330 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March 1. 1913. 



\'icissrrui)Ks of the Amsterdam balata company— dii 



I'lCULTlES WITH LABOR AND PROSPECTORS. 



A semi-official defence of the Amsterdam Balata Company, 

 which recently went into liquidation, has heen published in the 

 local press, which throws an interesting light upon the manner 

 in which the balata industry in the colony has been exploited. 

 In the course of the statement it is asserted: '"The company was 

 formed in Holland in a few days through the energy of the late 

 Col. Link. The Colonel passed as an expert in balata matters 

 and gave assurances to his friends there that the licenses he had 

 to sell were most valuable. He was backed by good credentials, 

 and also had the statement of Mr. Melville that the licenses 

 were most probably valuable. The sale to the company was ac- 

 companied by a guarantee that the licenses sold would yield 450.- 

 000 lbs. of balata in the first two years, and the vendor companies 

 bound themselves to pay any deficit. No cash was paid for the 

 licenses ; the vendors accepting shares for the purchase money. 

 Under such conditions several business men in Holland were per- 

 suaded to, and did form a company and easily raised a substan- 

 tial sum of money as a working capital. The capital was ample 

 to work for two years, even with the worst of bad luck. 



"The company, at great expense, sent a prospecting expedition 

 to the Roiwa Grants last year and received a written report from 

 one who was considered trustworthy, that balata existed on the 

 grants and that at least 100 men could be sent in 1912 to 

 work a part of the grants which cover a very large area. These 

 Roiwa Grants are practically on the Brazilian frontier. The 

 journey to them occupies the greater part of three months. The 

 other licenses, nearer Georgetown, purchased by the company, 

 were all thoroughly prospected at great expense and proved to 

 be valueless. The Roiwa Grants were, therefore, the only hope 

 left. Under the contract with the vendors the company was 

 bound to work the grants. The directors were, therefore, left in 

 this position. They knew that they had been deceived about 

 the grants near Georgetown : they had every reason to believe 

 that the Roiwa Grants were valuable ; they were bound to work 

 the grants purchased. At the beginning of the year the company 

 had in hand what appeared to be abundant means to equip and 

 pay all expenses of expeditions to the Roiwa Grants to bleed and 

 thoroughly prospect them, and arranged through their representa- 

 tive in the colony, Mr. de Flines, to do so. 



"The unfortunate drought which prevailed early in the year 

 compelled not only this company, but all others engaged in the 

 balata industry, to make very large advances so as to enable the 

 men engaged to live until they could leave for the Bush. This 

 unexpected call was very heavy and cost the company at least 

 £2,000. The company, in order to meet the men, made what may 

 be termed generous contracts with them, so as to compensate 

 them for the hardships they had to endure. The great body of 

 men have proved most unsatisfactory. Their unwillingness to 

 work, and the consequent delay have caused considerable loss to 

 the company, a loss that is not under-estimated at another .£2.000. 

 The expedition has returned without any balata. The report that 

 there was wood for 100 men has been proved to be false. The 

 company has spent over £30.000 in the colony and has received 

 nothing for it. The vendor companies are without any means 

 to pay the deficit. Owing to this and to the drought, and the 

 unwillingness of the men to work, the capital has been exhausted 

 and there is a deficit at present of about £3.000 to meet which 

 there are many valuable assets to be realized." 



GERMINATION OF RUBBER SEEDS. 



At a meeting of the Board of .Agriculture held recently. Pro- 

 fessor Harrison, reporting on the germination result of rubber 

 seeds for 1912-13, said the percentage was not very high. They 

 had about 119,000 young plants, and would have proliably a few 

 more, and taking the whole shipment the percentage had been 

 about 70 per cent. It was lowered by the shipment from Ceylon, 

 which was guaranteed to give 75 per cent., but only yielded 55 



k lit. The Singapore shipment varied from 65 or 66 per cent, 

 to about 80 per cent, in germination. 



COMMISSIONER OF LANDS AND MINES' REPORT— RUBBER AND 

 BALATA ST.'VTISTICS. 

 The annual report of the Commissioner of Lands and Mines- 

 (.Mr. Fowler;, which has just been issued, states that the balata 

 industry suffered from unreliability of the laborers, but that the 

 decrease in production is chiefly attributable to the severe 

 drought. One hundred and sixty-three balata-collecting licenses 

 were issued, of which 47 were in lieu of licenses which had ex- 

 pired and were being extended. The estimated area held under 

 balala-coUecting licenses was 83,000 square miles. The registra- 

 tion of balata laborers was conducted by the Institute of Mines 

 and Forests, 7,012 laborers being registered. The commissioner 

 reports that the interest evinced in ruliber planting was not as 

 strong as during the previous year. Planting operations were, 

 however, actively pursued by the Bartica Agricultural Estates, 

 Ltd. (an American company), which had 489'/^ acres under 

 Hcvea Brasiliciisis. on 221 Va acres of which sisal was interplanted. 

 With the exception of Plantation Xoitgedacht, Canal No. 1 

 Demerara, none of the cultivated ruliber trees had reached a 

 tappalile age. On this estate the age of the trees ranges from 

 one year to 15 years, the average girth of the trees tapped being 

 39 inches (the smallest 20 inches and the largest 43 inches), 

 the average yield of rubber per tree being 2% lbs. 



THE NEXT RUBBER EXHIBITION— COLONY TO BE 

 REPRESENTED. 

 At a meeting of the Permanent Exhibitions Committee, just 

 held, it has been decided that the colony shall be represented at 

 the Rubber Exhibition to be held in London in June, 1914. 



GOVEENMENT REPORT ON BRITISH GUIANA RUBBER. 



Oflicial estimates place the area under Para rublier in British 

 Guiana at 1,800 acres. There was a keen demand in 1912 for 

 Para rubber plants, some 45.000 of which were sold by the De- 

 partment of Science and Agriculture. Private importations of 

 stumps ( which are inspected by the Board of .Agriculture at port 

 of entry), amounted to over 170.000, while there were also large 

 importations of seeds from the East. On some estates, accord- 

 ing to the Colonial Office report, trees planted in 1907-08 and 

 1908-09 are now being tapped. 



A CASTILLOA PLANTATION IN COLOMBIA. 



A recent Consular report from Barranquilla contains this in- 

 formation regarding Castilloa planting : ".About thirty-six miles 

 west of the town of Rio Hocha a company is developing a large 

 plantation of rubber (Castilloa elastica), having now 60,000 trees, 

 which were planted twelve years ago. This is the principal plan- 

 tation of this character in northeast Colombia. The company is 

 experimenting now with the Hcvea hrasiticnsis and also with 

 Ceara rubber, and it is intended to further extend this plantation. 

 The rubber trees are doing well." 



BAHIA AS A CONSUL VIEWS IT. 



Recent Consular reports from Bahia are not particularly opti- 

 mistic regarding the immediate success of rubber production in 

 that district. The Consul writes : "Although many species of 

 rubber-producing trees thrive well in this district, the difficulties 

 presented by the lack of means of transportation in those sec- 

 tions where the most rubber trees are found, and by the scarcity 

 of competent labor and efficient supervision are almost insur- 

 mountable beyond a certain extent ; so that no material increase 

 in the production of rublier here is to be looked for in the very 

 near future." 



■WATERPROOF CLOAKS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. 



It is reported that several leading English houses have been 

 shipping waterproof cloaks in considerable quantities to South 

 .'\merica. The principal article is the so-called "capote" or 

 "poncho" of waterproof material ; large enough to cover both 

 rider and horse. 



