230 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February 1, 1913. 



undoubtedly destined to reach large proportions, for self- 

 interest and trade loyalty must both suggest to men identi- 

 fied in any important way with the rubber industry, that 

 they can profitably co-operate with their fellow rubber 

 men in such an organization, to the substantial advantage 

 of each, and to the greatly increased good of all. 



WHAT PARA THINKS OF THE EAST. 



DR. JACQUES HUBER, director of the Botanical 

 Museum at Para, and generally recognized as 

 the foremost South American authority on rub- 

 ber, paid a visit a year ago to the plantations of the 

 Middle East and devoted several months to the care- 

 ful inspection of the rubber producing territory in 

 Ceylon, the Federated Malay States and in Java and 

 Sumatra. He was received everywhere with the utmost 

 courtesy, as befitted his standing in the rubber 

 world, and as comports with the reputation for hos- 

 pitality which the Eastern planters enjoy. They 

 treated him, not as a rival, but as a friend and a fellow- 

 worker in the great field of rubber production. 



After his return to Para he wrote in Portuguese a 

 detailed and comprehensive report of his visit, which 

 has just come from the press, making a book of over 

 130 pages. This interesting story has been summarized 

 in English, and will be found on another page of this 

 issue. 



He concedes that the Hevea Brasiliensis has become 

 thoroughly acclimated in the East, and appears to be 

 perfectly at home there, even though the topographical 

 conditions are often quite different from those on its 

 native Amazon. He also finds that the plantation in- 

 dustry has become established on such a sound founda- 

 tion that nothing is likely seriously to menace its con- 

 tinued success. He concedes that the Eastern planters 

 enjo}' two great advantages over their Amazon com- 

 petitors : first, the vast supply of cheap labor, and sec- 

 ond, the large number of trained agricultural experts 

 available for the management of rubber plantations. 

 He finds that the cost of labor in the Middle East is 

 only one-tenth the labor cost in the Amazon basin. 

 When one reflects that Java alone has a population 

 of 30,000,000, the vastness of this labor supply is im- 

 mediately evident. 



Dr. Huber mentioned, in his speech at the banquet 

 which concluded the Rubber Exposition, recently held 

 in New York, the almost absolute lack in South Amer- 



ica of trained and experienced plantation superintend- 

 ents. He dwells on this matter again in his report. 



On the other hand, there is one advantage enjoyed 

 by the South American iilanter, namely, unlimited 

 land. Comparing the free land and very dear labor of 

 South America with the dearer land and cheaper labor 

 of the ^Middle East, Dr. Huber thinks that the only 

 course for the South American planter to pursue is 

 to place his trees far apart, giving them all the room 

 they need, so that each tree may produce to the ut- 

 most. In that way, while the yield per acre would be 

 considerably less than that of the East, the yield per 

 laborer might compare favorably with results obtained 

 in Ceylon and the Federated Malay States. He inti- 

 mates that the Eastern planter — laboring under the ne- 

 cessity of producing dividends on invested capital — 

 has pushed his trees unduly, and that in consequence 

 these plantations may later be found to require consid- 

 erable periods of rest. He admits that in the early 

 stages South American plantations could not be ex- 

 pected to yield the large returns of those in the East, 

 Init might do so after reaching full maturity. 



A HOSE MANUFACTURER STATES HIS VIEWS. 



I N a letter which will be found an another page in this 



■*• issue, a manufacturer of fire hose states his views 



on the contention of the underwriters that they be 



allowed to inspect all the ingredients and processes 



employed in the making of hose. He observes senten- 



tiously : "A tube made up of a certain percentage of 



pure new rubber, mixed with brains and experience will be 



much more durable than a specification tube composed 



of laboratory theory and inexperience. To obtain the 



best hose put the manufacturers on their mettle, and 



create among them the spirit of competition in 



quality." His conception is that the best way to get 



serviceable hose is to let each manufacturer make the 



best he can in the light of his ten, twenty or fifty years' 



experience, and then submit the finished result to the 



officials of the fire department, who from their own 



experience know what service they should get from 



hose. If, after testing his offering they reject it. the 



manufacturer will be content; and if after a thorough 



test they accept it, then let the manufacturer be held 



responsible for any defects in material or construction 



that may develop within the first three years of service. 



To state the case briefly, the writer of this letter 



