December 1. 1911.) 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



139 



The Editor's Book Table. 



YEAR-BOOK OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 

 and Trade in Berlin, Inc. 1911. [Paper, 8vo, 68 pp.] 



THE annual report of the above association, in addition to 

 the proceedings at the eighth annual meeting, contains a 

 number of valuable statistical tables, showing the total 

 foreign trade of the United States and German)', as well as a 

 comparison of the trading between the two countries. The table 

 of declared exports from the various consular districts to the 

 United States is of interest as showing the exact sources of im- 

 portations. It would appear that nearly one-half of the 1910 

 exports were from Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Leipzig and 

 Chemnitz. .A.nother table of special interest shows a gain of 

 50 per cent, in German exports to the Philippines in 1910, as 

 compared with 1909. During the same period German trade with 

 Porto Rico had nearly doubled, and that with Hawaii more than 

 trebled. 



RUBBER FACTS AND FIGURES— NO. 7. BY M. S. PARRY AND 

 E. M. Muravur. ' London: Fredk. C. Mathieson & Sons, second edi- 

 tion, April 1911. [Cardboard. 8vo. Pp. 202. Price, 2s. 6d., net.] 



In view of the important changes taking place from time to 

 time in the position of old rubber companies, and of the great 

 increase in new flotations, the frequent issue of fresh editions 

 has become a necessary supplement to any work (whether period- 

 ical or otherwise) dealing with rubber-planting companies. 



The general idea of this handy volume is to facilitate com- 

 parison of the statistical returns of various companies by a 

 classification, as nearly uniform as possible. Recognizing the 

 preponderating importance of the Malayan States as a source of 

 rubber, and the absence of a common basis in the cases of Java 

 and Ceylon, the authors of the booklet institute a comparison 

 between Malayan, Sumatra and Borneo companies. The pros- 

 pective outputs and dividends up to 1918 express those points 

 with mathematical accuracy, on the basis (it is to be inferred) of 

 plantings now made or in immediate contemplation. As a guide 

 to the prospective investor and to any one interested in the 

 supply of rubber, this handbook justifies its title by the clearness 

 and copiousness of its information. 



LO STATO DEL PARA (BRASILE) A TORINO, 1911. TURIN. THE 

 Turin International Exposition. [Paper. 8vo. Pp. 106.] 



Combining records of the various features illustrated by the 

 exhibits of the State of Para at the Turin International Exposi- 

 tion, this booklet on the subject (issued by the Exposition authori- 

 ties), in Italian, is interesting as well as instructive. Starting 

 with an extract of the State budget, a brief but comprehensive 

 treatise on the "Extractive Industries of the State of Para" is 

 lucidly illustrated by a graphic chart, showing the comparative 

 importance of the yield of rubber as well as of other products 

 of the State ; rubber being by far the largest of them. Another 

 chart illustrates the relative importance of the rubber shipments 

 from that State to different markets ; England and America 

 having been practically running a neck and neck race for some 

 years, the falling off in shipments to America in 1910 having let 

 England get ahead. A number of interesting statistical tables 

 lead up to a paper on the cultivation of Hevea Brasilicnsis, with 

 table showing the distribution of the existing plantations amongst 

 the various municipalities of the State. 



A MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE SILK CULTLIRE. BY CHARLES S. 

 Banks, Bureau of Science. Manila, 1911. [Paper. 8vo. Pp. 54 + 

 plates.] 



While the production of rubber in the Philippines has been a 



subject of close study by local economists and botanists, the 



question of silk culture has likewise received attention from sci- 



entists, and notably from the Manila Bureau of Science, with 

 which Mr. Banks is officially connected. Silk and rubber, ulti- 

 mately combined, as they are, in certain manufactures, have 

 common interests at an earlier stage; the growth of mulberry 

 and rubber trees being alike influenced by conditions of soil, 

 climate and temperature. Hence, as an illustration of what sci- 

 entific research may ultimately do for Philippine rubber cultiva- 

 tion, the "Manual of Philippine Silk Culture" has more than a 

 sectional interest. 



In successive divisions Mr. Banks treats the historical and 

 botanical aspects of the subject, as well as the life history of 

 the silkworm. Other heads include : Wild silkworms ; enemies 

 and diseases of same ; the silk house, the mulberry and the de- 

 tails of propagation. In conclusion, various fabrics suitable for 

 Philippine production are touched upon. The work amply car- 

 ries out its avowed object, that of collating data for the guid- 

 ance of those contemplating the production of silk on a com- 

 mercial basis. 



SEARCHLIGHTS ON SOME AMERICAN INDUSTMES. BY JAMES 

 Cooke Mills. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1911. [Cloth, pages 299. 

 Price, $1.50.] 



Mr. Mills has written a book full of information on a variety 

 of industrial topics. His chapters are devoted to lumber, salt, 

 sugar, paper, rubber, leather and one or two other subjects. He 

 has not attempted to discuss each subject exhaustively, but rather 

 to present the essential facts regarding each of these industries 

 in language which the laymen can understand. 



To rubber he has devoted thirty-four pages, and must be com- 

 plimented on the amount of information which he has embodied 

 in that space. He has done his work carefully and has evidently 

 resorted to many sources of information. If he makes an occa- 

 sional slip, as when he states that every ton of rubber exported 

 from the Amazon valley costs a human life (which would 

 amount to about 40.000 lives each year), this does not seriously 

 impair the general accuracy of the chapter. 



He treats of rubber historically, botanically and chemically. 

 He devotes a number of pages to the enumeration of the various 

 kinds of rubber and the localities in which they grow, and speaks 

 of the great extent to which the planting of rubber has now 

 been carried, estimating that in the year 1912 9,000,000 rubber 

 trees will come into bearing in the Middle East, an estimate which 

 is undoubtedly conservative. 



He goes quite exhaustively into the subject of coagulating 

 rubber, describing the different methods found necessary for the 

 different kinds, from the process of curing in the smoke of palm 

 nuts, used along the Amazon valley, to the methods employed in 

 the coagulating of Castiltoa latex and other varieties. His 

 description of the guayule industry is interesting and in the main 

 accurate. Just how long it will require to get a profitable product 

 from the planted guayule shrub is a mooted question. He places 

 the period at about fifteen years. 



The subject of reclaimed rubber is gone into quite fully, his 

 estimate of the amount of rubber reclaimed in a year in this 

 country being placed at 50,000,000 pounds. 



OFFICIAL REPORT OF STATE OF PARA FOR 1910, 



In his lengthy and detailed report (just to hand) Dr. Jose 

 Antonio Luiz Coelho, Secretary of the Treasury, has compiled 

 full statistical information as to the production, imports and ex- 

 ports of the State of Para. Special prominence is given to the 

 subject of rubber. This work, replete with facts, both of general 

 and special interest, will be fully reviewed in the next issue of 

 The India Rubber World. 



