Jl-LY I, ICJIO.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



337 



Published on the 1st of each Month by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING GO., 



No. 395 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 

 CABLE ADDRESS: IRWORLD, NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, 



EDITOR. 



HAWTHORNE HILL, 

 ASSOCIATE. 



Vol. 42. 



JULY 1, 1910. 



No. 4. 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE READING MATTER. 



AS TO RUBBER OVER PRODUCTION. 



QUESTIONS continue to be asked as to the pros- 

 pects of the over production of india-rubber, either 

 in the near future or later. The question is a most 

 natural one, and calculated to interest the owners of 

 existing plantations and seringaes as well as persons who 

 are being invited to invest in new rubber enterprises. . 

 The subject divides itself under two headings — pro- 

 duction and demand. It would be unreasonable to sup- 

 pose that the production of rubber will not be increased 

 very greatly during the next few years. The normal 

 condition of the rubber business in the Amazon valley 

 has been a yearly increase, steadily maintained even if 

 not on a large scale. Each year sees the extension of 

 rubber gathering to wider fields, and wherever new 

 estradas are opened care is taken to conserve the trees. 

 Undoubtedly large areas yet unworked will, under im- 

 proved conditions, become more accessible than at pres- 

 ent, while the number of scringueiros grows rather than 

 decreases. 



As pointed out in these pages many times, there are 

 other regions where the production of forest rubber is 

 on the decline, but there are yet untouched rubber re- 

 [ sources in various parts of Africa and perhaps else- 

 where, so that on the whole it seems that the world will 



yet see a larger production of forest rubber in a single 

 year before it sees less. 



The question of over production, however, is asked *-"**> 

 more frequently in relation to the product of rubber plan- 

 tations. Considering how rapid has been the develop-' 

 ment of plantation yields, it would be a simple matter to 

 figure that with the same percentage of yearly increase 

 the world's production of rubber would soon become 

 doubled. Or, if all the plantations formed to date should 

 become as productive as the best now matured, so much 

 rubber might become available as to reduce prices below 

 a profitable level. 



Much will depend, however, upon the coming demand 

 for rubber. From the beginning of the industry the mar- 

 ket for rubber goods has grown constantly at a rate 

 which has forced a larger production of the raw material, 

 and presented the unusual situation of a raw product 

 going up in price while being produced all the while on a 

 larger scale. At no time have high prices of rubber les- 

 sened its consumption except temporarily, and it is pos- 

 sible that just as much rubber has been consumed in the 

 world, from first to last, as if the cost had been only one- 

 half or one-fourth of the prices actually paid for it. But 

 the present price level cannot be looked forward to as 

 permanent, since both plantation and forest rubber can 

 be produced profitably, under favorable conditions, at 

 much less than the present selling prices. 



There are yet many people in the world who are not 

 yet users of rubber in any shape, and many more people 

 who are likely to add to the number of their present uses 

 of rubber, so that the total consumption of this material 

 seems likely to continue for a long time to come, and at 

 a rate which seems to make unnecessary, at least for the 

 present, any general fear of rubber over production. 



One other point relates to the character of many of the 

 more recent flotations of rubber plantation companies. 

 It must be admitted that for all the capital stated to have 

 been invested in the planting interest since the beginning 

 of the year to yield profits would involve an enormous 

 over production of rubber. But this we do not look for. 



In the first place, the more successful of the old com- 

 panies have been exceptionally well located, managed 

 with skill and sound judgment, and conservatively capi- 

 talized. Xow if a company less fortunate in the matter 

 of location, management, and so on, should not yield 

 satisfactory results, it is easy to see how it may be diffi- 

 cult after awhile to obtain needed financial support, and 

 it is possible that some plantations once begun may be 

 abandoned. It is more than probable that not a few pro- 

 jected plantations never will be started. It is to be 

 pointed out furthermore that — 



Not all of the companies floated in London or else- 

 where in the name of rubber are for the purpose of creat- 

 ing or operating plantations. In a number of cases two 

 companies are floated in respect of a single estate : ( 1 ) 

 a syndicate to act as a "vendor company," after which it 

 may cease to exist, and (2) the final or purchasing com- 



