May i, igio.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 





Not that the commissioner and his associates are not on the alert 

 for any rubber producer that may be of use. Indeed, their quiet 

 alertness was fully proved when the "Ekanda" first came in brief 

 prominence. They secured some of the tubers, set them out, 

 proved them useless, and turned to other work before the rest of 

 the world was through with the preliminary discussion as to their 

 probable value. Sugar is the great staple, and often produced 

 in the old fashioned way by hand labor in planting and gathering, 

 and is often extracted by the wasteful windmill. 



Something like 500 tons of Manjack or glance pitch is mined 

 in Barbados. This form of asphalt is very solid and pure and 

 is used in insulation quite largely. None of the small deposits 

 that I saw were being worked, and the industry did not seem 

 to be of great importance. 



Of greater interest to the rubber trade than sugar and molasses 

 is the sea island cotton on the island. The entomologist was sur- 

 prised to learn that cotton was as vital almost to the rubber 

 manufacturer as was rubber. It took but a few words descriptive 

 of the component parts of automobile tires, belting, hose, and 

 the like, to gain his most alert attention, and he brought out a 

 wealth of material on cotton in Barbados and the other islands 

 thnt I greedily absorbed. 



By the way. Barbados figures in the cotton trade possibly to a 

 greater extent than some of my readers may be aware of. While 

 cotton was found native in the present area of the United States, 

 there is no record of that variety ever having been put under 

 cultivation. The cotton varieties now grown in our country came 

 from the West Indies. Just where is not certain, and is not of 

 importance, but it may be mentioned that the cotton known as 

 "sea island" is termed by the botanists Gossypium Bqrbadense, the 

 latter word indicating, in Latin, that its origin was in Barbados. 



For a long time, for reasons which it is unnecessary to con- 

 sider here, the West Indian planters seemed not to be interested 

 in cotton, but now, under the urgency of the British imperial 

 government that every colony shall be self supporting, if not more 

 so, they are planting cotton and all sorts of other things down 

 here, and especially in Barbados. The amount of cotton pro- 

 duced here is not large as yet, but considering the enterprise of 

 the planters as a class, and the encouragement of planting inter- 

 ests by the governmental authorities, it seems reasonable to ex- 

 pect an important development from the small beginnings which 

 I am able to record here. The exports of cotton from Barbados 

 have been : 



CODRINGTON COLLEGE, BARBADOS. 



Year S_'a Island. Total 



1903-04 pounds not state 1 43,392 



1904-05 77,' -4 125,178 



1905-06 121,174 1.58,150 



1906-07 225,5,32 25.3,036 



1907 -oS ; . , 33 427,819 



1908-09 -;32,cyi 459.303 



As a final touch to the subject of cotton, came my visit to the 

 Central Cotton Ginning Fa<.tiry, located at B:i Igcto.vn. Here 

 a very careful Scott somewh t reluctantly t 1 < u- ever the 

 factory. That is, he was doubtful at first, but alter :: lit warmed 

 up and showed everything" with enthusiasm. The work of gin- 

 ning, cleaning the seed, baling the lint, crushing the seed, ex- 

 pressing and clarifying the oil, and grinding the cake, are well 



Boat Landing in the Islands, Near Para. 



Shore View, Islands, Near Para. 



