292 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



January 1, 1921 



estates together have a planted area of 88,124 hectares (hectare 

 equals 2>1 acres), of which 59,613 acres are producing; the 

 outside possessions gave figures of 351 rubber estates with a 

 planted area of 174,712 hectares, of which 109,017 hectares are 

 producing. This shows a total of 814 estates having a planted 

 area of 262,836 hectares of which 168,630 hectares arc producing. 



THE NZTEERLAND GOVERNMENT RUBBER PLANTATION 



The Forestry Service of the Netherland East Indies has for 

 a number of years been occupied with the cultivation of rubber- 

 producing plants. In 1886 the first experiments were made with 

 Ficus clastica, which is indigenous to Java, while in 1900 the 

 cultivation of Hevea brasiliensis was begun. Castilloa, Manihot 

 and Funtitmia also received the necessary attention, but the culti- 

 vation of these was not continued after it was discovered that it 

 could lead to no success in Java. 



In 1910 the plantings of Ficus and Hevea had increased to 

 such an extent that it was thought desirable to make separate 

 rubber plantations, and in 1919 tliese were established apart from 

 the Forestry Service. From the beginning only Hevea was 

 planted, for the reason that Ficus, through its small produc- 

 tion, had not turned out to be profitable. The planting of the 

 latter, therefore, was gradually diminished. The industry now 

 consists of 14 rubber plantations. 



GUTTA PERCHA 



Exports of gutta percha from Padang, Sumatra, during July, 

 1920, were 292 piculs (picul = 133 1/3 pounds). For the seven 

 months from January 1 to July 31, 1920, the amount was 5,903 

 piculs, against 2,517 piculs for the corresponding period during 

 1919. 



JAVA STATISTICS 

 Imports or Automobile Tires I.sto Java 



August 



From Great Britain number 



France 



Italy 



United States 



Singapore 



Japan 



Australia 1 



Flsewhere i 



1919 



140 



1,382 



"siasi 



1,358 

 8,967 



1,179 



1920 

 916 



3,665 

 440 



7,212 

 474 



4.835 



1,749 



Eight Months 

 Ended August 



1919 1920 



4.270 7.246 



33,216 16,560 



1,991 8,077 



35,952 47.710 



4,738 5.867 



64.307 38.594 



5.065 9,799 



Totals 18,277 



19,291 149,539 



133,853 



Imports of Bicycle Tires Into J.ua 



August 



^ 



Eight Months 

 Ended August 



1919 



From Holland number 



Great Britain 



United States 



Singapore 350 



Japan 20,521 



Elsewhere 



Totals 20.871 



1920 



4,182 

 590 



1.002 



410 



33,946 



3,000 



1919 



948 



441 



3,276 



1.625 



85.877 



14.210 



1920 



15.966 



2.287 



4,074 



11,726 



340.108 



9,824 



43.130 106,377 383,985 



BRITISH NORTH BORNEO 



The British North Borneo (Chartered) Co. has increased its 

 area under cultivation from 40,986 acres to 47,739 acres and the 

 amount of rubber exported was 3,(XX),(XX) pounds. 



In June, 1920, 579,009 pounds of plantation rubber were shipped 

 from North Borneo. Exports for the first half of 1920 were : 

 4,436,119 pounds, as against 4,158,979 pounds in the first half 

 of 1919. 



The Bolivian Rubber Industry' 



THE RUBBER INDUSTRY of Bolivia, which is one of the most 

 important in the republic, is centered in the Amazonian 

 region and dates from the eighties, although the first rubber 

 was taken out along the Mamore in 1864. The years 1909 to 1911 

 were golden years for the Bolivian rubber industry, as during 

 that period rubber reached the maximum price of $2.92 per pound. 

 In 1917 the East Indian plantations began bearing and Amazonian 

 rubber took second place in the world's markets, as far as quantity 

 was concerned. 



CHIEF RUBBEJl PRODUCING DISTRICTS 



Rubber is found in the four northernmost departments of 

 Bolivia — El Beni, La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, and also 

 in the territory of Colonias, which has become the most pro- 

 ductive rubber region in the republic. Rubber trees are found 

 in large numbers along all its rivers, including the Acre, Abuna, 

 Orton, Madre de Dios, and their tributaries. The Beni district 

 has steadily declined as its stock of trees has been worked out. 

 Most of the gomales or rubber tree areas of this district are along 

 the lower reaches of the Beni and the Mamore, in the Province 

 of Vaca Diez ; there are also important fields in the Itenez basin. 

 San Ignacio and Concepcion are the chief centers of the rubber 

 business of Santa Cruz, the producing districts lying mostly be- 

 tween the San Miguel and the Paraguay rivers. The province 

 of Caupolican is the center of the rubber industry of La Paz, 

 while the comparatively unimportant gomales of Cochabamba are 

 situated in the basins of the Chapare and the D'Orbigny. 



RUBBER PRODUCING TREES 

 Para fine, the highest grade of Amazonian rubber, is derived 



'Commerce Reports, October 25. 1920. 



from Hevea brasiliensis, a tree that grows from 90 to 120 feet in 

 height, with a diameter that often exceeds three feet at the base. 

 The caucho tree, Castilloa ulei, yields the inferior grade of 

 rubber sold as caucho, while the rubber known as Ceara is ex- 

 tracted from the manigoba tree, Manihot glasiovii. The caucho 

 tree is generally cut down in order to obtain the latex, while the 

 other varieties yield to tapping. Wild rubber trees do not exist in 

 groves but are scattered through the forest. The areas along 

 the rivers where they occur seldom extend inland more than 10 

 or 12 miles. 



LEGISLATION 



Bolivian legislation fixed the unit of rubber concessions as the 

 estrada of 150 trees, with a limit of 500 estradas to individuals 

 and 1,(X)0 to legally constituted companies. This gave rise to 

 such great abuses because of the scattered location of the trees 

 that in 1905 a law was passed declaring the hectare (2.471 acres) 

 the unit of land measurement, 75 hectares being allowed for each 

 estrada by a law passed in 1917. Practically all the rubber- 

 bearing lands of Bolivia are now included in grants to which the 

 titles have been perfected or which are the subject of negotiations 

 with the government. However, many holders of rubber lands 

 have not complied with the requirements of the laws, conse- 

 quently the government anticipates that on December 31, 1920 

 (the limit allowed by the law of October 31, 1917), it will have 

 been required to reassume large tracts of land now occupied by 

 the rubber companies. 



IMPORTANT RUBBER INTERESTS 



According to the report of Trade Commissioner Schurz, the 

 most important of the rubber interests operating in Bolivia in- 

 clude the following: 



