August 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



549 



NOTES FROM BRITISH GUIANA. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



AV/EATHER conditions here are not such as to cause complete 

 ''^ satisfaction. The promise given at the breaking of the 

 drought has not altogether been fulfilled, and we are not having 

 typical rainy season weather. The colony is not unnaturally 

 dry, as it was during the period of the drought, but the rain is 

 neither so frequent nor so abundant as to free leaders in the 

 balata industry entirely from anxiety. Heavy showers fall at 

 unexpected intervals, but the aggregate rainfall is not sufficient. 

 The returns, when published, will make interesting reading. It 

 is stated in the "Daily Chronicle's" market report that in some dis- 

 tricts 14 inches have fallen, in others 8 inches, while on the East 

 Coast of Demerara the fall has been less than 4 inches, which is 

 not sufficient. Unfortunately the nature of the balata industry 

 has not led to any steps being taken to obtain exact rainfall 

 returns from the interior, so which of these three averages is 

 likely to apply in the balata bush is not Icnown. The market re- 

 port above quoted, however, states that the prospects for the 

 industry are satisfactory and that shipments will be good later 

 on. At present they are very much "down" in the export of 

 balata. 



THE LABOR PROBLEM AXD THE BALATA COMMITTEE. 

 There is one feature of the existing situation, however, which 

 is not satisfactory, and that is the eternal labor problem. I have 

 already indicated the difficulties that have arisen in consequence 

 of laborers demanding newer contracts than those signed in 

 January, when the drought was not expected to be of so long a 

 duration. A more insidious difficulty has now arisen. Owing to 

 the generosity of some companies who took a broad-minded and, 

 it was to be presumed, far-seeing policy, in "advancing" their 

 men during the bad times, some men have accumulated a con- 

 siderable indebtedness. It was thought that the lateness of the 

 season would have prompted a ready response to the call for a 

 return to work. But the absconding evil has again arisen; not to 

 a very serious extent it is true, but it is not yet dead. One gen- 

 tleman, who has had a long experience of the forest industries, 

 and of the laboring class of British Guiana, has expressed the 

 view to me that the men, fearing that owing to the shortness of 

 the season, they will barely make more than enough to clear off 

 their indebtedness, have no intention of doing any serious work. 

 This may be an exaggerated view, but it receives a certain 

 amount of confirmation from a gentleman who states that, ac- 

 cording to the reports he has received, the men whom he des- 

 patched a little while ago are doing little work. Perhaps the 

 Balata Committee will offer some adequate solution of this diffi- 

 culty. The report was signed a few days ago, and is, I am told, 

 a voluminous document. It should be published without delay. 

 It is hoped that it will not be mere verbiage, but that it will 

 embody some practical, common-sense remedies for what is ad- 

 mittedly a serious evil. 



THE NEW YORK EXHIBITION"- A COLONY EXHIBIT 

 IMPROBABLE. 



The question of the colony's representation at the Rubber Ex- 

 hibition to be held in New York in September continues to 

 engage attention. At a recent meeting of the Permanent Exhibi- 

 tions Committee, letters from the Royal Agricultural and Com- 

 mercial Society and the Chamber of Commerce were read. The 

 Deputy Chairman, Professor J. B. Harrison (Director of Science 

 and Agriculture) informed the committee that he consulted with 

 Mr. H. C. Pearson, of The India Rubber World, who is vice- 

 president of the Exhibition, and keenly interested in the rubber 

 industry in the Guianas. and he advised that unless a really good 

 show of rubber and balata could be made in New York, it would 

 be to the interest of the colony not to be represented. The secre- 

 tary reported that steps had been taken to ascertain whether 



arrangements could be made for the distribution of British 

 Guiana literature at this exhibition. Up to the present no reply 

 had been received from the exhibition authorities. The director 

 of the Imperial Institute had also been approached as to the 

 strengthening in number of the British Guiana samples of rubber 

 and balata shown at their stand, and the institute is also being 

 asked to undertake the distribution of literature, if that is pos- 

 sible. The committee approved of this action and confirmed the 

 opinion expressed at the last meeting as to the sending to this 

 exhibition of exhibits of rubber and balata. 



The decision has excited some feeling. In an interview the 

 president of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society, 

 said : "My own personal opinion is that the colony should make 

 an effort to secure an effective, if even a small, representation. 

 While we cannot make any claims to possess an established rub- 

 ber industry, we can at least show we have suitable climate and 

 conditions, cheap land, sufficient labor and a public and adminis- 

 tration desirous of welcoming and advancing the new industry. 

 I may say that Messrs. Bonsall have offered the society to con- 

 tribute $150 to the cost of a representation at New York." 



The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. G. R. Gar- 

 nett, said : "The Chamber of Commerce feels very strongly on 

 this subject. They think that exhibits of both rubber and balata 

 should be sent, and we have reason to believe that there is ample 

 time in which to secure satisfactory samples." 



Mr. G. C. Benson, attorney in this colony of Mr. Ed. Maurer, 

 during the absence of Mr. Edward Edwards in England and 

 the United States, said : "It is certainly possible to obtain a 

 sufficient quantity of the very best balata by August. A man 

 could bleed 100 trees in a month. 



BALATA MAN'S RESIGNATION FROM THE LEGISLATURE. 

 Mr. C. p. Gaskin, who is largely interested in the Balata in- 

 dustry, and who was a member of the Court of Policy, has ap- 

 plied for and obtained a Receiving Order in Bankruptcy. He 

 thus ipso facto resigns his seat. This is something of a loss to 

 balata interests here. It was he who successfully led the cam- 

 paign at the recent annual session of the Legislature, for the 

 abolition of the export duty on balata. Mr. Downer, who was 

 elected to the seat thus vacated, was also at one time connected 

 with the balata industry, and knows its needs thoroughly, is a 

 business man of many years' experience and is pledged to a policy 

 of Hinterland development. So the change is not disastrous. 



RUBBER SEED: DANGERS OF INDISCRIMINATE PLANTING. 



The report of the delegates of the Board of Agriculture, who 

 attended the recent West Indian Agricultural Conference at 

 Trinidad, has now been issued. They say of rubber : "Early 

 on Monday morning the delegates were present at a demonstra- 

 tion of methods of rubber tapping and curing at St. Clair. The 

 British Guiana representatives saw little that was new to them 

 with exception of the somewhat heroic method adopted for bleed- 

 ing Castilloa. . . . Dr. Cramer was in full agreement with the 

 British Guiana delegates as to the heterogeneous nature of the 

 trees and the danger of indiscriminately planting seeds produced 

 by them. It was agreed that the wisest procedure would be to 

 fell every tree which presented other than the characteristics of 

 typical Hcvea Brasiliensis. 



HEVEA AND SAPIUM: THE DAVID YOUNG ESTATES. 

 IMuch has been heard lately of the failure of the Sapiiim rubber 

 trees. At the Agricultural Conference at Trinidad, Professor 

 Harrison said it was not yet possible to speak of the estate's 

 commercial possibilities, but hoped that it would be possible to 

 do it in the course of next year. It will be recollected that the 

 David Young Rubber Estates, Limited, are largely planted in 

 Sapiuni. and that in consequence of recent rumors this company 

 has been somewhat under a cloud. Things, however, are not so 

 bad as they look. Mr. Thomas Walker, who is in charge of the 



