January 1, 1912,] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



163 



•400 pounds per acre, and an average per acre of about 120 trees. 

 The cost of production is quoted as a fraction under 26 cents 

 per pound for the estimated annual product of 400,000 pounds. 



THE FUTURE OF RUBBER. 



Mr. Figart's views on the general situation of rubber are so 

 broad and far seeing that they may with advantage be quoted 

 literally: 



"Considerable thought is being given to the question of whether 

 the future plantation rubber industry will be much affected by 

 the wild rubber supply. The present cost of marketing wild rub- 

 ber is higher than the cost of producing plantation rubber, and 

 with the large quantities of the latter coming on the market in a 

 few years' time (possibly 100.000 to 150,000 tons), there will be 

 a strong tendency in the direction of reducing the supply of wild 

 rubber which can be marketed at a profit. Realizing this, the 

 Brazilian Government is taking steps which will make possible 

 a material reduction in the cost of collecting wild rubber. How- 

 ever, it is the general opinion of manufacturers that the new uses 

 to which rubber will be devoted will absorb the visible supply, 

 and maintain prices at a figure which will allow a liberal margin 

 of profit to investors in plantation rubber. This fact is evidenced 

 by the investment in the Orient of millions of dollars in this in- 

 dustry by a group of American capitalists, but a small percentage 

 of whose holdings is planted and none of which are in bearing." 



One planter has the following to say : 



" 'When the output from the plantations (say 1,(XX),0(X) to 

 1,200,000 acres in more or less full bearing by 1920-22) amounts 

 to over 200,000 tons per year, then, in order to sell this huge 

 •output, the price must be reduced so low that many new chan- 

 nels of consumption will be opened up, which means a probable 

 average price of, say, 30 cents per pound at which price it is not at 

 present conceivable that fine hard Para can be profitably collected 

 ■even under the best of circumstances,' " 



"The above is of course based on a much lower cost of pro- 

 duction than the writer has used in this article." 



While it has only been possible to reproduce some of the 

 most prominent features, the above summary indicates the lead- 

 ing points of the report, and shows the vast amount of prepara- 

 tion and skilful compilation undertaken by Mr. Figart and his 

 colleagues. 



THE NETHERLANDS AND THE LATE RUBBER 

 EXHIBITION. 



IT'OLLOWING up the successful participation of the country in 

 ■^ the First Rubber Exhibition of 1908, the Netherlands took a 

 prominent part in the Second Exhibition, held in London from 

 June 26 to July 14 last. 



As reported in the August issue of The India Rubber World, 

 a strong and representative committee of leading men in both 

 the theoretical and practical ends of the Netherlands rubber 

 industry supported the efiforts of the honorary and acting presi- 

 dents, as well as of Dr. Tromp de Haas, commissioner for the 

 Dutch East Indies. Other committees were formed in Java and 

 Dutch Guiana, which co-operated with the European committee. 



In a review of the exhibition, entitled "Verslag over de Inter- 

 nationale Rubber-Tentoonstelling," dated at Scheveningen, Octo- 

 ber, 1911, Mr. A. G. N. Swart, president of the Netherlands Com- 

 mission, calls attention in the first place to the important prepara- 

 tory work undertaken by the Commission. In the fall of 1910 a 

 circular was addressed to the Surinam balata industry, urging 

 participation in the exposition, which step was followed up by 

 similar efforts as to the Dutch East Indies. 



Among various facts of interest affecting the exhibition, it is 

 recorded that the Netherlands section was in two divisions, 

 respectively 65 x 75 feet and 35 x 35 feet. The arrangements 

 and decorations of the section were so designed as to preserve 

 and accentuate the Indian character of the exhibits. 



STATISTICS OF DUTCH INDI.\N RUBBER COMPANIES. 

 According to details quoted in the report, there are in the 

 Dutch Indies 217 rubber companies, distributed as foUnw^s re- 

 garding location : 



102 with plantations in Java. 

 95 " " " Sumatra. 



12 " " " Borneo. 



8 " " " Riouw. 



217 



The proportions of the total capital furnished by various na- 

 tions is shown as follows : 



Nominal. Issued. 



Netherlands $26,620,200 $14,326,760 



England 71,627,960 57,210.240 



Belgium and France 12,032,000 10,528,800 



Germany 664,000 498,400 



Sweden 168,000 74,200 



America 400,000 400,000 



Totals $111,512,160 $83,038,400 



Sample exhibits were received from 45 of these 217 compa- 

 nies, but, being of a representative character, are regarded as 

 fairly illustrative of the rubber planting industry of the Dutch 

 Indies. 



Among these 45 exhibitors, 33 belonged to countries other than 

 the Netherlands ; the proportion being thus about 75 per cent., or 

 less than that of about 83 per cent., as shown by the distribution 

 of capital. The 33 companies included: 17 English, 8 Belgian, 

 6 French, 1 Franco-Swiss and 1 German. 



THE SURINAM BALATA INDUSTRY. 



.^niong the features of the exhibits was one from the Surinam 

 Commission, representing in graphic form the production of 

 balata at that point during the last 18 years. The figures thus 

 represented were : 



Pounds. Pounds. 



1893 71,702 1902 707,251 



1894 238,230 1903 815,696 



1895 293,598 1904 571.780 



1896 460,926 1905 537,783 



1897 360,312 1906 593,815 



1898 249,549 1907 763,120 



1899 260,828 1908 999,226 



1900 459,371 1909 1,382,883 



1901 522,528 1910 1,963,882 



The balata concessions rose in area from 172,400 acres in 1893 

 to 2,201,350 acres in 1910. 



Attention is called in the report to the fact that the Surinam 

 balata exhibits received a much higher degree of attention from 

 interested visitors than was accorded to the leaf balata from 

 British Guiana or the block balata from Venezuela. 

 EXHIBITS OF OTHER COUNTRIES. 



In the concluding pages of the report a brief summary is given 

 of the exhibits of Germany, Belgium, France, Brazil, the Fed- 

 erated Malay States, Ceylon and the British West Indies. 



The report is evidently the result of much thought and de- 

 tailed observation, forming an appropriate souvenir of the note- 

 worthy occasion -t commemorates. 



A Communication from Professor J. C. Willis, of Pera- 

 deniya Gardens, Ceylon, announces his resignation as director 

 of agriculture. Professor Willis will be remembered as having 

 discovered wound response in the Hevea tree, and as having 

 done much in the past to make Hevea culture in the Middle East 

 the success it now is. 



