406 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[Ai'RiL 1, 1920. 



illustration was pronounced by wood connoisseurs to be a won- 

 derful effect in black oak A worn out cabinet of this sort could 

 be broken up, the cellulose backing dissolved by the familiar 

 process of acid rubber reclaiming and the bard rubber ground 



Regulation Rupher Wodd Bowl 



Plain Black. 



and used in the production of new goods. At last reports, panels 

 from this cabinet were reposing in a bonded warehouse in New 

 York City. 



HARD RUBBER LIGNUM-VITAE. 

 There is in the West Indies a tree, the Guaiacum, from the 

 heart of which comes a dark-colored, heavy, cross-grained wood 

 known as lignum-vitae. The wood is scarce and costly as it is 

 in great demand for rollers, pestles, pulley blocks, and particu- 

 larly for bowling balls. No other wood is comparable with it 

 for such use. No other substance or combination of substances 

 anywhere near equalled it in weight, solidity, polish and effec- 

 tiveness until a hard rubber substitute was tried. Then it was 

 not only equalled but outdone. To-day a bowling ball made of 



•Regixation Rubber Wood Bowling Ball, Mottled Like 



LlGNUM-VlT.\E. 



hard rubber compound designed to imitate lignum-vitae reigns 

 supreme. For weight, color, and polish it is everything that 

 could be desired. And as for grain, Nature is beaten to a 

 finish. Hard rubber lignum-vitae outwears the West Indian 

 product. It contains no knots nor imperfections. And after 

 years of service the worn out ball can be ground up into hard 

 rubber dust and worked into sheet, rod or a thousand other 

 useful hard rubber products. 



HARD RUBBER EBONY AND MAHOGANY. 



I'"or interior linisli hard rubber wood already has a lirm foot- 

 hold. The product is not called rubber lumber or rubber wood, 

 however, but Whalebonile. Responding to a call for rubber 

 from the medical fraternity, a closet seat made of hard 

 rubber wood, imitating in color either ebony or mahogany, 

 has been created. From the first it was a great success. It is 

 so far superior to the best wooden seat that scores of hospitals, 

 clubs, hotels and office buildings have adopted it. Unlike 

 wood, it has no joints, will not split, crack or warp, is light 

 in weight, and is absolutely unaffected by moisture, or by acid 

 or acid fumes. 



Not fancies, these, but fads — facts that forecast a great future 

 for rnblicr wood. 



THE POSITION OF PLANTATION RUBBER IN 1919. 



A N INTERESTING SURVEY of the present condition of the planta- 

 *»• tion rubber market is made by E. L. Killick, the nibber ex- 

 pert of the London "Financier" in that periodical's "Rubber Share 

 Handbook" for 1919. His judgment is as follows: 



"A scrutiny of the figures relating to the production and con- 

 sumption of rubber indicates that the world's stocks of all kinds 

 at the present time are not less than 100,000 tons, and probably 

 more. As far as can be ascertained at the moment, the total 

 production in 1919 was about 350,000 tons, of which some 330,000 

 tons appear to have gone into consumption. The year conse- 

 quently begins with but a comparatively small addition to the 

 surplus on hand twelve months before. In 1920 an addition of 

 some 50,000 tons to the world's output is expected, so that the 

 total quantity of rubber of all kinds available this year, including 

 stocks brought forward, seems likely to be something over 

 500.000 tons." 



These figures are not so formidable as they seem to be at first 

 sight, he goes on to say, because of the increased demand due 

 to the development of motor traction. They Iea\e a margin of 

 three or four months' supply, as compared with the single month 

 of a few years ago, but this is largely nullified by the congestion 

 at the docks and the delays in distributing cargoes. 



While there is no shortage in sight there is no fear of a glut 

 of rubber; the production will hardly increase at the rate that 

 the consumption will. An enormous development has 'aken place 

 in the use of solid tires for commercial motors and the railroad 

 strikes have shown the advantages of both these and the pas- 

 senger motor cars. It is conceivable that there may be a shortage 

 of rubber in a few years, with higher prices in consequence and 

 a larger use of inferior grades and reclaimed material. 



Mr. Killick explains that investment in rubber plantation shi.res 

 is attractive not only on account of the huge returns obtained 

 but also because the investment is steadily appreci.iting js the 

 value of the plantation and its output increase yearly with the 

 growth of the trees planted. His estimate of the finances of 

 an acre of land in the Far East is very interesting. 



"We may take it that an acre of jungle can be cleared, planted 

 and brought to bearing at an approximate cost of £50. In 

 Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo the tree should be of tappable 

 girth at the end of the fifth year, and by the end of the seventh 

 year the annual crop of rubber may be as much as 400 pounds 

 per acre, given good average soil, suitable climatic conditions 

 and capable management." 



The question of producing costs is a little uncertain now, one 

 disconcerting factor being the rise in the rupee and tne trouble 

 with exchange. In the past rubber has been marketed at an 

 average cost of \0d. a pound, but to-day it costs at least \s. and 

 prices are advancing so that it is safer to take Is 6d. as the cost 

 of a pound of rubber ready to ship. The measi price o'otained for 

 it in the last five years has been 2s. 6d. a pound, and when Mr. 

 Killick wrote, it was 2s. lOrf. It is safe to call it 2s. 6rf. ; the profit 

 on a pound would therefore be \s. and on 400 pounds, an acre's 

 crop, £20. That is the equivalent of 40 per cent on the capital 

 i:ivestm.ent of £50 to bring the acre into bearing. 



