January 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



211 



PARA RUBBER CULTURE IN DUTCH GUIANA. 



Hy (I Kcsid<'iit Correspondent. 



AS the area of Para rubber culture increases in Dutch Guiana 

 at the rate of many thousand trees a year, the question 

 ari.scs : Will not the supply so far surpass the demand that the 



T\\c)-Ve.\r-(_)ld P.\r.\ Tree.s on .\ Siri.v.nm Pla.vtatio.n-. 



price — which is now so low — will Jail lielow the profit-giving 

 line? 



.■\s tlic soil in Surinam is well adapted to rubljer culture, 

 and as ruliber can be produced so cheaply in the colony, there 

 is little to fear if the field of consumption increases throughout 

 the world. It would seem that there is no valid cause for alarm 

 among those who arc interested in rubber plantations in the 

 colonies wdiich have been started right and are managed right 



The uses of rubber are daily becotning so varied that the 

 supply must constantly and largely increase in order to meet 

 the demand. The field for the use of Para rubber seems to 



Tapping Seven-Ve.\r-Old Para Trees on a Surinam 

 Pl.^ntation. 



have no limit, and the money put into sound rubber enterprises 

 by companies and individuals, who are cultivating it with care 

 and good management combined with sound business principles. 

 is well invested. 



In Surinam, however, the Para rubber industry can be said to 

 be practically in the nursery stage, for the reason that twelve 



■ ir fifteen years ago, when other tropical countries with suitable 

 soil conditions were cultivating largely, Dutch Guiana was yet 

 asleep. This shortsighted policy on the part of the planters and 

 others is one of the main reasons why the colony's rubber culture 

 is so backward. Capital would certainly have found its way 

 to Dutch Guiana if the colony, in 1910-11. when the rubber 

 craze was at its highest, had had something to offer. 



Dutch Guiana's harvest is yet to come, and the plantations 

 which today could be operated have to face another problem — 

 which, however, is not so serious — skilled labor for tapping the 

 trees. 



It is deplorable tli.it the Dutch in Surinam are such procras- 

 linators. Those in the Far East, however, display more energy 

 .md more goahcadness, with a touch of the American "get up" 

 A hich accounts for their superiority over their brothers in 

 Dutch Guiana in matters of business. 



In connection with skilled labor, the plantations will have 

 to face this problem in a very short time. The Javanese and 

 ithers who are conversant with the methods of tapping 

 the rubber tree are few and far between and, as natural, their 

 services are in great demand. To thoroughly operate a planta- 

 tion, with many thousand trees, will therefore be a difficult matter 

 when only a very few tappers can be procured. This, however, 

 will right itself in time, for the Javanese is intelligent and takes 

 1 indlv to this Inisiness. Todav, those estates that are readv for 



UBBER Tappers in Dutch Guiana 



t:ipping operations can be com])ared with an army of soldiers 

 .irmed with up-to-date rifles but minus ammunition. This we 

 'elieve is responsible in a great measure for the small production 

 ■ f ruljber by the colony so far. 



It is estimated that only a very small portion of the possible 

 ruliber supply of Dutch Guiana has ever been gathered. If this 

 IS true, there are several thousand kilos of Para rubber to be 

 gathered from the plantations, which could be taken out each 

 year. 



AN APPEAL TO THE STOCKHOLDERS. 



M the last annual meeting of the Port Dickson-Lukut (F. M. 

 S. ) Rubber Estates, the chairman, Sir Wm. Hood Treacher, said : 



"This beautiful virgin plantation rubber, which is grown on 

 P.ritish soil and with British money, gets the price of Is. per 

 pound lower than the hard Para, Which is grown on foreign 

 soil and exploited principally by foreign money, and which con- 

 tains 25 per cent, of water and other useless matter. Some of the 

 magnates of the rubber-producing world arc putting their heads 

 together and trying to formulate some method by which we may 

 be delivered from the house of bondage of the auction-sale sys- 

 tem, and get into closer touch with the manufacturer, the actual 

 user of the rubber. I should advise all the shareholders of this 

 and other companies to support their directors who are working 

 in this direction, and to apply the whip and the spur to those who 

 hold back and trust entirely to Providence." 



