358 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1913. 



EDITOR'S BOOK TABLE. 



NEW TRADE PUBLICATIONS. 



THE FINANXIER RUBBER SHARE HANDBOOK. TENTH EDITION. 

 London, 1913. The Financier & BuUionist, Ltd. [Cloth, 8vo., 988 

 pages. Price, 2.j. 6d. net. J 



TPHE 1913 issue of the Rubber Share Handbook shows further 

 * increase in the number of companies domiciled in England 

 or in English possessions, and controlling rubber plantations 

 in various parts of the world. The general tendency of rubber 

 cultivation during the last few years is exemplified by com- 

 paring the number of companies at present operated with those 

 of a year ago. The grand total has during the time increased 

 from 729 tu 749. as follows : 



1912. 1913. 



Malay States 263 277 



Ceylon 201 209 



Java 43 44 



Sumatra 39 40 



Borneo 28 27 



India 34 37 



Oceania 4 4 



Africa 52 49 



South and Central .\merica and Mexico.... 37 33 



Rubber Trust Companies 28 29 



729 749 



The numerical increase is therefore ])ractically confined to the 

 Malay States and Ceylon. The above figures are not directly 

 shown by the Handbook, but are the result of a careful ex- 

 amination of its contents. Thus in actual numbers the Malay 

 States and Ceylon have together 486 companies, or nearly two- 

 thirds of the grand total of 749. Of this total of 486, about 

 140 are operated with local capital in the form of "Dollar and 

 Rupee" companies, the others being financed in sterling by 

 British interests. 



Of course mere alterations in numbers of companies do not 

 represent their actual development. That information is con- 

 tained by the "Handbook" as to each company in separate al- 

 phabetical order. 



The grand total of 749 companies includes 67 new companies 

 and is arrived at by the deduction of 47, which for one reason 

 or another are absent from the new book. There is thus an 

 increase of 20 companies within the year. 



This handy volume contains this time 588 pages as compared 

 with 884 last year. It has many well executed illustrations of 

 rubber planting operations, and the uniform manner in which 

 its information is presented, adds much to its value. 



ECONOMIC PL.\NTS IN THE WEST INDIES. AGRICULTURAL 

 Bureau, German Kali Works, Havana, Cuba. [Paper. 88 pages; illus- 

 trated.] 



In this comprehensive booklet this large German potash con- 

 cern has grouped a quantity of information upon West Indian 

 economic plants generally, giving prominence to rubber. Ex- 

 periments at Porto Rico have shown that Castilloa will not thrive 

 on hard clay soil, without cultivation or fertilization; the latter 

 course being specially recommended when the trees do not make 

 the desired growth. 



OVER THE ALPS BY AUTO. 



Hitherto it has been something of an undertaking to cross the 

 Alps, but now it can be done very comfortably in less than two 

 hours in an auto omnibus. .An electric automobile service 

 has recently been established at a very considerable cost. The 

 line is about 25 miles in length, running from a point in Switzer- 

 land to a point on the Italian side of the .Alps. These autos hold 

 about 22 passengers each and make three trips a day in each 

 direction — when the snow will permit. 



|y4 ETAL fittings constitute an indispensable accessory in the 

 ^'* application of rubber to industrial or domestic uses; par- 

 ticularly in the case of sprinklers, hose nozzles and hose coup- 

 lings, in few branches of the metal industry has greater ex- 

 actness of standard dimensions been attained. This fact is 

 demonstrated by catalog No. 32 recently issued by the W. D. 

 Allen Manufacturing Co., of Chicago, which in its 96 pages 

 forms a complete guide to the buyer of such goods ; while its 

 copious illustrations bring each article of importance clearly 

 before him. 



Starting with the various makes of spray nozzles, the im- 

 portant article of Lawn Sprinklers is reached, of which there 

 are no less than 71 varieties in the Allen line. Hose fittings 

 next claim attention in the form of holders, couplings, nozzles, 

 clamps, play pipes and other articles, including Allen's "Bull 

 Dog" hose clamp. Fire hose fittings naturally form an interest- 

 ing section of this booklet, in addition to a large variety of 

 hose racks. The completeness of the catalog is typical of that 

 which marks the productions of this enterprising firm ; the es- 

 tablished character of which is emphasized by the fact that 

 this catalog is tlic thirty-second issued by the house. 



HOW RUBBER IS GATHERED AND MANUFACTURED. 



.'-o much has been written in the papers of late regarding the 

 whole rubber industry and especially about the manufacture of 

 tires, that there is a very general interest on this subject, and 

 many inquiries are received at this office from people who want 

 some general information regarding rubber, its characteristics, 

 the methods of gathering and cultivating it, and the various 

 manufacturing processes. Several manufacturers have issued 

 little booklets that give just this information. Among them 

 might be mentioned a booklet of twenty-two pages, entitled. 

 "From Latex To Tire" issued by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber 

 Co., of Akron. 



This little booklet devotes four pages to the consideration of 

 the geography of rubber, gathering it in the native forests, and 

 cultivating it in plantations. The remaining pages are devoted to 

 a description of the many processes through which the crude 

 rubber has to pass before it comes out as a finished tire. 



A HANDBOOK OF THE GOODEICH FACTORY. 



The B. F. Goodrich Co. has just sent out a handsomely printed 

 little booklet of about forty pages describing what one would 

 see in making a tour through the company's big factory in .\kron. 

 One valuable feature of this book is the large number of half- 

 tone illustrations — there are fifty of them — which give an excel- 

 lent idea of the different departments of the factory and the 

 various processes through which rubber passes before it becomes 

 a finished tire. The first few pages of the book are devoted to 

 a description of the rubber forests and plantations. 



THE INTERNATIONAL RUBBER REVIEW. 



.■\ new monthly rubber publication has come into the field ; 

 namely. The International Rubber Reviezv, a technical and sci- 

 entific pulilication devoted to the rubber industry, and particularly 

 to the plantation field. It is edited by Gustave Van den Kerck- 

 hove, a well-known rubber planting expert, and its place of 

 publication is Brussels. Belgium. This review is printed in three 

 languages — English. French and German. The initial number 

 is highly creditable. It contains an interesting article on "Ar- 

 tificial Rubber," by Mr. \^an den Kerckhove. Another valuable 

 contribution is "Hcvea Rubber, the Future of Plantations on the 

 Coast of West Africa," by .Mfred Chandler, and in addition 

 there are in a department entitled. "Sales of Rubber Plantations," 

 a good many items of interest to people engaged in that industry. 



