January i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



107 



and a total world's visible supply of Para averaging on the 

 1st of each month about 3500 tons. It may occur to some 

 people that holdings no larger than these figures indicate 

 would hardly enable a single firm to put up the prices of 

 rubber to every consumer in the world, for a period of sev- 

 eral months. Another point that may be of interest is 

 that the stocks credited to the above firm were very mate- 

 rially reduced before the heavy rise which culminated in 

 September. 



"HEVEA" RUBBER IN DAMP LOCATIONS. 



f^vUR purpose in devoting considerable space in this 

 ^-^ issue to the rubber tree disease in Ceylon is not, in 

 any way, to discourage the culture of rubber, but to further 

 its practical development so far as the dissemination of 

 accurate information can aid in progress. There is no 

 planting interest known to us in which, in some locality or 

 other, troublesome and even disastrous pests or maladies 

 have not had to be dealt with. It would be unwise, there- 

 fore, in view of such liability in a new branch of planting, 

 not to give the fullest publicity to the first troubles en- 

 countered. Fortunately, the government of Ceylon em- 

 braces a well conducted scientific department, the services 

 of which have been availed of by the rubber planters in 

 that colony at the first warning of danger, and without 

 doubt the newly discovered disease will be held in check. 



There is one point in connection with the report of Mr. 

 Carruthers's views, on another page, which may appeal to 

 some persons elsewhere who have had in contemplation, 

 the planting of Para rubber {Hevea). He asserts that the 

 canker which he has been engaged in studying, in planta- 

 tions of Hevea, has a tendency to make itself apparent 

 " rather more in damp places than on ridges and well 

 drained places ; " in other words, swampy land will tend 

 greatly to encourage the disease. This point is especially 

 worth emphasizing, in view of the widespread misappre- 

 hension that the Para rubber tree is a native of marshes 

 and swamps. Such is not at all the case, and we fear that 

 some of the planters, say in Mexico, who have planned to 

 devote to Hevea certain wet spots not suited to Castilloa 

 rubber, will find this course a mistaken one. 



Mr. Stanley Arden, in his valuable " Report on Hevea 

 Brasiliensis in the Malay Peninsula," has collected some 

 evidence of weight on this subject, including the testimony 

 of Mr. VVickham, who collected the seeds for the original 

 planting of this species in the Far East, that they came 

 entirely from trees growing on well drained table lands in 

 Brazil, and not from locations bordering on watercourses. 

 It is true that the rubber gathered in the Amazon valley is 

 derived mainly from the borders of streams, but in that 

 country means of transportation are confined to the rivers, 

 and the rubber gatherers at their work do not go to any 

 great distance from points which can be reached by boats. 

 It is true, also, that many rubber camps are flooded every 

 year to an extent which drives the workers from the coun- 

 try. But this does not make marshes or swamps of the 

 rubber districts. Even where the banks are not over- 

 flowed, the rain is so constant at certain seasons as to 



make the work of rubber gathering impossible. In a re- 

 port on the Purus river — the principal rubber producing 

 river in Brazil — by Mr. Steere, and quoted from in this is- 

 sue, there are frequent references to the high banks, and 

 the first rubber camp visited by him was reached by " a 

 steep climb of perhaps 150 feet " from the water's edge, 

 though that was in the season of high water. 



There is no record of Hevea rubber thriving in situations 

 where water stands habitually, either in Brazil or else- 

 where, and for the most part the planting of this species 

 in Asia has been confined to lands suitable for coffee and 

 tea. There has been some planting, however, in wet dis- 

 tricts, and, according to the Ceylon official scientist, these 

 regions exhibit the greatest prevalence of the rubber 

 canker. 



RUBBER IN "FIRST HANDS." 



\ \T HEN one studies the countries which yield rubber 

 * " naturally, and the conditions of life in them, it be- 

 comes easy to understand why the cost of this product 

 remains so high as compared with most other materials in 

 wide use. Another page of this Journal is devoted to 

 some extracts from a recent work by a scientist who, in 

 the study of Brazilian Indian tribes, came now and then 

 in contact with rubber camps of the type from which is 

 gained a great share of what we call " Para rubber," and 

 while this explorer has not undertaken to write a report 

 on rubber, we feel that he has contributed to an under- 

 standing of the rubber situation by his incidental refer- 

 ences to the subject. 



There is no other class of intelligent men, of equal num- 

 ber, at work in any part of the world to-day, under such 

 conditions of isolation and deprivation as the patrons 

 whom Mr. Steere met on the river Punis, living on un- 

 salted fish and wild game ; in a climate where it rains 

 every day, even in the "dry season," and in constant dan- 

 ger from fevers ; with no other society than that of their 

 Indian employes, who can hardly be congenial, even 

 though "civilized and Christian," as Mr. Steere expresses 

 it ; with perhaps no communication with the outside 

 world until the yearly floods drive everybody from the 

 scene of their work. 



The isolation of the American farmer in pioneer days 

 was not comparable with that of the owner of a rubber 

 camp ; the one had neighbors of his own kind, the other 

 is obliged by the nature of his work to go far away from 

 every other camp to find fresh rubber fields. The pioneer 

 farmer, too, was inspired by the hope of founding a home, 

 a community, and a state, none of which things can result 

 from the efforts of the rubber man. He may hope to grow 

 rich some time and return to civilization — but he never 

 does. If his shipment this year brings a good return at 

 Mandos or Pard, he spends the money freely in relaxation 

 after a year's drudgery ; if not — and too often this is true 

 — he begins the new year in debt to his merchant, and to 

 the other features of a hard life, is added the dispiriting 

 task of paying off old scores. 



Of course we may say that these men are not obliged to 



