446 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



[September i, 1910. 



Feeders of the Bordeaux Rubber Market. 



THE importation of rubber at Bordeaux during 1909 showed 

 a marked increase over the year preceding, and was con- 

 siderably more than in 1906, the year with the largest 

 figures in the past. The imports for eleven years have been : 



1899 kilos 175,580 1905 kilos 1,330,480 



1900 239.532 1906 1,716,004 



1901 235,380 1907 1,516,420 



1902 678,000 1908 1,078,320 



1903 1,113,000 1909 i,9 8 7.565 



1904 1,182,703 



A review of the Bordeaux market, by the brokers Felix 

 Faucher and E. Chaumel, embodies the following comments on 

 the sources of the rubber imported there, and the conditions of 

 its production : 



"Importations during the year 1909 amounted to 1,987,565 

 kilograms, against 1,078,320 kilograms in 1008. The reason for 

 this increase is to be found in two very distinct factors: (1) 

 the advance in prices for rubber in Europe, which made it 

 possible to pay the natives more remunerative wages, which 

 acted as an inducement for them to gather this product in 

 large quantities; and (2) the period of rest allowed the rubber 

 producing lianes (vines) during the year 1908, when the gather- 

 ing of the crop was practically abandoned. This rest appears to 

 have resulted in an increased production of late in 1909. 



"This latter fact leads us to the conclusion that the rigid 

 enforcement of the prohibition of rubber gathering during the 

 winter season in all the centers of production in our French 

 West African colonies would undoubtedly have the two fold 

 result of increasing the production, while at the same time im- 

 proving the quality of the product. 



QUALITY. 



"There is still room for certain improvements in quality, for 

 we have had occasion to notice that there is considerable uneven- 

 ness in the quality of arrivals. We give below the particulars 

 we have been able to gather during the season in regard to 

 product shipped from various places of production. 



"Soudan. — Although arrivals, taken as a whole, are clean, 

 sound, and generally in good condition, we found, nevertheless, 

 fresh lots containing a soft kind of rubber, from which water 

 oozes out under the pressure of the hand, exactly as it does 

 when squeezing a sponge. 



"The lots in question came from the Kankan region, where 

 they must have been gathered toward the end of the rainy 

 season. Traders in that territory complain, moreover, that the 

 natives boil their rubber before bringing it to market, in order 

 to saturate it with an excess of water. This fraud denatures 

 the rubber and makes it liable to increased oxidation. 



"We therefore call the attention of the government to this 

 species of fraud, in order that preventive measures may be 

 taken at once and strict watch be kept over the natives, so as to 

 compel them to deliver their rubber dry and in good condition, 

 as long as it appears impossible to comply with the demand to 

 have them prepare it in thin sheets and strips. We furthermore 

 urge the traders to ship their rubber as nearly dry as possible, 

 and to take good care of it before shipment. 



"Conakry. — In the beginning of the year the rubber shipped 

 from this territory was of very poor quality, containing a less 

 amount of red rubber, but on the other hand, an enormous pro- 

 portion of earthy lumps. In consequence of the complaints made 

 by the trade, the lieutenant governor of Guinea took strenuous 

 measures in order to put an end to a state of affairs which was 

 liable seriously to injure the industrial and financial interests of 

 the colony. The result of these measures soon became apparent, 



and we very quickly had occasion to observe that there was a 

 noticeable decrease in the amount of earthy rubber. 



"Red rubber remains, nevertheless, very scarce. We attribute 

 this scarcity to the rapid advance of the railway in the direction 

 of centers of production, which makes it possible to transport 

 the rubber quickly to the shipping port. The rubber has not, 

 therefore, sufficient time to take on the beautiful red color which 

 it formerly aquired during the long journey of the caravans 

 which carried it to Conakry. 



"During July-September exports from Conakry were ver> 

 large, notwithstanding the announced prohibition of gathering 

 rubber during these three months. The quality of the rubber, in 

 fact, leaves a great deal to be desired, the rubber being whitish, 

 soft and watery. The public interests therefore demand that 

 the gathering of rubber during the rainy season be prohibited 

 strictly in Guinea. 



"We would urgently advise the exporters of Conakry rubbei 

 to separate carefully the Conakry grade from the 'Soudan 

 niggers' product, a constantly increasing amount of which is 

 coming in at the terminal point of the railway. The mixture of 

 these two grades in the exported lots is the cause of everlasting 

 difficulties and should be carefully avoided. 



"Ivory Coast. — The grades imported from this territory 

 are still of the average quality of the crops of previous years, 

 and as numerous and varied as in the past. 



"The attempt to replace the 'lumps,' 'cakes, 'twists,' and 

 'niggers' by one single method of preparation — viz., in the form 

 of translucent cakes — could not be carried out, in consequence 

 of the obstacles encountered by the government, the chief dif- 

 ficulties being the diversity between the species of rubber produc- 

 ing plants found in the Ivory Coast colony, and the low intel- 

 ligence of the gatherers. 



"According to information sent us by the lieutenant governor, 

 all possible measures have, nevertheless, been taken in order to 

 succeed as quickly and by as practical a method as possible, in 

 improving the grades of rubber produced in that territory. 



"Two schools for instructors were opened under the direction 

 of technical agents — viz., one in Assikasso, in the eastern part of 

 the colony, and one in Bouake for the western district. The 

 natives who were instructed in these schools have become 

 salaried agents and were made subject to the order of the 

 district commanders, so as to have them spread among the in- 

 habitants of the village the knowledge of the methods for the 

 satisfactory preparation of rubber, as recommended by the 

 government agents. The work of these native agents was at the 

 same time combined with that of the district postmasters, who 

 have received special instructions to make the preparation of 

 rubber a subject of their conversations with the natives, on all 

 the trips they make. 



"The carrying out of a program so systematically drawn up 

 can not fail to produce excellent results in the near future. It 

 will be much more easy, however, to obtain such results if the 

 traders, on their part, will support these efforts by adopting an 

 equitable method in making their purchases. 



PRODUCTION. 



"This important factor has been made an object of careful 

 attention. The areas planted with lianes and trees are being 

 extended everywhere in a systematic manner. There are, more- 

 over, areas in the forest region of the Ivory Coast which have 

 not as yet been worked, and the production may be still further 

 increased by a supply of Funtumia rubber, according to the in- 

 formation furnished by the lieutenant governor. 



"From observations made by Mons. A. Chevalier and Captain 

 Schiffer during their journey across the Ivory Cost, it appears 



