September 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



653 



THE ORIENT. 



1 he section more specially devoted to the Orient deals in the 

 lirst place with Ceylon, the exports from which source were 

 10,686 tons in 1913, and are estimated at 15.000 for 1914; while 

 the opinion is expressed that the additional large areas then 

 comir.g into bearing will bring the total for 1915 to over 25,000 

 tons. With steady increases during the three following years, 

 the Ceylon production for 1919 is expected to be 45,000 tons, with 

 prospects of further development. The area now planted is shown 

 as 234,000 acres, which will be slightly increased during the 

 next live years, reaching 250.000 acres in 1919. 



in the Malayan peninsula an area of 685,000 acres was under 

 rubber in 1913, which produced 35,352 tons. With a view to 

 further planting, 260,000 acres suitable for rubber cultivation 

 have been alienated under permanent title. It is anticipated that 

 a large portion of this land will be planted within the next 

 few years. A numlier of useful calculations show the practical 

 side of cost estimates, while the labor question is fully dealt with. 



In Sumatra tlicrc was only a limited development of the eastern 

 section until 1890. Access to the inland districts was forbidden 

 until 1899, when tobacco and coffee planting were established 

 in the province of Deli ; since which time rubber and Robusta 

 coffee have largely replaced Liberian cofifcc. Owing to the 

 slowness of Dutch government procedure in the matter of new 

 enterprises, the rubber planting industry has been in Sumatra 

 largely confined to the districts already possessing transport 

 facilities in connection with tobacco and coffee. 



Estimates vary as to the area under rubber in Sumatra, the 

 most reliable showing 167,000 acres (with 16,733,470 trees) for 

 1911, 227,000 acres for 1912 and 237,000 acres for 1913. The 

 tendency during the last five years has been to open larger plan- 

 tations than formerly ; a notable case being that of the Holland- 

 American Co. at Asahan, where the 35.000 acres planted during 

 the last four years are, according to prospective arrangements, to 

 be increased to 50,000. Millions of acres available for the 

 extension of rubber planting remain untouched in Sumatra. One 

 point worth notice is the opportunity afforded of planting rubber 

 during the seven years of rest given tobacco lands between crops. 

 The trees develop rapidly in both high and low lands, while the 

 rainfall is variable. 



The Sumatra rubber industry originated from the severe de- 

 pression in Brazilian coffee. Planters were encouraged by the 

 results attained in the Malay Peninsula to interplant rubber with 

 coffee. A certain number of tobacco growers also co-operated. 

 An estimate of cost up to the time of sale in Europe is 12.95rf. 

 sterling (26.25 cents). This compares with the price of pro- 

 spectively 30.41 cents from Malaya. Estimates of future' pro- 

 duction range from 8.000 tons in 1914 to 44.000 tons in 1919, 

 with only a slightly increased planted area. 



In Java, the ruiiher estates are largely in the southern portion 

 of the island, that section being for climatic reasons preferred to 

 the northern district. The temperature is very even, with a 

 good average rainfall in most districts. Statistics for 1913 show 

 240,000 acres under rubber, being an increase of 82.000 acres 

 since 1911. 



There is a great scarcity in Java of experienced managers 

 and superintendents for rubber estates, particularly of those 

 acquainted with the Dutch, Malay, Sundanese and Javanese 

 languages. Exports of rubber from Java have been: 1911. 99 

 tons: 1912, 530 tons; 1913, 1.760 tons. Estimates for 1914 to 

 1921 range from 10.650 to 46,000 tons. 



Such are a few of the salient points of interest in Mr. ,\kers' 

 book, largely drawn from personal experience and treating in 

 very readable form the question of "East vs. West." as affecting 

 rublier cultivation. 



THE DISEASES OF TROPICAL PLANTS. By Melville Thurston Cook, 

 Ph. 1)., Professor of Plant Pathology, Rutgers College, formerly chief 

 of the Deparimcnt of Pl.int Palhologj- for the Republic of Cuba. Mc- 

 Millans. [8vo., 317 pp.) 



This volume is an excellent illustration of what practical 

 books should be. It is written modestly but with a sim- 

 plicity and lucidity which come only from a writer who knows 

 the subject he undertakes to treat. Without tiresome details he 

 presents the groundwork of the study, showing the nature and 

 functions of the living jilant and the way in which those func- 

 tions may be interrupted and the plant destroyed. The chief 

 features of the various classes of organisms producing plant 

 diseases are then described and the means of fighting them are 

 considered. Eor instance, bacteria, inconceivably minute and 

 circulating through the juices of a plant, are not disturbed by 

 sprays which would destroy surface-growing fungi. It is an old 

 proverb that to be able to see a danger robs it of half its ter- 

 rors. No planter can deal with a disease when ignorant of the 

 nature of that disease. The day of empirical procedure is past 

 in agriculture as well as in medicine, and the planter who 

 attempts to run his business without a knowledge of plant path- 

 ology is much like an engineer who runs a train without a knowl- 

 edge of signals. 



.After giving this groundwork, Professor Cook takes up in turn 

 tlie specific diseases of a great number of tropical plants, in- 

 cluding all the staples. He considers the cankers produced by 

 W'clria, the most important of rubber enemies. This is a fungus 

 which acts in a way exactly similar to the chestnut blight of the 

 eastern United Stales. That is, it finds entrance to a wound in 

 tlie plant and. having established a foothold, attacks the cambium 

 layer. This, of course, is fatal. A feature upon which too much 

 stress cannot be laid, is that it is also saprophytic, multiplying 

 in the dead tissues of the plant it has destroyed. The only way 

 it can be controlled is to cut and burn every particle of the 

 diseased portions. Certain cankers are common to both coffee 

 and rublier. so it is recommended that rubber plantations be 

 not directly established on worn-out coffee lands. The Fames 

 seitiitosliis is likewise a fungus disease, attacking the roots of 

 Hex'ea. In this case it is necessary to burn the whole tree, roots 

 and all, while the disease spreads, mushroom like, through the 

 soil. The author's general conclusions are that strict quarantine 

 should be maintained, that planters should be constantly on their 

 guard for infection and take prompt and drastic action when it 

 is discovered. He also recommends that the chances of disease 

 be localized by cutting Hn'ca plantations into small blocks, 

 divided by plantings of Ficus clastica. The illustrations are well 

 printed and informing and the whole work is interesting and 

 well written. 



The accepted authority on South .\mcrican ruliber — "The 

 Rubber Courtrv ot the .\mazon." hv Henrv C. Pearson. 



RUniiER: ITS SOURCES, CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION. 

 (The Imperial Institute Series of Handbooks.) By Harold Brown, 

 19M; John .Murray. [Cloth. 8vo., 2-45 pages, 12 plates. Price 6j.] 



Of the making of books there is no end, and of handbooks 

 this is no exception. This latest handbook of rubber carries 

 out the idea that is expected of a work of its class — a vast 

 amount of succinctly stated facts packed within reasonable 

 space and brought down to date so far as possible. It is stated 

 to be a work for both the student and the practical rubber man, 

 and both will find in it much of interest. For the former the 

 story will seem to be told with a completeness which leaves 

 nothing to be desired ; while the latter, knowing how impossible 

 is the complete treatment of so vast a subject within so few' 

 pages, will recognize, at the same time, that the important facts 

 regarding the raw material have been given w-ith a great deal 

 of regard for just proportion. As might be expected of a work 

 published under the auspices of a patriotic British society, the 

 rul)ber-producing countries outside of the British colonies re- 

 ceive little mention beyond the statistical tables, liut these are 



