August I, l')13.| 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



595 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



T""!!!': proposal to establish a Tropical Agricultural College still 

 *■ continues to be discussed in London. Sir Henry McCallum. 

 the late governor of Ceylon, wrote to the "Times" advocating the 

 claims of the island for such an institution. He urged that the 

 whole of Ceylon is devoted to tropical agriculture, while the 

 student would have an opportunity of obtaining a colloquial 

 knowledge of the essential Tamil language by intercourse with 

 the laborers, mostly of that race. 



Another point brought forward by Sir Henry in favor of Cey- 

 lon is that the Peradeniya (jardens offer a unique and ready-made 

 site. 



Nor will Sir Henry be alone in his championship of Ceylon. 

 The Hon. E. Rosling, before his recent departure from there 

 for England, was appointed deputy of the Board of Agriculture, 

 by the following . resolution : 



"That the Hon. Mr. E. Rosling be appointed deputy of the 

 Board of Agriculture, Ceylon, to the London Committee, to ar- 

 range a deputation to the Secretary of State to urge the claims 

 of Ceylon as a site for the Imperial College of Tropical Agri- 

 culture." 



Mr. Rosling's views on the subject were expressed as follows: 

 "If there is to be only one college, Ceylon is the only site for it. 

 In Ceylon we have a rainfall varying from 25 inclies to 200 

 inches; w'e have variations in elevation and soil, and we could 

 grow almost every commercial product that could be grown in 

 the tropics. Therefore, if a college were started here men could 

 get practical experience at their doors ; at any rate a short day's 

 journey would take them into any one of the districts. We can 

 only hope that the Secretary of State will view it in a similar 

 light." 



While the cause of Ceylon is being urged by Sir Henry Mc- 

 Callum. Sir Henry Blake, Hon. E. Rosling, and Mr. Crosbie-Roles, 

 tlie claims of Trinidad and the West Indies are being put for- 

 ward by Dr. Francis Watts, Sir Richard Morris, Mr. Norman 

 Lamont and other advocates of that location for the college. Ac- 

 cording to the June issue of "Tropical Life," it was intended to 

 hold an informal discussion between the representatives of Ceylon 

 and those of the West Indies, with the view of further meetings. 

 The readers of The Indi.\ Rubber World will recall the editorial 

 on the subject which appeared in the April issue on page 339. 



The "Malay Mail" suggests the possibility of several colleges 

 being required, in view of the wide field to be covered, adding that 

 it would fain see a college in the West Indies, another in Ceylon 

 or Southern India, another in Burmah, one in the Federated 

 Malay States, and finally, one in Queensland to serve the needs 

 of tropical Australia and the islands of Oceania. The Malay 

 college would have no financial relations with the colonial 

 scheme, being run and supported by the Federated States. In 

 the concluding words of the article: "We have heaps to learn 

 yet about the ndjber tree, and almost as much about the coco-nut 

 palm." 



VALUE or SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TO RUBBER PLANTERS. 



At the recent London meeting of the Consolidated Malay 

 Rubber Estates, Limited, Mr. J. L. Loudoun Sband, the chair- 

 man, in reporting the contribution of £80 ($400) to the 

 Malaya Research Fund, said: 



"Various systems of tapping adopted have been under care- 

 ful observation, and the distances at which our trees should 

 be planted, methods of cultivation and prevention of diseases 

 are all now carried out under scientific guidance. I should 

 [ike to take this opportunity of saying how great I believe 

 has been the benefit to the cultivation and preparation of 

 rubber, which the light of science has conferred upon us ; 

 and I believe that no expenditure could have been more fully 

 justified. We have learned much, but there is still much to 

 learn as to the cultivation and manufacture of rubber." 



BELGIAN RUBBER INTERESTS IN MALAYA AND 

 SUMATRA. 



IN. a neat and attractive booklet of 88 pages, recalling the gen- 

 * eral features of the literature distributed by the Malaya 

 Section of the New York Rubber Exhibition, Mr. Charles 

 Grenier, editor of "Grenier's Rubber News," has dealt with 

 the special subject of "Belgian Rubber Interests in Malaya 

 and Sumatra." Being intended for distribution at the Ghent 

 Exhiliition, it is to a great extent in French, the most inter- 

 esting parts of the work being in that language as well as 

 English. 



The most important Belgian rubber financial corporation 

 is the Socicte Financiere des Caoutchoucs, or Rubber Finan- 

 cial Company, which has a cultivated area of nearly 40,000 

 acres, including the holdings of some 10 companies, with 

 estates in Malaya and Sumatra. Of these the most important 

 is the Federated Malay States Rubber Co., Ltd., with head- 

 quarters at 21 Rue Arenberg, Antwerp. The area owned by 

 this last named company is about 7,600 acres, nearly two- 

 thirds of which is planted. Up to the end of January about 

 376,000 trees had been tapped.. An estimate of the yield for 

 the season 1912-13 had been made as 1,000,000 pounds. 



Another important company under Belgian control is the 

 Kuala Lumpur Rubber Co., with a cultivated area of 5,000 

 acres, about half of which is in bearing. 



Of the Sumatra estates controlled by the Societe Financiere, 

 the Sennah Rubber Co. has a total cultivated area of 3,321 

 acres. iv 



Belgian capital is thus finding an outlet in the Middle East' 

 and keeping in touch with the progress of rubber cultivation in 

 that quarter, 



THE FUTURE CONSUMPTION OF RUBBER. 



The Batavia Plantation Investments, Limited, recently lield a 

 meeting in London, at which Mr. G. St. Lawrence Mowbray, 

 chairman, said : 



"The rubber industry is closely bound up with the motor 

 business; indeed, it is the use of motors that has made it 

 possible to transport rubber plantation supplies, and eventu- 

 ally rubber plantation crops, to and from estates that other- 

 wise must have remained inaccessible jungle and wilderness. 

 I am looking forward to the time when rubber will be enor- 

 mously used not only for cycles and motor-cars, but in the 

 manufacture of aeroplanes and waterplanes. There is another 

 purpose to which it may be applied, and that is for spring 

 bufifers to railway carriages. 



"We already have rubber flooring for business offices, 

 courtyards of hotels, and other places — a practical reality 

 which the reduction in price would bring into widespread 

 use. Let us imagine, for instance, the Palm Court at Self- 

 ridge's, or the promenade at Olympia, floored with rubber, 

 or go even further and picture to ourselves the Strand or 

 Threadneedle street paved with it. We might then realize 

 the ideal of a noiseless London. Just consider the quantity 

 of rub'ber that would be required to pave the main streets of 

 the City of London, and then conjecture how much more 

 would be needed for the principal thoroughfares of our great 

 provincial cities, and those of the Continent, and the United 

 States of .America. Well, even if the w'orld's output of rub- 

 ber did rise to the 300.000 tons per annum in 1919 that a well- 

 informed writer estimates, I think there need be very little 

 fear of lack of demand for it, and the cheaper it becomes the 

 more of it will be required." 



RUBBER ESTATE IN BURMA REORGAinZED. 



Advices from Burma report that the estate of the Shevegyin 

 Rubber Co. has been put on a proper basis, under the direction 

 of Mr. W. R. Shelton Agar, the Gampola (Ceylon) planter. 

 The estate has a new factory fully equipped for the preparation 

 of rubber, which has cost the equivalent of $30,000. 



