January 1, 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



181 



Digests of the Papers Read at the Rubber Conference Held in 



New York. 



September 23 to October 3, 1912. 



DIGESTS of the 18 papers read at the recent Rubber Con- 

 ference held in New York, in September and October, in 

 connection with the Rubber Show, are given below and on 

 succeeding pages. The work has been carefully done, but a 

 digest is never quite adequate or satisfying. The papers will be 

 published in full in subsequent issues of The India Rubber 

 World, beginning with February. 



THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE NATIVE 

 HEVEA RUBBER INDUSTRY. (Abstract.) 

 By Jacques Huber, Museu Goeldi, Para. 

 ■ I 'HERE is an opinion common among people interested in 

 •*• plantation companies that Brazilian rubber will be entirely 

 supplanted by the product of the Eastern plantations within the 

 next ten years. But it is a case where the wish is father to the 

 thought. There seems to be no necessity for the disappearance 

 or the reduction of the Brazilian crop. On the contrary, there 

 will be increased need for the Amazon crop of rubber — and 

 especially for the hard-cure Para. The advent of plantation 

 rubber has helped the industry as a whole, assuring the manu- 

 facturer that there will be no shortage in the supply, and tend- 

 ing to the general lowering of prices. 



Brazilian producing centers appreciate the competition of the 

 plantation and are preparing themselves to improve their posi- 

 tion by lowering the cost of production. On the other hand, 

 the plantations doubtless appreciate that Brazilian rubber will 

 be able to hold its position because of its superior qualities, 

 particularly the superior qualities of the hard-cure smoked Para, 

 whose resistance to exterior influence — light and temperature — 

 is so much greater than that of plantation rubber. As an illus- 

 tration, the stock held by the Para Syndicate, after being kept 

 two years in more or less overheated stores has itnproved in 

 quality, and it is probably true that where crude rubber has 

 these resisting qualities the vulcanized product will also have 

 them. 



One argument often adduced in the attempt to prove that the 

 native Hei-ca rubber will disappear, is the difficulty of gathering 

 rubber from the scattered forest trees; but this condition has 

 its advantages also. These forest trees, though scattered, are 

 much older and larger than the plantation trees, so that the 

 worker can collect and coagulate as much as 10 kilograms (22 

 pounds) of rubber in a day, where the plantation tapper gets 

 only 2 kilograms. Moreover, the fact that the native trees are 

 widely scattered protects them from the spread of fungus and 

 other diseases. Another reason cited to prove the disappearance 

 of Hez'ea rubber, is the exhaustion of native rubber districts. 

 This is true in some districts in reference to Castilloa, but not 

 true of Hevea. The shortage of labor has not made it possible 

 to exhaust the Hevea trees. 



A third proof cited that Hevea will disappear is the scarcity 

 of labor. It is true that labor in Brazilian forests is six times 

 as expensive as coolie labor on the Eastern plantations, and that 

 is the principal problem that South Americans have to solve. 

 It is cited as a proof of the impending ruin of the Amazon 

 rubber industry that the output has been practically stationary 

 for the last few years. This is owing chiefly to the deficient 

 organization of the entire industry and a lack of the proper 

 amount of capital for its development. Unfortunately, the profits 

 of the industry have not in sufficient measure gone back into 

 the improvement of the general conditions, but during the last 

 few years the Government and leading citizens have awakened 



to tlie necessity of instituting reforms and introducing improve- 

 ments on a very large scale. Some of these reforms briefly 

 are as follows : First, an improvement in the means of com- 

 munication, making the rivers more navigalile and building rail- 

 roads on the banks of rivers made unnavigable by rapids ; second, 

 better food supply — cheaper in price and more accessible. With 

 this in view the Federal Government has planned cattle breed- 

 ing on an extensive plan in the upper Rio Branca region. And 

 lliird, sanitation and other measures protective of the laborers' 

 health. 



In addition there must be special protection for young Hevea 

 trees and interplanting among the old trees of the forest. There 

 are seldom more than 10 trees per hectare (about 2}/2 acres). 

 This number could very easily be doubled. Tapping methods 

 may also be improved, although it may not be possible to adopt 

 those of the Eastern plantation. First, because the trees are 

 already defaced by the native methods, and second, because it 

 would be difficult to train the natives to adopt a new system. 

 The method of preparing the rubber may likewise also be im- 

 proved, although no change should be made until its superiority 

 over the present effective smoking process should be fully 

 proved. 



Is it possible to operate a plantation successfully on the 

 Amazon? is a question constantly asked. There are a few old 

 plantations in the State of Para, but these as a rule have not 

 been very successful. There are some private plantations but 

 their records are not accessible. The new plantations started 

 under the State protective laws are still too young to serve as 

 a criterion. After the enactment of State laws offering many 

 advantages and encouragements to rubber growers there was a 

 rush to obtain these subsidies, and the registration in the 

 Agricultural Department in two years' time has reached the 

 number of 8,000.000 Hevea trees to be planted within the next 

 four years. Of these, about 350.000 had been planted at the 

 end of 1911. Rubber plantations planned and operated on a 

 large scale, by companies with sufficient capital, hold out con- 

 siderable promise in the Amazon region, though plantations here 

 cannot be operated exactly as in the Middle East, because the 

 conditions — and particularly labor conditions are so different. 

 In a general way, rubber planting on the Amazon must either 

 be carried on by the actual occupants of the land or by com- 

 panies abundantly financed, which can operate an efficient scheme 

 of colonization together with the planting; and what is most 

 needed to insure success is efficient management. This has been 

 lacking to a considerable extent in earlier plantation experiments 

 as it has been difficult to secure men who have had just the right 

 experience. The evolution of the plantation on the Amazon 

 will doubtless differ from the plantation development in the 

 Middle East. It will probably be of slower growth, but the 

 plantation on the Amazon will undoubtedly come as a necessary 

 complement of the forest rubber extraction, and the whole 

 industry will be placed on a more scientific, more economical 

 and more stable foundation. 



THE PLANTATION RUBBER INDUSTRY. (Abstract.) 

 By Cyril S. Baxendale. 



IT is a remarkable fact that the profitable cultivation of rubber 

 should have been so long open to doubt. It was in 1876 — 36 

 years ago— that H. A. Wickham smuggled 70,000 Hevea seeds 

 out of Brazil to London. 2.800 plants were raised at Kew 



