March 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



273 



favorable conditions, have led to the results shown by following 

 table : 



Age of trees in years 5 6 7 8 9 10 



Girth in inches 16 21 26 30 3i 36 



Height of tapping in feet 9 10 12 16 20 23 



Number of tappings per year 3 2 2 3 3 3 



Annual yield of latex in cubic inches... 13 15 19 34 45 56 

 Approximate annual yield of dry rubber 



in ounces 3 4 5 9 12 15 



FUTURE OF THE AFRICAN RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



While some of the leading features of the cultivation and ex- 

 traction of F'.'.iituiiiia rubber have thus been glanced at, there 

 remains much to be said as to its properties and use in manu- 

 facture. As a result, however, of Mr. Christy's able treatment 

 of the question, his investigations lead to a conclusion, which may 

 appropriately be recorded in his own words : "It is diflicult to 

 see how extermination of the wild rubber trees in tropical .\frican 

 forests can be prevented even with the best intentions on the 

 part of governments and private owners. The only salvation of 

 the rubber industry in this part of the world seems to lie in the 

 wholesale planting of Funtuiuia, fortunately a very cheap and 

 easy matter, as I have already shown." 



SOUTH AMERICA AND THE NEW YORK 

 EXPOSITION. 



THE WAY "TROPICAL LIFE" VIEWS THE 

 SITUATION. 



THE cartoon reproduced below is taken from "Tropical Life," 

 printed in London. The International Rubber and Allied 

 Trades Exposition, to be held in the Grand Central Palace, New 

 York, next fall, is represented as a school room, where Mr. A. 

 Staines Manders. the organizer of the exposition, and Mr. 

 Henry C. Pearson, vice-president, are the instructors. This 



I 3i:v CCOES STijMPS, 

 J f.i*fcJORE JUOiCiCl-ikr. 

 3 IRRIGATE WMEM /V£;esSAI?v. 

 A- l-'^E OtwM^iJ TAPPER*. 

 r SHIP IM vE'ae^rA CASCS- 

 6 SELL 'ft MiM^/'.C^.^'^E. 



■| lfcj!iifflhai'»Kii!igiaiai't^i'aft. ^^riii:'.iiii ii;.'iliagP"i[|i; 



„ft: „ 





,-^S^::L 1- — <^ 



4^ IW^"^ P^'M^-^-^^^s^^^ 



-•.;' ^■=-- ^UtS 1?' ^1 « ,I,S' euBBER PLANTEJ; 



IWITH THE COMPLIMEflTS Of'tROPICAL LIFE*(LOnDOn) 



SCH00LM.\STERS MaNDERS AND PeARSON. 



scene evidently shows a preparatory class, and Mr. Manders is 

 giving instructions to sundry of the South American States, 

 while Mr. Pearson has Mexico over in a corner giving him 

 a little private tuition. As Mexico failed to put in an appear- 

 ance at either of the London expositions — held in 1908 and 1911 

 — the brunt of Instructor Pearson's remarks are evidently to 

 the effect that Mexico is no longer to play truant, but must 

 show up at the New York exposition along with the other mem- 

 bers of the American rubber family. It is certainly to be hoped 



that these timely instructions will be heeded. 

 .J ,r>lo ^it: (_ .133 



ttHPRGPICAL LIFE," a publication published in London in 

 *■ the interest of tropical development, had an article in a 

 recent issue regarding the South American Republics, a number 

 of which are now celebrating the centenary of their independ- 

 ence, and calling attention to the fact that an excellent feature 

 of that celebration would be a joint exhibit of their rubber pro- 

 ducing qualities in the New York exposition, to be held next 

 fall. The paper remarks : 



Would it not be an excellent idea to take advantage of 

 the 1912 International Rubber Exposition in New York as 

 one means of celebrating the united centenaries of the 

 Pan-American Republics, by calling attention to them in 

 a striking manner as rubber-producing centres, both self- 

 planted and indigenous? If this were done, Pan- 

 America, at the very hub of her wheel of commerce, 

 could prove by the varieties of rubbers that are hers to 

 show, the varieties of rubber that she alone is capable 

 of producing indigenously. 



It was just such a joint exhibit that we tried so hard 

 to arrange for the London Exhibition, and were only 

 prevented from carrying our intention to a successful 

 issue by extreme pressure of work and the lack of any 

 organized body to support us. In America, however, 

 the situation is very different. Leaving the chief pro- 

 ducing centres to include individual exhibits, as Brazil, 

 Bolivia, etc., did in London, a prominent joint display, 

 brought together by the Pan-.\merican Union, in col- 

 laboration with tlie Ministers of Agriculture of the num- 

 berless States that go to make up the various Republics, 

 would be a striking advertisement for all time of Amer- 

 ican rubber. The sample collection thus formed could 

 be housed in a roomy space, exactly as the joint exhibits 

 of Malaya, Ceylon, Southern India, the German colonies, 

 etc., were provided with at Olympia in 1908 and the Agri- 

 cultural Hall this year, so as to enable producers, shippers, 

 buyers and manufacturers to meet on common ground, 

 examine and criticize the samples, and make suggestions 

 as to how their quality could be improved and rendered 

 more suitable for the work for which they are destined: 



Again, the Government representatives, the cstrada or 

 estate owners, etc., could discuss between themselves or 

 with other experts such knotty questions as the best 

 methods of tapping, coagulating, preparing, and pack- 

 ing the rubber, whether Hevca, the Manilwts, Castilloas, 

 Sapitims, Hancornias, etc., Inter-State and Inter-Republic 

 questions of export duties improved and cheaper 

 river and land transport, planting up the high forests 

 and hinterlands, with provisions for the rubber tappers, 

 and all such matters that tend to reduce the cost of pro- 

 duction, and so to enable the South American centres to 

 successfully compete with the East, could be and should 

 be exhaustively discussed if Brazil, Bolivia and Peru are 

 to develop their rubber forests to best advantage. In 

 London, Mr. Staines Manders kindly offered to place a 

 separate room at the disposal of those interested in in- 

 digenous rubber, and no doubt he will do the same, if 

 possible, for Pan-American producers in New York. In 

 any case, if the Republics take a space for a joint ex- 

 hibit worthy of themselves, it should certainly be as large 

 as that secured by Brazil alone in London ; such an area, 

 at least, would be needed to allow room for the samples, 

 and for the various representatives to meet together and 

 discuss questions of common interest, either privately or 

 at the general congress. We only hope that this idea 

 will be adopted and such a space will be secured. 



PERU TO BE AT THE RUBBER EXPOSITION. 



The Peruvian Government has accepted the invitation to par- 

 ticipate in the International Rubber Exhibition to be held Sep- 

 tember and October. A committee has been appointed to arrange 

 for the preparation of the exhibits. It consists of Eduardo 

 Higginson, Peruvian Consul General at New York ; Wilfredo H. 

 Schoff. Honorary Peruvian Consul at Philadelphia; O. Kehr- 

 hahn, Peruvian Consul at Baltimore, and G. Alvarez. 



