February 1, 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



243 



Dr. Jacques Huber's Visit to the East. 



CLOSELY following his able paper read at the late Rubber 

 Conference, there has appeared an interesting report by 

 Dr. Jacques Huber, the well-known Para authority, deal- 

 ing with his visit early last year to the Middle East. In his 

 journey of investigation he was accompanied by Messrs. H. 

 Akers, Alfredo Ufenasi, and Franciso Lugones, the last-named 

 gentlemen representing various Para shipping interests. 



Sailing from Marseilles on December 13, 1911, they reached 

 Colombo on December 31. Their first visits in Ceylon were to 

 the Botanic Gardens of Heneratgoda and Peradeniya, where 

 they saw the parent rubber trees from the Hevca seeds intro- 

 duced in 1876. Dr. Huber acknowledges the courtesies re- 

 ceived from various officials, including Messrs. Lock, Kelway- 

 Bamber, and Fetch, at Peradeniya, as well as Mr. Alexander 

 Wardrop (since deceased), secretary of the Ceylon Planters' 

 Association. 



In the course of his investigation, he then visited the planta- 

 tions of North Matale, Tapton Wood, New Peradeniya, and 

 Pallekally. Returning to Colombo, he and his colleagues spent 

 a day at the Culloden estate : subsequently visiting, amongst 

 others, those of Deviturai and Gikayanakanda. 



After spending nearly three weeks in the Island of Ceylon, 

 which constituted the first stage of their journey, the party 

 embarked on January 19 for Singapore, which became their 

 center of action on the Malay Peninsula, where they passed five 

 weeks. On arriving at Singapore, Dr. Huber's first step was to 

 try to get into communication with Mr. H. M. Ridley, Director 

 of the Botanic Gardens of that city, whom he qualifies as the 

 man to whom, above all, the Malayan planting industry owes its 

 development and prosperity. Mr. Ridley having retired into 

 private life, some days before Dr. Huber's arrival, he was 

 courteously received by Mr. Derry, one of the veteran promoters 

 of the cultivation of Hevea in the East, under whose guidance 

 he visited the Gardens. 



Having decided to visit, in the first place, the plantations of 

 the Federated Malay States, where rubber cultivation is the most 

 highly developed, the party embarked on January 27 for Port 

 Sw-ettenham, on their way to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the 

 Federated States. In the course of the short railway journey 

 from the port referred to they had an opportunity of seeing the 

 noted Klang district, which has been transformed into a vast 

 forest of rubber trees. The following days were devoted to 

 automobile excursions, in the vicinity of the capital and in the 

 district of Klang. .Among the estates visited were : Batu Caves, 

 Kent. Wardieburn, Damansara, Bukit Rajah, Vallambrosa, and 

 West Country. 



The Malacca Territory occupied their attention from Febru- 

 ary 3 to 6; during which time they visited the Cumendore 

 plantations, belonging to the Malacca Rubber Plantations. Lim- 

 ited, as well as Aver Panas, Pegoh Estate. Linggi Plantations, 

 Marjorie, Linsum and Labu Estates. On their return to Kuala 

 Lumpur they paid a visit to the Kuala Lumpur Experimental 

 Station, headquarters of Mr. Lewton-Brain, Director of Agricul- 

 ture of the Federated Malay States. Dr. Huber refers with 

 appreciation to his corcjial reception by Mr. Brain and his sci- 

 entific staff. 



On February 10 they left Kuala Lumpur for Teluk .\nson, in 

 the State of Perak. from which point they visited the Cicely 

 Estate, as well as the Nova Scotia, Rubana and Bernam Perak 

 Plantations. On subsequent days the party visited the Kamuning, 

 t^hangkat Salat and Lauerdale Estates: finally inspecting the 

 'Museum of Taiping, capital of the State of Perak, From the 

 last-named point they took the train, on February IS, for Penang. 

 which became their headquarters for the balance of the month 



The chief points visited were the Malakoflf and Sempuh Estates, 

 where valuable information was gathered as to the cultivation 

 of rubber, mandioca and cocoanuts. Owing to the Chinese 

 New Year's, business was more or less generally suspended dur- 

 ing the latter part of Februao'. 



On March 1 they embarked for Sumatra, where they spent 

 almost three weeks at the capital, Medan, making excursions 

 in various directions, and visiting, among others, the plantations 

 of Bangoen Poerba, Gallia, Bandar Maria and Cilinda. On suc- 

 ceeding days they took in other plantations, including that of 

 Dolok Baros, situated about 3,000 feet above the level of the 

 sea, being thus the highest point at which Hevea grows in the 

 Island of Sumatra. Among other plantations visited were the 

 Dolok Estates, Sunger Mangkei, Batoe Rata and Simahe. 



Returning for a few days to Singapore, Dr. Huber and his col- 

 leagues took steamer from there to Batavia, Java, where they 

 arrived on March 26, visiting on the following day the Botanical 

 Garden of Buitenzorg, where they received much valuable infor- 

 mation from Dr. Tromp de Haas and other scientists of that 

 institution. 



-Among the Java plantations visited were the Dramaga, Tju- 

 kados. Pasir Oetjing and Sengon Estates. The testing station 

 at Malang and the Garden of Acclimatization at 'Vonger con- 

 tributed valuable information. The party returned from Batavia 

 to Singapore on April 18. 



Before returning from Singapore to Europe, they inspected 

 the plantations on that island belonging to the Hollandsch 

 Americansche Plantage Maatschappij (Holland American Plan- 

 tation Co.). 



GENERAL CONDITIONS OF COUNTRIES OF RUBBER 

 PRODUCTION. 



This itinerary is follovifed by a discussion of the general con- 

 ditions affecting the subject. Dr. Huber expresses the opinion, 

 that while rubber cultivation has been developed in the Malayan 

 Peninsula, as well as in Ceylon. Sumatra, Java and Borneo, the 

 other Eastern countries in which it has been introduced, such 

 as Southern India, Burma, Cochin-China, the Philippines, New- 

 Guinea and Samoa, will probably never exercise a preponderating 

 influence upon the world's rubber production. 



As to climate, it is added that the above countries are relatively 

 uniform in temperature, while the amount of rainfall varies con- 

 siderably, according to the districts. Regarding topography, the 

 Eastern rubber producing countries are distinguished by their 

 character being more varied than that of the Amazon region. 

 Ceylon is relatively mountainous in the center and southern half 

 of the island, culminating in Adam's Peak. 7,379 feet in height. 

 The cultivation of Hevea extends to a portion of the mountain- 

 ous region, in some cases attaining a height approaching 3.000 

 feet above sea level. In the Malayan Peninsula a mountain 

 chain extends from northwest to southeast, with an undulating 

 plain extending along the west coast. In Sumatra there is like- 

 wise a mountain chain from northwest to southeast ; while in 

 Java plains alternate with mountains of a massive character, 

 some of which are volcanic, with rich soil, and others of tertiary 

 calcareous formation, poorer in quality. Borneo is also to a 

 great extent mountainous, with large rivers, the alluvial plains 

 of which are covered with virgin forests, partly marshy in char- 

 acter, thus more or less resembling Amazonian conditions. 

 Burma, Siam and Cochin China are marked by extensive plains, 

 varied by low hills. 



With respect to population. Dr. Huber is of opinion that the 

 Eastern rubber producing countries are in a favored situation 

 as compared with Amazonia. The former countries have a 

 relatively large native population, essentially agricultural in it» 



