OcTonKR 1. I'm. I 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



29 



The Editor's Book Table. 



NOTES SUR L-HEVEA BR.4SIL1F.\SIS £.V COCHIAXHIXE. BY J. 

 l.an. fiaigun: Imnii.ntiie F. II. Sch..eidei. 1911. 1 i-aper. 8vu. 

 Pp. 143.] 



ASIATIC plantation rubber being now an accomplished 

 fact, the story of its introduction has passed into the 

 domain of history. Yet a good deal depends on the man- 

 ner in which such a topic is presented. In the handbook dealing 

 with the cultivation of the Hcvca Brasilieiisis in Cochin China, 

 J. Lan, Director of the Cochin China Agricultural aiid Com- 

 mercial Services, and tlius an official authority on the subject, 

 connects the past with the present by referring to the introduc- 

 tion of Hez'ca into Asia, by the help of plants raised at Kew 

 from seeds gathered on the banks of the Amazon by H. A. 

 Wickham. 



Dealing with latex, a relatively large portion of the 143 pages 

 is devoted to its analysis, extraction and coagulation, the work 

 being thus of special interest to planters able to read it in the 

 original French. Expanding the range of his subject Mons. Lan 

 then takes up the questions of climate and soil, sowing, and 

 maintenance of the plantation, leading up to the more general 

 points. 



According to figures quoted there were in Ceylon in 1909 about 

 220,000 acres in Hevea ; while at the same period the Malayan 

 Peninsula then had more than 250.000 acres. The area of Hevea 

 in Borneo and Dutch India was over 90,000 acres, while Southern 

 India and Burma represented 25,000 acres. 



The most recent statistics are those of Cochin China itself, 

 which may be summarized as follows : 



Acres bought Acres planted 



or under in Hevea 



Provinces. concession. Jan. 1, 1911. 



Baria 30,000 1,350 



Bienhoa 70,000 2,500 



Giadinh 12,500 5,000 



Hatien 6,500 450 



Tayninh 3,500 90 



Thudaumot 11,500 1,300 



Total 134,000 10,690 



There is consequently plenty of Cochin China Hevea in view. 



In the final passage of this interesting work is reproduced the 

 opinion of H. Brenier, Inspector General of the Agricultural 

 and Commercial Services of Indo-China, which gives an instruc- 

 tive view of the outlook from' a French standpoint : "In a word 

 only those enterprises will survive in the crisis of plantation 

 rubber (to be foreseen in ten years, and probably sooner), in 

 the conduct of which, under equal natural conditions, the human 

 factor will predominate, though good sense and opposition to 

 excessive capitalization. Intelligence and knowledge must be 

 applied to the direction by the judicious organization of a 

 numerous and efficient stafT, attached to the soil by comfortable 

 and hygienic conditions, as well as by suitable remuneration." 



O PLANTIO DA BORRACHA fHEVEA BRASILIENSIS) E A PRO- 

 ducgao do Caucho (Castilloa. Ulei. Warb.). (These apresentadas ao 

 Congresso Commercial. Industrial e Agricola do Amazonas, em 

 Fevereiro do 1910.) Bv J. .\. Mendes. Para, Brazil: Livraria Escolar. 

 1911. [Paper. 8vo. t'p. 56.] 



In this reprint of recent date two papers are reproduced, which 

 had been read by Seiihor J. A. Mendes at the Amazonas Com- 

 mercial, Industrial and Agricultural Congress of February, 1910. 

 In the first-named paper he deals, among other points, with his 

 visit to the United States in the preceding year, on which occasion 

 he had introduced to the American importing trade his improved 

 method of preparing Hevea and Caucho. In the statistical tables, 

 which he quotes, is shown the rise of the Amazonian production 



during 10 years from about 50.000,000 pounds of rubber and 

 5,000,000 pounds of caucho in 1859 to about 68,000,000 pounds of 

 the former and 18,000,000 of the latter in 1909. 



