of high quality. 



HISTORY. 



The history of plantation rubber is dealt with, its well-known 

 features being brought out. Its first beginning is said to have 

 been in 1861, when the Dutch forest authorities established Ficiis 

 plantations in Java, which by 1864 had attained a certain degree 

 of importance. Being, however, neglected, they fell off, so that 

 the despatch of seedlings to Ceylon by Mr. Wickham in 1876 

 was really the start of the industry, the aggregate production of 

 which in 1911 was about 14,000 tons. This quantity, it has been 

 estimated, will be doubled in 1913. The favorable regulations 

 made by the government of the Malay States contributed to the 

 growth of plantations in that quarter. Lands are there leased 

 for the duration of one life, at the rate of one dollar per acre per 

 year, until the trees are in bearing, when the rent is advanced to 

 three or four dollars a year. 



GERMAN POSSESSIONS. 

 The German plantation industry dates from the year 1892, 

 when cuttings of Hevea were first sent from Ceylon to Kamerun. 

 It would seem that the German authorities, in their justifiable 

 attempt to remedy abuses, have shown themselves disposed to 

 place obstacles in the way of planters acquiring concessions of 

 lands. 



PRINCIPLES OF RUBBER PLANTING. 



In covering this subject, Dr. Marckwald touched on its detailed 

 features : 



Seeds. — The selection of seeds is a point which, in his opinion, 

 does not receive sufficient attention in any country. Sowing 

 takes place without any discrimination, and to the planter's 

 astonishment, trees planted on the same soil, with the same 

 girth and tapped at the same time, give yields differing as much 

 as tenfold. This fact indicated the mixed planting of high and 

 inferior grades of seed. 



Planting.— After dealing with the question of the best time 

 for planting, Dr. Marckwald controverts the assumption that 

 trees with a large number of branches give more profitable 

 yields. On the contrary, the cost of tapping in such cases 

 is 30 per cent, more than the normal rate, which reduces the 

 profit. 



Distance. — Plantations being usually valued in accordance to 

 the number of trees, efforts are made to plant as closely as pos- 



sible. The Malaya plantations were some years ago planted on 

 the scale of 12 .x 12 feet, but the average scale is now 17 x 17 

 feet. Doubts were expressed whether the latter distance ensures 

 the best results, while narrow intervals hinder the tree from 

 developing its fullest dimensions. The yield of Castilloa per tree 

 in German New Guinea was increased by widening the distance 

 for planting, from 1 ounce to 9 ounces per tree within a few 

 years. Manihot plantations in German East Africa, Dr. Marck- 

 wald found, planted 7 x 10 feet, 10 x 10 ft. or 10 x 17 feet, while 

 he considered 17 x 17 would have been right. 



Tapping. — The various methods of tapping in different coun- 

 tries were discussed. With regard to tapping knives, of which 

 new models are constantly appearing, it is recommended to have 

 a different construction for the different varieties of tree. The 

 fundamental conditions are that they should be cheap and simple, 

 easily and quickly handled by the tapper, and that their use 

 will not injure the tree. 



Coagulation.— -Dr. Marckwald expressed the opinion that the 

 proper methods of coagulation cannot be determined in a general 

 way, but require to be decided according to local circumstances. 

 After dealing with the various methods hitherto used, he referred 

 to the success which had attended his efforts in conjunction with 

 Dr. Fritz Frank, to introduce into the rubber in the process of 

 coagulation certain salts from the soil which gave exceptional 

 nerve. Another process of a German expert was intended to 

 prevent the giving off of any injurious substances from the 

 milk during the coagulation. The combination of these two 

 processes seemed to him destined to operate a complete revolution 

 in the matter of coagulation, and to allow of the production of 

 rubbers, on the one hand superior in nerve to all those already 

 known, and, moreover, possessing remarkable durability. 



The question of the .right choice and preparation of the ground 

 for planting and that of manuring were likewise dealt with in 

 this interesting paper. 



In conclusion Dr. Marckwald remarked : 



"The future belongs to. plantation rubber, but only to the rub- 

 ber of those plantations which are rationally, planned and con- 

 ducted ; on which favorable labor conditions prevail ; which have 

 sufficient capital at their disposal and which send. into the world's 

 markets first-class standard qualities, as part of the production 

 of their respective countries." 



A FAMOUS SOUTH AMERICAN EXPLORER. 



There are very few American explorers who have done as 

 much genuine exploring and who have had as many moving 

 experiences as Edgar Beecher Bronson, and still fewer who 

 have written about their experiences in such an interesting way. 

 Everybody who follows the literature of exploration and dis- 

 covery will remember the absorbing book, "In Closed Terri- 

 tory," which appeared two years ago, which gave a description 

 of Mr. Bronson's quest after big game and general informa1:ion 

 in British East Africa, where he covered much of the same ter- 

 ritory traversed by Mr. Roosevelt a year or so later. 



Mr. Bronson has recently returned from a two years' tour 

 of discovery through the rubber countries of South America. 

 He entered Colombia from the Pacific Coast in the spring of 

 1910, and in the course of his extensive travels traversed Ecua- 

 dor, Peru, Bolivia and a considerable part of Brazil. In De- 

 cember of 1911 he started down the course of the Madre de Dios 

 River, which ultimately finds its way into the Mamore River. 

 He then went over the length of the Madeira-Mamore Railroad, 

 just opened, and landed in Para in May, 1912. He had vifith him 

 a considerable body of men for field work, and devoted him- 

 self especially to a careful study of the sources of crude rubber 

 supply in the great rubber basin of the upper Amazon. Just 

 when Mr. Bronson will give the result of his two years' sojourn 

 in the heart of the rubber country to the world is uncertain, but 

 when he does it will be something worth reading. 



