626 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1914. 



NOTES FROM BRITISH GUIANA. 



By Our Rcj-iiliir Correspondent. 

 A LTHOUGH the plantation rubber industry in this colony has 

 ^* not up to the preesnt made very great progress, its possibili- 

 ties are undoubted. From time to time the Government puli- 

 lishes exhaustive reports with a view to demonstrating how great 

 those possibilities are. Such a report by the Assistant Director 

 of Science and Agriculture, Mr. C. K. Bancroft, has just been 

 published. Its value lies in the fact that it brings all the 

 statistics up to date, that it is exceedingly optimistic, and tliat 

 Mr. Bancroft, by reason of his long experience in the Federated 

 Malay States, can speak with considerable authority. Mr. Han- 

 croft arrives at the following conclusion : 



"There are two primary factors which operate in the cultiva- 

 tion of Para rubber, viz., the cost of bringing areas to maturity 

 and the future cost of production per pound of rubber. 



"That the former can be effected in this country, so as to com- 

 pare not unfavorably with other parts of the world, there appear 

 to be sufficient data in the above report to indicate. With 

 respect to the latter there are no actual data available from which 

 to judge. Figures at my di.sposal indicate that the cost of 

 production will not be heavy. The low cost of supervision, as 

 compared with other rubber growing countries, and the health 

 of the labor force, are factors which are in favor of a reason- 

 able cost of production of rubber in the colony." 



Mr. Bancroft does not think that the cost can ever be as low 

 as 16 cents per pound, "the cost estimated for some of the 

 better plantations in Sumatra, and the lowest which has to my 

 knowledge yet been given in any part of the world," but he 

 thir.ks that with a market price for the raw product of 48 cents 

 per pound. Para rubber can be cultivated at a fair profit in 

 this colony under proper supervision. 

 HOW THE KXTKNSION OF THE INDUSTRY M.'W BE EFFECTED. 



Mr. Bancroft goes on to say that the extension of the rubber 

 industry in this colony may be effected in two ways: 1. by the 

 utilization of local capital; 2, by the introduction of foreign 

 capital. 



"The former is more likely to operate in the direction of the 

 conversion of previously existing cultivations into rubber culti- 

 vations. The latter may be utilized in this way or may be 

 directed towards an extension of the area under cultivation 

 in the colony, viz.. the conversion of original forest into rubber 

 cultivations. The conversion of existing areas of sugar into 

 rubber has been extensively employed in North Perak. and 

 Province Wellesley (Malay Peninsula) is receiving attention by 

 one private tirm. The employment of foreign capital to convert 

 a previously existing cultivation of cofifee. cacao and fruit trees 

 into a rubber cultivation is in operation on one property. These 

 enterprises must be watched with considerable interest." 

 COST OF EST.XBLISHING AN ESTATE. 



Mr. Bancroft estimates the cost of opening up from forest and 

 bringing to maturity one acre of rubber in an estate of 500 

 acres in the interior of the colony, at $151, as follows: Appli- 

 cation and registration fees and survey, 35 cents : underbrush- 

 ing. felling, etc.. $12: burning, restacking and burning, clearing. 

 $15; lining and holing, $7; planting, $2; cost of plants, $2.50; 

 roads, $5; weeding. 1st year, $20, 2nd year, $12, 3rd year, $10, 

 4th year. $7, 5th year, $6 ; superintendence, $35 ; building man- 

 ager's and two overseers' quarters, ranges for coolies, $15; 

 contingencies, $2.15 — a total of $151 exclusive of factories, or 

 $175 inclusive of factories. On the low lying lands an item 

 of $15 per acre has to be included for drainage. 

 RAINFALL ST.\TISTICS. 



The mean annual rainfall taken at 24 recording stations 

 near the coast, during the year was 84.4 inches for the County of 

 Berbice, 102.08 inches for the County of Esscquibo, and 98.37 

 inches for the County of Demerara. The mean annual rainfall 



for 18 districts away from the coast for 1911 was 108.93 inches. 

 The distribution of the rainfall in this colony is such as is 

 favorable to the growth of the plant, more particularly in the 

 interior of the colony and on the lands situated some distance 

 from the coast. 



SOIL CONDITIONS. 



The interior lands are thus better served by rainfall than the 

 coast lands. So are they from the point of view of soil 

 conditions. 



The different soils on which the plant is being cultivated 

 may be roughly divided as follows : 1 — The heavy clay soils of 

 the front lands. 2 — Those further back and on the banks of 

 the rivers, of a looser texture and usually having surface 

 layers rich in organic matter, overlying a clay subsoil. 3 — The 

 orange to red laterite soils away from the coast, comprising 

 undulating lands and possessing layers of various depths. 



British Guiana lies within what may be termed the rubber 

 zone and is adjacent to the home of the Para rubber plant. 

 By selection, areas can be obtained which comprise soils re- 

 sembling closely those on which tlie plant is cultivated in the 

 East. 



COST OF L.VBOR. 



Mr. Bancroft points out that the cost of labor is higher 

 than in the East, but he thinks it is more efficient. The labor 

 is both negro and East Indian, and the wages vary from 32 

 cents to 45 cents a day for men, from 20 to 25 cents for women, 

 and from 12 to 16 cents a day for children, but the usual 

 working day in this colony is 10 hours, as compared with 9 

 (8 being the usual time of employment) in the Malay Peninsula. 

 "A sufficient supply for the maintenance and extension of the 

 areas at present under cultivation appears to exist. It is 

 doubtful, however, that a large extension of the present industry 

 could be undertaken without drawing labor from other industries 

 or from foreign countries." 



T.\PPING RESULTS. 



Experimental tapping has been conducted at various stations 

 which cover a large area of the colony and comprise all classes 

 of soils on which the plant is being cultivated in the colony, 

 except the heavy front clay lands. "At Onderneeming a yield 

 of about 4 pounds of dry rubber per tree is being maintained ; 

 at the Hills Estate the average for a tree in nine months is 

 1 pound, 12^ ounces. Three hundred and seventy-nine trees 

 are now being tapped daily and the cost of collection of 111 

 pounds, 8 ounces, 14 drams of rubber during the month of 

 January is given at about 20 cents per pound of dry rubber. 

 Two men were employed, where under proper estate conditions 

 one would be sufficient, and if women and children were em- 

 ployed the cost would be reduced. The cost of transport in 

 the colony is low, while it lies adjacent to the principal market 

 for Para rubber, the United States, and direct shipment could 

 be effected to that country. The freight charges for rubber to 

 New York amount to only $4 a ton." 

 CONCLUSION. 



Mr. Bancroft's final conclusion is that "it is probable that 

 the establishment of rubber plantations by manufacturers of 

 prepared rubber goods will at some future time be taken up 

 on a larger scale than has hitherto been done, more particularly 

 if the quality of plantation rubber can be made to approximate 

 more closely to that of the wild Brazilian product. The prox- 

 imity of British Guiana to the principal market for rubber, the 

 L'nitcd States, should offer inducement to the introduction of 

 capital from that country for development of rubber in this 

 colony. For this reason the only existing enterprise of this 

 nature in the colony must be regarded with interest." 



The accepted authority on South .American rubber — "The 

 Rubber Country of the Amazon," by Henry C. Pearson. 