The second paper deals with the history of caucho production, 

 the figures of which are given in the statistical table already 

 referred to. 



DANGERS, MISTAKES AND IMPROVEMENTS CONNECTED WITH 

 the Production of Rubber in Asia. By D. Sandmann. Berlin; 1910. 

 [Paper. Svo. 41 pages.] 



While this interesting booklet only deals with actual facts as 

 late as 1909, its contents, as far as the planter is concerned, are 

 of ever present interest. After dealing with the historical and 

 statistical features of the subject, Herr Sandmann discusses the 

 Asiatic labor question as affecting rubber production, quoting the 

 opinion of an experienced planter to the effect that in some 

 years' time the amount of rubber produced will not depend upon 

 how many trees arc ready to be tapped, but upon how many 

 workmen are to be had to do the work. Hence further improve- 

 ments in the methods of planting and preparing the latex will be 

 necessary to lessen the difficulties arising from lack of laborers. 

 In pursuance of this idea the author then enlarges upon certain 

 points of importance for the further development of plantations, 

 which will appeal to planters in general. 



GEOLOGY OF THE GOLD FIELDS OF BRITISH GUIANA. BY J. B. 

 Harrison, C.M.G., M.A., F.I.C. and F.G.S.. Director of the Depart- 

 ment of Science and Agriculture and Government Geologist, George- 

 town, Demerara. Svo, 320 pp. with numerous illustrations: historical, 

 geographical and other chapters by FranU Fowler. Commissioner of 

 Lands and Mines, and G. Wilgress Anderson, F.G.S., F.R.G.S., Gov- 

 ernment Surveyor, and an appendi.x giving the laws and regulations 

 foverning the mining industry. Published by the direction of His 

 xcellency Sir Frederick M. Hogdson, K.C.M.G., Governor of British 

 Guiana. London: Dulan & Co. 



With an opening chapter on the "History of Gold Mining in 

 British Guiana,'' in which statistics showing the output of the 

 precious metal are presented, the work proceeds to give an ac- 

 count of the general physical and topographical features of the 

 colony and the petrography of its geological formations, illustra- 

 tions made from photographs showing the nature and wild beauty 

 of the colony scenery. The auriferous and diamantiferous de- 

 posits, their occurrence, making and output, are considered at 

 length, the concluding chapters being devoted to information of 

 a practical character, for those engaging in mining operations in 

 the colony. A carefully compiled index completes the volume, 

 w^hich constitutes a valuable and instructive addition to the liter- 

 ature descriptive of British Guiana and its resources. 



INTERNATIONAL RUBBER EXHIBITION (LONDON, 1911) CEYLON 

 Handbook. By R. H. Lock, M.A.. Sc.D.. Assistant Director Royal 

 Botanical Gardens. Peradeniya, and C. O. Macadam. Illustrated. With 

 a number of photographic views. [Octavo. 32 pages: stiff paper covers.] 



Ceylon is an exceedingly interesting country, viewed from a 

 rubber standpoint ; not only because of the magnitude of the 

 industry of rubber planting in the island, but particularly because 

 the first rubber trees planted in the East were planted in Ceylon. 

 This little pamphlet, which was intended primarily for the Lon- 

 don Exhibition, is full of useful information. It describes the 

 climate, topography and agricultural products, as well as the 

 characteristics of the various races that constitute its inhabitants. 



The first rubber trees were planted in Ceylon in 1876 from 

 the seeds secured in the Amazon country by Mr. Wickham. One 

 of those original trees yielded 1(50 pound-s of dry rubber in the 

 two years 1909 and 1910. In 1900 only 1,750 acres had been 

 planted to rubber — in the spring of the present year this number 

 had increased to 238,822. This little book pictures a very en- 

 couraging outlook for rubber planting in Ceylon. 



The accepted authority on South American rubber — "The 

 Rubber Country of the Amazon," by Henry C. Pearson. 



