August i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



377 



FUTURE PRODUCTION OF RUBBER IN AFRICA. 



By Gustave van den k'trckhove (Brussels). 



FOR the last five years the output of rubber from Central 

 Africa has been large, and imports from that source to 

 the European markets have been on the increase. This 

 prosperous state of affairs, as far as rubber is concerned- 

 has been due to the great exploration work undertaken by the 

 Belgian and some French trading companies in the "dark 

 continent." While the production was increasing, the con- 

 sumers of rubber, and especially the American manufacturers, 

 wanted more and more. The trading companies were thus in 

 the enviable position of being able to produce good quantities 

 of rubber and to obtain, as a rule, fair prices. But apparently 

 a turning point has now been reached, some reasons for which 

 I shall endeavor to point out. 



The output of rubber has been large, as I have said, in 

 Central Africa ; that from the West and East coasts is not larger 

 than two or three years ago. In fact, rubber exports from the 

 English colonies of West Africa have been failing rather fast. 

 Lagos, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast are now very small 

 exporters compared with their former production. In Lagos, 

 formerly some 2000 tons of rubber were gathered yearly from 

 the Kickxia tree, whereas this tree is now very rare in that 

 colony. In Sierra Leone the imposition of the hut tax had the 

 effect of driving rubber collectors and the native merchants to 

 Conakry (French Guinea) to sell their produce. As for the Gold 

 Coast, mining now offers more attractions to investors than the 

 collection of rubber. The Portuguese colonies in Africa have 

 also declined as rubber producers. 



Without doubt the interest of the future in the rubber output 

 of Africa relates to Central Africa — to the Soudan, to the 

 French Congo, and to the Congo Free State, which countries 

 we may here consider in the order named. 



SOUDAN. 



To have a fair idea of the rubber production of this vast por- 

 tion of Africa, we should examine the progress made by Con- 

 akry as a rubber trading center, as most of the rubber produced 

 in the Soudan finds its way to Europe through Conakry. Also, 

 have a look at the new European rubber market, Bordeaux, 

 which has almost monopolized the trade in French Guinea and 

 Soudan sorts. These figures are of interest : 



Year. Conakry Exports. Bordeaux Imports. 



1897 1,225 tons 52 tons 



1898 I.8S8 " 89 '• 



1899 1.399 " 175-5 " 



1900 1.464 " 339-5" 



1901 .. 1,039 " 2 35 " 



1902 1,155 " 678 " 



1903 1,468 " 1,113 " 



As will be seen from the above figures, there was about 1901 

 a falling off in the exports from Conakry, but this was the re- 

 sult of some restrictive laws to regulate the gathering of rub- 

 ber. The imports at Bordeaux, however, have shown a steady 

 gain, the bulk of the arrivals there being from Soudan, the ex- 

 ceptions being principally from Casamance, the Ivory Coast, 

 and French Congo. 



It is well known that the French authorities have established 

 restrictive laws regulating the tapping of rubber trees and co- 

 agulation of the latex. These have given good results as far as 

 quality is concerned, the natives taking good care not to offer 

 for sale any foul rubber. The opening of some large tracts of 

 land in the French Upper Niger, which forms a portion of the 



Soudan, will bring to the coast in the near future some new rub- 

 ber. In the Foutah-Djallon district there are immense lands 

 on which 50 per cent, of the vegetation is reported to be rub- 

 ber trees and vines, of which hardly 10 per cent, have been 

 tapped. Already considerable plantations of rubber, both trees 

 and vines, have been established there. 



The lately completed railway from Conakry to the interior 

 will facilitate the trading of French firms and companies in 

 certain parts of the Upper Niger, which will contribute a new 

 impulse to the rubber trade. On the whole, the future of the 

 Soudan rubber trade is hopeful, but it would be a great mis- 

 take to conclude that this part of Africa is going to become all 

 of a sudden a large exporter of rubber. The exports may be 

 expected to increase gradually, but very slowly. 

 FRENCH CONGO. 



Since the adoption of the policy of granting large conces- 

 sions by the French government, more than forty French com- 

 panies have been formed, with the principal object of gather- 

 ing rubber in this part of Africa, but very few have met with 

 success. Perhaps six or seven companies have become regu- 

 lar exporters of French Congo rubber. Some of these compa- 

 nies — for instance the Upper Ogooue Co., the Upper Oubanghi 

 Sultanats Co., and the Upper Sangha — have done good work, 

 every year increasing their production. Several other com- 

 panies have even abandoned their concessions. 



There is not the slightest doubt that the French Congo is very 

 rich in rubber trees and vines. Then why is it that only half 

 a dozen firms seem to go ahead? The answer is simple 

 enough : Want of fresh capital, want of labor, and want of 

 means of transport. The rubber export statistics for the 

 French Congo are as follows : 



688 tons. 842 tons. 



— showing an increase of about 154 tons. 



Up to the present date the rubber areas of three large basins 

 are known and have been explored — namely, the Ogooue. the 

 Oubanghi, and the Sangha. Of course, other parts of the 

 French Congo have been explored, but results with regard to 

 rubber have not been very encouraging. There is talk again 

 of the eventual building of a railway connecting Loango, on 

 the coast, with Brazzaville, on the Congo, at Stanley Pool. If 

 this project should be carried through, general trade would 

 certainly benefit by it. As in the case of the Soudan, a rapid 

 increase in rubber production must not be expected in the 

 French Soudan, though the exports will very likely show, for 

 the coming years, a gradual increase of a few hundred tons. 



CONGO FREE STATE. 



Now I come to the great supplier of African sorts. The in- 

 creasing output of rubber from the Congo Free State for sev- 

 eral years astonished not only the rubber trade, but the world. 

 The phrase used at the beginning of this article regarding a 

 turning point having been reached, referred to the future pro- 

 duction of the Congo Free State. 



After some six or seven years of prosperity, the authorities of 

 the Free State, having given full confidence to the capital in- 

 vested in the colony, have reached the conclusion that the time 

 has come to put in full force the laws regulating the gathering 

 of rubber. These wise regulations relate especially to the pro 



