170 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[rEBRUAKV 1, 1911. 



Congo Rubber and the Antwerp Market. 



IX tlieir annual review of tlic Antwerp rul)1)er market lor 1910 

 Messrs. Grisar & Co.. the ofiicial brokers, again confine their 

 remarks mainly to the decline of tlie natural supplies in the 

 Belgian Congo (formerly the Congo Free State), and the out- 

 look for rubber cultivation there. First, however, may be intro- 

 duced a table of the arrivals of rubber at Antwerp diirin,g the 

 last ten calendar years : 

 Ve.vrs. Congo State. Other Sources. Total. 



1901 Kilos 5.417,456 431.742 5.849.202 



1902 4.992.954 411.031 5.403.985 



1903 5.180,401 546,082 5.726,483 



1904 4,723.618 1.040.238 5.765,856 



1905 4.442.607 1,271,121 5.713,728 



1906 4.593.759 1,178,303 5.772,062 



1907 4,346,141 708.332 5.054,473 



1908 4.262.531 772.813 5,035,344 



1909 3,492,332 1,193,626 4,685,958 



1910 3.105,357 953,319 4,058,676 



Messrs. Grisar & Co. say : 



RvBBER Planting on The Congo. — The period of transition tlirough 

 which the Relgian Congo is at present passing, in the course of the change 

 from the old to the new government, finds expression in a certain reduc- 

 tion in the exportation of rubber, but it is permissible to suppose that 

 this decrease will only be temporary, especially if private enterprise applies 

 itself to the obtaining of everything possible from the rich sections thrown 

 open to its commercial activity. It is really to be wished that our country- 

 men will neglect no effort to profitably exploit the plans made by the gov- • 

 ernment, with a view to encouraging the development of commerce in 

 the colonial territory. 



Among these plans, which are the subject of an order, dated March 22, 

 1910, it is particularly stated that the vine rubber must now be collected 

 by means of incisions, by gashes, or by cutting the plant. It is in every 

 case forbidden to root up or cut up into sections the roots of the plant, 

 or to cut, gash or reduce to sections, the principal stem in the part that 

 rises to 1.50 meters above the ground. And in regard to the latex of rubber 

 trees, it must only be collected by means of incisions or practical gashes 

 in the bark of the trunk, without penetrating into the camhium. In another 

 part are also indicated certain modifications in the cultivation of rubber 

 yielding trees in the Belgian Congo. 



A certain number of plantations of caoutchouc liancs have been aban- 

 doned, the expense entailed by their maintenance being out of proportion 

 to the results to be expected. Moreover, a large number of these lianes 

 have attained such a height that they surpass the vegetation which usually 

 forms the undergrowth of a Congo forest and their further growth is also 

 assuied. These plantations may, however, be regarded as re-plantations, 

 undertaken with a view to preventing the impoverishment of the forests 

 in rubber yielding trees and they cannot be regarded as regular plantations. 



There should be no further jirosecution of the cultivation of these plants, 

 except in certain stations, of a purely experimental character. The planta- 

 tion, in this case, shjuld be started in the open field, and the liai:es thus 

 obtained should be set apart for experiments by tapping and by crushing 

 of the bark with the aid of improved machines. 



The cultivation of the Hevca Brasiliciisis will undergo a material exten- 

 sion in the equatorial portion of the territory, and especially in the districts 

 of the Equator and of the Bangala. where the rainfall is most copious 

 and most regular. There have been, so far, twelve centers designated, 

 of which five are in Bangala and two in the Equator. Three parties are 

 at present traveling through the districts named, in order to study the 

 locations most favorable for the establishment of Hc-'Ca plantations. 



The selection of suitable territory is a most important matter; the yield 

 speedily shows, in the Congo, the result of any error in the location chosen; 

 the fall of rain is no more than moderate, even in the equatorial regions. 



A sufiicicntly large quantity of Hcfea seed has been imported from 

 Ceylon. .\ goodly number of Hcvca plants at Coquilhatville have come 

 into full hearing. More than 350.000 seeds have been collected and placed 

 in the nursery of the botanical garden of Eala; their germination has 

 been very satisfactory. 



The cultivation of Maitilwt Glazioqii will be extende<l at the station of 

 Bokala (Central Congo). The growth of this variety there is rapid, and 

 the experiments in the extraction of latex made on trees of ten years of 

 age has given satisfactory results. 



Certain stations in the Uele are equally well adapted to the cultivation, 

 on a large scale, of this tree, the climate being characterized by a very 

 pronounced dry season, which seems favorable to the normal growth of 

 the Matiihot. 



Experiments in the extraction of latex made on the Muitiliol Gla:iuqii 

 have given satisfactory results, and certain trees, subjected to regular 



tapping during several months, have yielded more than a kilogram of 

 dry caoutchouc. These experiments are being continued, with a view to 

 ascertaining approximately the annual production of trees of a certain age. 



