214 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February, 1, 1912. 



100 trees per acre, a careful selection of seed being made from 

 trees with the best yielding variety of bark. With reference to 

 the question of manufacture (which had been illustrated by a 

 cinematograph exhibition), Mr. Bamber remarked that as one 

 manufacturer prefers one form, and others different forms for 

 their various purposes, for some time crepe, sheet or block will 

 be required. What planters should strive for is an article not 

 only uniform in appearance, but also uniform in quality and 

 vulcanizing properties. 



In a lecture illustrated by lantern slides, Mr. !•". .\. Stockdale, 

 B. -\. K. L. S., gave an mteresting account of rubber and 

 balata cultivation in British Guiana, with particular reference to 

 the trials made at various experimental stations and elsewhere. 

 The cultivation of Sal'iuin ] eiunani liad been commenced in 1905, 

 and trees cultivated in the northwestern district are now fruiting 

 regularly. Two distinct kinds are to be found, very closely allied 

 and yielding a high-grade rubber. Experiments with Castilloa 

 elastica have so far not been generally satisfactory, but further 

 experiments are contemplated with other varieties of CastiUoa. 

 The growth of h'untumia elastica has been fairly satisfactory and 

 the quality of rubber obtained good, though quantity small. 

 Para rubber looks particularly promising on the heavier lands 

 near the Dcmerara river. 



Balata tapping was likewise illustrated and described. Exports 

 of balata for the first nine months of the year 1910-1911 had been 

 1.086.214 pounds, as compared with 979,426 pounds for the same 

 period a jear earlier. 



With regard to available Crown lands. Mr. Stockdale stated 

 that out of 52.777,000 acres of land in the colony, 36.401.000 are 

 forest-covered, hilly and rolling lands, while of the balance 

 10.880,000 .".cres arc easily accessible, and fully 9.CO0.0OO of these 

 unalienated from the Crown. Much of this last named area is 

 suitable for rubber cultivation. 



Under the title of "The Rubber Industry of Peru." Mr. Emilio 

 Castre gave a detailed account of progress in the Peruvian 

 rubber industry. Production had increased from 1,700 tons in 

 1902. to 2,801 tons in 1909. having meanwhile touched 3.027 tons 

 in 1907. Regarding the future of the industry, he expressed the 

 opinion that Peru would, under all circumstances, maintain its 

 present production of rubber, preserving all plants producing wild 

 rubber, while improving methods of extraction and coagulation. 

 The Peruvian product being identical with that of the Basin of 

 the Amazon, enjoys a distinct advantage from having to bear an 

 export duty of one-third that on Brazilian rubber. 



As dealing with the home of Para rubber, much interest 

 attaches to the paper read by Dr. J. Huber. Director of the 

 Museu Goeldi, Para, on the "Rubber Trees and Wild Rubber 

 Reserves of the Amazon." In the first place, he called attention 

 to those rubber trees of the Amazon which, although yielding 

 second-class rubber, represent, nevertheless, most valuable re- 

 serves of wild rubber. He further defined the regions in which 

 Hevca Brasiliensis is most abundant, as well as the localities 

 where certain other species are produced, yielding in some in- 

 stances second-class rubber, classified as "borracha fraca," or 

 weak rubber. 



Of all the Amazonian species of Sal'iuin. at least a dozen, only 

 Sapium Tapnnt has been until now recognized as producing a 

 good rubber. These Taj'uru or Muntpita trees form an im- 

 portant rubber reserve, being very common in certain parts 

 along the main river and the lower course of its affluents, where 

 Hevea is scarce or does not grow at all. 



Very important as an actual and future reserve of wibl rulilier 

 is the caucho tree, or Castilloa Ulei, not very different in vege- 

 tative character from the Castilloa elastica of Mexico and the 

 Central American species. In Dr. Ruber's opinion, as every 

 river has proved to be rich in caucho. the reserves of that rubber 

 will prove to be enormous. That its output is being increased 

 is shown by the figure of 349 tons in 1895, having risen in 1910 

 to nearlv 8.000 tons. 



