288 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March 1, 1913. 



tapper in the planting districts of the East. (One kilogram = 2.2 

 pounds.) The principal cause of this difference is of course the 

 age of the trees. There" if p)o doubt that full grown trees can be 

 more economically tapped than young trees. 



Of course the eastern planters have succeeded in making the 

 best of their young trees and in obtaining from 4 to 6-year-old 

 trees, crops never thought of in former years ; but if they con- 

 tinue in the same way, many of them probably will never have 

 old trees in full bearing. 



Even the scattered location of the native trees has some ad- 

 vantages, as it guarantees a longer existence and protection 

 against the spread of fungus diseases. It may, however, in many 

 cases, be advantageous to augment the actual number of wild 

 trees by interplanting. 



Another argument of those who oppose native Hcvea rubber is 

 the e.xhaustion of some rubber districts on the Amazon. For 

 Castilloa, this argument has of course some weight, as the trees 

 are cut down for the extraction of late.x. Even in this case, it 

 must be remembered that only the biggest trees (more than IS 

 inches in diameter) are exploited, and after a number of years 

 there are other full grown trees to take their place. 



For the Hcvea trees extinction cannot be thought of, as even 

 the most roughly treated specimens resist rough treatment for 

 many years, and there is always a free supply of young trees. 

 It is true that in some districts, where the exploitation has con- 

 tinued since the middle of the last century — as for instance in 

 the Cameta district — the full-grown trees are badly injured, so 

 that their yield has been considerably reduced. As a rule the 

 trees are allowed to rest if they show any sign of exhaustion. 

 Owing to this precaution and to the scarcity of labor, perhaps 

 only half of the known estradas are actually exploited. 



LABOR. 

 This scarcity of labor has always been one of the drawbacks 

 in the development of the Amazon region. Native free labor 

 is available in agricultural districts about Belem (Para) and along 

 Braganga railroad, and on the lower Amazon (Santareus 

 and Obidos) ; but it is not abundant, and is at least six times 

 as expensive as the average coolie labor on the Eastern planta- 

 tion. The labor force in the seringaes consists mainly of native 

 inhabitants of the northern provinces of Brazil. They are not 

 working for a fixed wage, and the special arrangements they 

 have with the owner of the seringal give them apparently a 

 much more considerable share of the profit on the rubber than 

 they would realize as simple agricultural workmen. That is the 

 reason why the seringaes have such a fascination for even the 

 settled agricultural population, which is periodically drained of 

 young men, when there is any rise in the price of rubber. 



But the financial superiority of a rubber gatherer over an 

 agricultural worker is often illusory, as the "patrao"' takes back 

 in exaggerated prices (for the articles of first necessity) the 

 money he has paid the laborer. In all cases, however, the labor 

 is expensive on the Amazon, and though it is much more efficient 

 than the coolie labor, as regards the amount and value of rubber 

 produced, this compensation is generally not sufficient to bring 

 the cost of production to the same figure as in the Eastern 

 plantations. Where communication is easy and the freight 

 charges are low, the trees are generally more or less spoiled, 

 and give less than the average; and in the districts where the 

 trees give good yields, the freight is far higher. 



Sometimes irregularity of supply is charged against native 

 rubber. This of course is not so much the fault of the wicked 

 seringueiros, who are sometimes accused of retaining their prod- 

 uct for speculative purposes. It is rather attributable to the 

 conditions of navigation on the remotest affluents of the Amazon. 

 Speculating is of course always done to a certain extent by 

 seringueiros, aviadores and export firms ; and we have seen some 

 attempts of this kind in late years, but the meteorologic and 

 hydrographic conditions of the country are chiefly responsible 

 for the irregularity of the supply. 



It is not probable that the distribution of the working periods 

 can be altered, as these depend entirely upon the weather condi- 

 tions. For the regulation of the transportation of the rubber 

 from the remotest districts, the Brazilian Federal Government 

 has taken important steps, so that it is hoped that in the future 

 the supplies can be better distributed over the whole year. 



Those w-ho predict the ruin of the Amazonian rubber industry 

 point to the fact that in the last years the output of rubber from 

 that region has been almost stationary, in spite of the generally 

 favorable conditions of the market and the "corner" in 1910. 

 This is generally attributed to the exhaustion of the yielding 

 power of the rubber trees in the more accessible districts and 

 to the difiiculty of working the more remote districts. This of 

 course is right to a certain extent, but there are many other rea- 

 sons for the arrested development of the ruliber industry on the 

 Amazon. 



In the first line, there is the deficient organization of the whole 

 industry, especially its tiiiancial side, which is so bad as to make 

 the careless distribution of money frequently possible. 



Unfortunately only a small part of the money earned in rubber 

 production has been applied in improvements in the seringal, 

 and in the general conditions of the rubber districts. Had there 

 been a sound policy in this respect, the Amazon would have 

 made very much greater progress. 



It is only in recent years that the Government and the leading 

 men in the trade have awakened to the fact that without the 

 introduction of a rational scheme of improvements and reforms 

 in the rubber districts ; and without a thorough reform of the 

 whole organization of the industry, it will be impossible for the 

 Amazonian trade to meet the competition of the Eastern planta- 

 tions. 



Considering the immense extent of the territory, the scarcity 

 of population and the complexity of problems, the task of such 

 a reorganization is a gigantic one, and it is certainly excusable, 

 if in the proposed plans thei'e are some points open to discussion. 

 Witliin the scope of this address it is not possible, of course, 

 to cover the whole scheme of reforms planned by the Federal and 

 the State Governments, but I shall ask your permission to present 

 here some points, which seem to me of particular interest. 

 PROPOSED REFORMS. 

 As to the improvement of the means of communication there 

 woidd be much to say. The first thing to do is to improve and 

 cheapen river navigation, by which most of the actual iiroducing 

 centers are reached. Railroads are indispensable along the 

 course of the rivers which are obstructed by rapids. How much 

 an improvement in the means of communications is needed, is 

 shown by the fact that the seringueiros of certain remote dis- 

 tricts are sometimes exposed to actual starvation, because of the 

 holding up of the steamers by bad conditions of navigability. 



Better food supply will come with cheaper and quicker com- 

 munication. There are always several agricultural centers, 

 especially in the State of Para, from which the food could be 

 sent to the rubber producing centers. 



In the scheme of reforms planned by the Federal Government 

 the upper Rio Branco region, with its extensive campos for 

 cattle breeding, is considered as the principal food-supply center 

 for the rubber districts of the Upper Amazon. Food production 

 within the limits of these districts will always be small, because 

 of the attractions which the free life of the seringueiros always 

 has for the other working classes. 



Sanitation is of course closely connected with good food sup- 

 ply. // !.f perhaps the most important problem in the Ama::oitian 

 region. The successful extinction of yellow fever in the State 

 of Para is a very important step in that direction, especially as 

 it proves that the Brazilian Government has at its command 

 good men to carry out the much more difficult problems of 

 sanitation in the interior. 



Of course, all these measures will augment the outpr.t of rub- 

 ber, as the proportion of the sick will be reduced, and the work- 