The Funtumia elaslica, while developing in a very satisfactory manner 

 in certain sections of our colony, appears to present quite consi<ierablc 

 difficulties as regards regular and successive utilization. As a fact, this 

 variety does not appear to possess, to an equal extent with the Hevea 

 Brasiticnsis, the faculty of submitting to repealed tappings during a pro- 

 longed period. The production of latex at the first tapping is far superior 

 to that of the Hcvea, but after several days the secretion ceases. The 

 method of tapping employed for the Hcvca does not seem, moreover, 

 suitable for the Futttuniia. Systematic tappings were made after deter- 

 mining the process best adapted for the utilization of this tree. 



Regular experiments have already been made at the station of Libenge 

 (Ubangi), and the results are encouraging; the quantities of caoutchouc 

 obtained have, however, been very inferior to those yielded by the Hevea, 

 which was to be expected. 



Quality of Congo Rubbeks. — The quality of the Congo rubber leaves 

 nothing to be desired, and the parcels received this year fully maintain 

 the standard previously reached. We would, nevertheless, impress once 

 more on the shippers the necessity for withdrawing the gathered product 

 as quickly as possible from the disastrous effects of the tropical sun; too 

 long a stay in the humid surroundings is incompatible with the good 

 preservation of the caoutchouc, esi)ecially where it is stored in uncleanly 

 warehouses or those subject to flooding. 



The plantation varieties and divers sorts have proved diflicult to assimi- 

 late on the part of buyers. The prices realized represent, to a great extent, 

 the equivalents of foreign markets. 



Quality of Plantation Rubbers. — It would appear to us a matter of 

 interest to examine, at this point, into the present intrinsic value of 

 plantation rubber, compared with that of Para fine. 



At the beginning, when the plantations produced only infinitesimal quan- 

 tities, plantation rubber brought a price about 10 to 15 per cent, higher 

 than Para, because of its great purity and its light and imiform color, 

 combined with its large yield, allowing its use for certain special, but 

 limited, purposes, for which, while a fine looking gum was required, great 

 elasticity was not demanded. Opinions were fairly divided on the ques- 

 tion as to whetlier the elasticity of plantation rubber was equal to that of 

 Para forest rubber, or whether it was inferior to the latter. Some claimed 

 that its elasticity is inferior, because it is furnished by young trees, while 

 for Para only old trees are tapped; others attribute this condition to the 

 method of coagulation in use on the plantations. We believe that the 

 latter are right. As a fact, the method of coagulation employed in Ama- 

 zonia could not be applied to relatively small quantities of latex collected 

 separately and daily from the thousands of subjects on plantations of a 

 tappable age. .After a slight addition of water is made to the latex for 

 the purpose of retarding the coagulation until it reaches the factory, the 

 process is accelerated by a slight addition of acetic acid. If this is not 

 made quantitatively and judiciously the excess of acid appears to deprive 

 the rubber of part of its elasticity. 



Apart from this, the latex supplied by the Hcvca in the Far East 

 possesses, according to the most competent experts, the same qualities as 

 that from the Para forests. It is, therefore, in the method of coagulation, 

 that we must seek the solution that will place the plantation rubber abso- 

 luely on a level with that from Para. Every effort of specialists is being 

 brought to bear just now on the study of this question, and it is reasonable 

 to anticipate the solution of this important problem in a short time. The 

 great manufacturers will then not hesitate to finally change their machinery 

 to enable them to use the new product as regularly as the Para, which is 

 not the case today, and this explains why the premium formerly paid for 

 the rubber furnished by plantations has disa[ipearerl, although, in manu- 

 facturing, this product continues to give a superior result, compared with 

 Para. 



CoMr.\R.\TivK .Antwkki' Prke.s ( Fr.\ncs per Kilo). 



De- 

 Dec. 31, '09. Dec. 31, '10. crease. 



Kasai. red. I U.iXY>i \-\.i7 1 3 .SOfr/ 13.75 4.34% 



Loan<la II kind ll.OOfa 11.50* 11.50((ii 12.00 o4.34% 



Kasai, black 14.00@14.37 13.25(a!l3.75 4.34% 



Equatetir, Ikelemba, "La- 



pori, etc 14.75(f?15.00 13,25^'13.75 8.33% 



Upper Congo, ordinarv.... 13.25« 13.50 12.25fr(i 12.67 6.11% 



Aruwimi Uele .'.... 13.25ra 13.50 12..S0rfjM3.00 3.70%. 



.Mongala strips 13.25(f( 13.50 12.50r<?13,00 3.70% 



Red thimbles (root nili- 



bcr) 9.00(f?i 9.75 10.25010.75 flIO.82% 



b Para fine 7s.2d.Cii7s.6d. hs.9d.(n)Zs.9V2d. 21.u% 



I a TiKTc;isi'. 1 



\h In English money, pev pound.] 



I Ten francs per kilogram — 87J^ cents per pound.] 



