March 1, 1912.J 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



267 



Rubber Expositions as a Trade Stimulus. 



By Sir Henry A. Blake, G.C.M.G.* 



TWO stalwart young London judges playing "pull devil pull 

 baker," with various sheets of rubber gave me my first 

 introduction to the practical testing of sheet and biscuit 

 rubber in the prize competition at the first rubber exhibition held 

 in the beautiful Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya in Ceylon. The 

 rubber was being tested for tensile strength, tenuity, and re- 

 silience. This was in the year 1906. 



In 1873 the first seeds of the Hevea Brasiliensis were brought 

 to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew by Mr. Wickham, whose 

 success in obtaining them and sending them to England, showed 

 great readiness and resource. The seeds were intended for India, 

 but as there was at the time a scare against the possible introduc- 

 tion of plant diseases into India that Gov- 

 ernment refused to receive them, and they 

 were sent to Ceylon instead, where a 

 plantation was made at Heneratgoda Bo- 

 tanic Gardens. From those trees, now 

 large forest trees, came the seeds that 

 have spread the cultivation of Hcvca 

 Brasiliciisis from Ceylon to Java and 

 Papua in the east. 



In Ceylon, the young trees were planted 

 as shade trees for tea, and in some cases 

 as avenues along the roadsides. For 

 many years nobody seemed to realize the 

 value of the latex. At length when 

 cutting some shade trees, an intelligent 

 observer pointed out tliat this was the 

 basis of rubber tor which high prices 

 were being obtained. At once owners of 

 quantities of these shade trees found 

 themselves comparatively rich men. Prices 

 continued to rise, and in 1905, 6 and 7 

 feverish anxiety was shown to take up 

 and plant lands suitable for rubber. In 

 1910, the price of rubber rose to I2s. per gj^ Hexrv Arthu 



pound, and the shares of producing com- 

 panies mounted with amazing rapidity. Immense fortunes were 

 made by some, and rubber properties were considered inexhaust- 

 ible sources of wealth. 



At the close of 1905, it was proposed that an exhibition of 

 everything connected with the planting and preparation of rub- 

 ber should be held. The extraction of the latex and its prepa- 

 ration were so far very simple. The latex was poured into 

 soup plates, wdiere it coagulated. Next day it was rolled out by 

 a bottle to about one-quarter of an inch thick, washed and placed 

 in a drying room. When dried it was ready for the market. 



The exhibition was opened in September, 1906, and here, for 

 the first time, was brought together all that was known of the 

 various processes connected with plantation rubber. It may be 

 mentioned that the gold medal for the best biscuits was won 

 by Ceara rubber biscuits grown at an elevation of 3,500 feet. 

 During this exhibition, papers were read and discussed that dealt 

 with every phase of the important industry and a mass of in- 

 formation was recorded that was of importance for all rubber 

 growers. 



This first exhibition showed how much remained to be investi- 

 gated, not alone in the propagation of the trees, and in the 



*Ex-Governor of Ceylon, Hong Kong and other British Colonies; Presi- 

 dent of the 1908 and 1911 International Rubber and .Allied Trades Exhi- 

 bitions, London; and President of the European Committee of the Coming 

 New York Rubber Exposition. 



chemistry of the latex, but also in the effects upon the trees, 

 of the different modes of tapping, and the means to be taken 

 for combating the pests of various kinds that began to present 

 themselves. 



Hundreds of thousands of acres were taken up in India, 

 Ceylon, Malaya and Java for rubber plantations ; Africa was 

 exploited east and west ; Central America was examined with a 

 view of cultivating Ceara and other rubber trees, and South 

 .\merica, the original home of the Hevea Brasitiensis, was being 

 searched from the Atlantic to the Pacific for locations likely to 

 attract investors ; when it was proposed that an exhibition 

 should be held in London, in which all countries interested in 

 this now colossal business should join in 

 mutual inquiry and friendly competition. 

 The industry had advanced with extra- 

 ordinary rapidity, and there seemed to 

 be no bounds to its expansion in Europe 

 and .\merica. 



The proposal received an enthusiastic 

 response from all parts of the world. 

 The exhibition was held at Olympia in 

 London, from the 14th to the 26th of 

 September, 1908, and contained exhibits 

 of all existing forms of rubber, while 

 practical planters and scientific experts 

 from east and west vied with each other 

 in friendly interchange of opinions, and 

 valuable discussions on the papers read 

 before the International Conference dur- 

 ing the twelve days of the exhibition. 



The result was considered very satis- 

 factory. The exhibition had brought to- 

 gether producers and manufacturers from 

 the East, from Europe and the United 

 States of America, and brought under 

 the notice of investors, possibilities hither- 

 to not appreciated. While the rapid 

 growth of demand assuaged the fear of over production. The 

 collocation of the papers submitted to this conference and 

 edited by Dr. Spence, PH.D., F.i.c, shows within its 300 pages 

 how wide a field was covered by the discussions, and how valu- 

 able were the facts and experiments thus placed at the disposal 

 of the conference. At the close of the exhibition, it was felt 

 that these Internationa! Exhibitions and Conferences of men 

 engaged in the great industry so rapidly expanding into a position 

 in the first rank of the world's commerce, ought to be con- 

 tinued, where fellow workers of every nation might draw from 

 a common store of knowledge, experience useful to all, and help 

 each other forward in their efforts to increase the supply of 

 Nature's products for the benefit of mankind. 



It was decided that an exhibition on the same line should 

 take place in 1911, and it was felt especially that the manufac- 

 turers should be invited to participate, in the hope that fuller 

 indication might be given of the particular form in which plan- 

 tation rubber should be presented to the market. Much had 

 been done since the first Ceylon exhibition, but in the range 

 of caoutchouc producing plants there was much still to be 

 learned, as also in the processes of securing the latex at least 

 cost to the health of the trees, and in its preparation as crepe, 

 blanket, sheet or block for the market. 'Vulcanization is also 

 a vital process on which the last word has not been said ; while 

 the consumer is invited to contemplate new uses that may add 



R Bl.^ke, G.C.M.G. 



