December i, 1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER M^ORLD 



71 



OUR RECORD OF RUBBER PLANTING. 



"PARA rubber" in THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 



TO THE Editor op- The India Rubber World : A few 

 weeks ago I posted you a copy of the annual report of 

 the botanic gardens in this colony, containing, among 

 other rubber notes, the result obtained by tapping a 

 single Pard rubber tree {Hevea Brasilietnis) growing in the 

 Waterfall botanic garden, Penang. The result of four tappings 

 within two years, as shown in that report, is iiyi pounds of 

 dry, marketable rubbei. Within the past month the same tree 

 has been again tapped, and yielded over 2 pounds more, so that 

 this one tree has given 14^^ pounds, without being excessively 

 tapped. How long it will continue to yield at this rate is a 

 matter of conjecture, but so far as can at present be seen there 

 has been no apparent injury to the tree. I am sending you by 

 post a sample of the rubber and shall esteem it a favor if you 

 will kindly submit it to some expert engaged in the manufact- 

 ure of rubber goods for an opinion as to its quality and value. 

 In a few years' time this will be a large article of export from 

 this region, and also what is known here as " gutta rambong" 

 {Ficus elastica). Many large plantations here and in the ad- 

 joining Federated Malay States were commenced about four 

 years ago, and tapping on a large scale is anticipated by the 

 time the trees are eight years old. New plantations are 

 being formed as fast as seeds are obtainable, but the supply is 

 not equal to the demand. The tree from which the rubber I 

 am sending you was taken is sixteen years old, but in good soil, 

 such as most of the planters are using, the trees will be quite 

 as large in eight or ten years. Ours is growing on a dry gravelly 

 bank, conditions quite the opposite of those under which it 

 naturally grows, so far as one can judge from the reports of 

 those who have seen it growing in Brazil. Here it will grow 

 anywhere, though of course not equally well in all places, and 

 there is no doubt that in the future this country will have to 

 be reckoned with as regards rubber. As a field for investment 

 in this particular cultivation it would be hard to beat. Land is 

 abundant and cheap and roads, railways and rivers afford easy 

 access to all parts of the Malay peninsula. C. CURTIS, F. L. S. 

 Superintendent of Forests Section Botanic Gardens. 

 Penang, Straits Settlements, September 24, 1901. 



COMMENT BY THE EDITOR. 



The tree from which was obtained the sample of rubber re- 

 ferred to above was stated, in the annual report of the botanic 

 gardens for 1900, to be 55 feet high, with a circumference, at 3 

 feet from the ground, of 66 inches. The record of yield of this 

 tree, as stated in the annual reports, is as follows, the tree hav- 

 ing been tapped for 14 alternate days in each of the seasons 



mentioned : 



Lbs. Oz. 



November- December, 1898. 3 o 



April-May, i8gg 2 8 



November-December, i8gg 3 4 



October-November, igoo 3 12 



August-September, igoi 2 o 



Total 14 8 



From the same reports it is to be inferred that the rubber 

 produced has been smoked with cocoanut husks after first hav- 

 ing been allowed to coagulate and then rolled into thin sheets. 

 Where the rubber milk has happened to contain rainwater, 

 alum or spirits of wine has been used to hasten coagulation. 

 The method of coagulating rubber on the Amazon is by sub- 

 mitting the fresh latex to the hot smoke of palm nuts, quite a 



different method from that employed by our Penang corre- 

 spondent. 



The Penang rubber has been examined quite carefully, and 

 is worth about 60 cents a pound, with fine Para at 80 cents a 

 pound. In fact it does not resemble fine Pard very strongly_ 

 but is much more like Pernambuco. The rubber is much softer 

 than fine Para, or even than coarse Para, and has nowhere near 

 as strong fiber. In fact, it is quite short. It could not be used, 

 for example, in thread, elastic bands, or any fine pure gum 

 goods. In solution it loses its tenacity very quickly, so that it 

 would not do for high grade cements. Another thing about it 

 is that it softens with age, whereas the Pard rubbers grow hard 

 and oxidize. We think the reasons for these differences are 

 two : one being found in the manner of coagulation, which 

 does not seem equal to the smoking process ; and the other 

 being due to the undoubted change wrought upon the tree by 

 a different climate from that in which the tree naturally flour- 

 ishes. It is to be understood, of course, that the rubber is val- 

 uable, and will find a ready market at a good price, but it is not 

 the equal of either fine or coarse Pard. We think this is an- 

 other proof that rubber will be cultivated most successfully in 

 the regions where it grows wild. 



KAMERUN (GERMAN WEST AFRICA). 



The Moliwe Pflanzungs-Gesellschaft,of Hamburg, Germany, 

 at the end of their second business year (July i, 1900-June 30, 

 1901), reported that 42 acres of their estate at Moliwe in this 

 colony had been planted in rubber, 32^ acres being devoted 

 to Kickxia elastica, the tree which yields the Lagos rubber. 

 The number of trees was 3960, which gave 300 to the hectare, 

 or 121 to the acre. Dr. Paul Preuss, director of the botanical 

 gardens at Victoria (Kamerun), writing to the editor of Der 

 Tropenpflamer , makes an unfavorable report on the growth of 

 these plants, while the Castilloa elastica has done well. The 

 late Herr Stammler, head planter of the Moliwe company, re- 

 ported favorably on the Castilloa elastica, and the company, on 

 the advice of Dr. Otto Warburg, of Berlin, and with the aid of 

 Herr Th. F. Koschny, of San Carlos, Costa Rica, obtained from 

 the latter country this year 400,000 seeds of the Castilloa. Al- 

 though the larger part of these seeds, by reason of the long 

 voyage, were found to be spoiled on reaching Hamburg, it was 

 hoped that at least 100,000 Castilloa plants could be grown for 

 Kamerun from the lot. The Moliwe company are experiment- 

 ing with various other rubber species. ^^Of the rubber under 

 cultivation in the gardens at Victoria, Director Preuss reports 

 that the seedlings of Kickxia elastica, from seeds planted in 

 November, 1898, had, in two years and a half, reached a height 

 of 3 meters, and were flowering. Besides, the bark was found 

 to contain /a/^.r. 'Y\\t. Ficus Vogelii,^noX.ht.x African tree under 

 cultivation, yields rubber liberally and of good quality. Sap- 

 ium utile and Hevea Brasiliensis (Para rubber) are each rep- 

 resented in the gardens by a few good specimens, the young 

 trees of the latter species having begun to bear seeds. 



MEXICAN MUTUAL PLANTERS' CO. (CHICAGO.) 



James Maunder, in charge of this company's plantation at 

 La Junta, in Vera Cruz, writes to Modern Mexico that 330,000 

 rubber plants have been set out there this year, in holes 20 

 inches deep, made with posthole diggers. One man could 

 plant 350 trees. A neighbor has been planting in holes made 

 with a stake, and Mr. Maunder is waiting with interest for the 