As the governments cannot prohibit tlie present destructive 

 exploitation method applied to caucho, without checking the 

 whole industry, it is suggested that they should create some 

 large forest reserves in tlie most accessible caucho districts, so 

 as to prevent the extinction of this very useful tree, whose 

 product, if well prepared, can compete with the best Hevea 

 rubber. In these forest reservations, methodical experiments of 

 replanting and tapping could be conducted for a future regula- 

 tion of this industry. In the subsequent discussion of Dr. Huber's 

 paper, Messrs. Wickham and Terry, as well as Dr. Stevens, Dr. 

 Esch, Dr. Tronip de Haas and Dr. Sandmann, took part. The 

 last named speaker called attention to the necessity of discrimi- 

 nating in statistical returns between exports of Hevea rubber and 

 caucho, an increase having been principally noted in the latter. 



In reviewing the comments made. Dr. Huber referred to the 

 improved communications now being established with the south- 

 ern part of the Amazon region, which form the principal head- 

 quarters of Hevea Brasiliensis. 



The papers to which reference has been made cover the general 

 question of "The Rubber Planting Problem as It Presents Itself 

 in Different Countries." and thus afford a bird's-eye view of the 

 situation in various parts of the world. The other papers read 

 dealt with various important subjects affecting the administra- 

 tion of plantations, cultivation, vulcanization, mechanical tests, 

 etc.. which call for more detailed notice, while the statistical 

 features of the case formed the theme of the papers read by Mr. 

 Ernest Hecbt and Mr. W. Tinnock. 



THE AGRICULTURAL CONFERENCE AT TRINIDAD. 



■ I 'HE editor of The Indi.^ Rubber World, who is at present in 

 •*• the West Indies, attended by invitation the West Indian 

 Agricultural Conference held in Trinidad, January 23 to January 

 30. inclusive. The programme covered papers and discussions 

 mainly connected with work of. experiment and research of the 

 principal crops of the West Indies and British Guiana. An impor- 

 tant feature of the conference consisted of addresses on Rubber 

 Cultivation, Demonstration of Matters Relating to Rubber at the 

 St. Clair Experiment Station, etc. Delegates were present from 

 the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Imperial Institute. British 

 Cotton Growing .-Vssociation. the West India Committee, the En- 

 tomological Research Committee, the Rothamsted Experiment Sta- 

 tion, the Imperial Department of .\griculture for the West Indies, 

 the Department of Agriculture for Jamaica, the Agriculture So- 

 ciety of Jamaica, the Department of .Agriculture for British 

 Guiana, the Department of Agriculture for Dutch Guiana, and 

 the Department of Agriculture for Trinidad. Delegates were 

 present from nearly all of the West Indian Islands, and the con- 

 ference was of unusual interest and value. The editor of The 

 Indi.\ Ruhber World was courteously made an honorary member 

 of tlie conference, and is preparing a special report on its rubber 

 features. 



RUBBER MANUFACTURERS AS PLANTATION OWNERS. 



German (as well as Russian, English and .American) rubber 

 manufacturers have for a long time owned rubber tree forests, 

 the product of which, however, is excluded from consideration as 

 to the rubber industry in general, finding a direct outlet in the 

 manufacture of the respective owners. This form of supplying 

 requirements in crude rubber is, however, of relatively limited 

 application. The reason, as it has been remarked, is that a ruliber 

 factory, as a rule, cannot limit itself to one description of rubber, 

 but requires different kinds in order to produce the desired com- 

 pounds. The most important point in rubber manufacture is 

 the right selection and mixing of the most suitable descriptions ; 

 plantations of their own serving at most to supplement the other 

 supplies of manufacturers and not rendering them independent of 

 the rubber market. 



