44 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November i, 1907. 



tion of the small head tax imposed annually by setting out a 

 certain number of rubber plants. Both the "ireh" trees {Fun- 

 tumia elastica) and lianes (creepers) may be planted. 



YIELD OF PLANTED RUBBER 



The yield of plantation rubber is treated in some detail in the 

 Tropical Agriculturist by Ivor Etherington, in a study of the last 

 published annual reports of 41 companies producing rubber in 

 Ceylon and the Federated Malay States. The statistics relate 

 to 1906, and comprise a total yield of 1,164,033 pounds of rubber, 

 ranging from only 851 pounds for one estate to I53>358 pounds, 

 harvested by the Vallambrosa company. [See The India Rubber 

 World, October i, 1907 — page 8.] It is difficult to arrive at the 

 average yield per tree, for the reason that the trees vary in age, 

 and all have not been tapped the saine number of times. It may 

 be of interest, however, to note that on 18 estates 402,801 trees 

 yielded 670,433 pounds of rubber, or ij^ pounds per tree. 



On the two estates of the Highlands and Lowlands company 

 the following results were obtained, the trees on the second 

 estate being younger than on the other : 



Trees. Pounds. .\verage. 



Highlands and Lowlands 38,639 95,333 2.46 



Batu Unjor 39,8/4 38,952 97 



On the first estate a yield of over 7 pounds per tree was ob- 

 tained from 807 trees planted in 1899 and widely planted over 16 

 acres. The result of three tappings of these trees was : 



Pounds. 



First tapping 2,500 



Second tapping 1.469 



Third tapping i,773 



Total 5,742 



Some large yields of Hevea rubber are recorded in the report 

 •of the director of the Ceylon royal botanic gardens for 1906. 

 They result from tapping trees during eleven months (November, 

 1905-September, 1906), in a series of experiments with different 

 methods and under varying conditions. For instance, three 

 groups of 5 trees each (size and age not stated) were tapped by 

 the long spiral system, each group for a different number of 

 limes, with the average yield per tree of dry rubber stated below : 



Tapped. 1— — Yield. — -^ 



First group 270 11 lbs. o ozs. 



Second group 136 12 " 8 



Third group 44 3 " '3 " 



Fourth group 11 o " 10 



One tree, tapped 93 times by the full herring bone method, gave 

 14 pounds 8 ounces of rubber; two trees tapped 84 times by the 

 same method averaged 15 pounds; and one tree tapped 78 times 

 by the full herring bone method gave 10 pounds 14 ounces. These 

 trees were tapped at different seasons, and with varying tapping 

 areas, most of the details of which do not appear in the report, 

 nor is the condition of the trees after tapping referred to. The 

 figures are given space here merely as showing the rubber yield- 

 ing capacity of Hevea under cultivation. 



AS TO OVEKPRODUCTION. 



Writing on this subject, in the preface to the "Tropical In- 

 vestors' Guide" [see The India Rubber World October i — page 

 19], F. Crosbie Roles says: "In 1908 Ceylon and Malaya may 

 reach the giddy altitude of producing an eightieth part of the 

 world's supply — say 300 tons from Ceylon and 600 tons from 

 Malaya — but the after advance will not be rapid until the large 

 areas planted in 1905, 1906, and 1907 come into bearing in 191 1 

 and onwards. There may be at the present time 120,000 acres 

 under rubber in Ceylon — 30,000 acres of it widely planted through 

 tea — and the rate of development reached its high water mark in 

 1906. In other words the extensions this year will be smaller 

 than last year's ; and it is difficult to imagine that Ceylon will 

 ever possess more than 220,000 acres of rubber in full bearing. 

 Even this area will be reached gradually, and only under the 

 •encouragement of sustained good prices, with ample and cheap 



labor prospects. - - - The annual yield from 220,000 acres of 

 rubber at 140 trees to the acre and V/z pounds of rubber per 

 tree — which is a full estimate of both trees and yield over a 

 large area — is 20,000 tons, realizable possibly in 1820, In the 

 Malay peninsula in the same year 40,000 tons may be produced, 

 with 15,000 tons from the Dutch colonies and Borneo," By 

 this time, Mr, Boles thinks, the uses of rubber will have increased 

 to such extent that the increased output which he forecasts will 

 not amount to overproduction. 



STATISTICS OF PRODUCTION. 



1907, 1906. 



Pounds. Pounds. 



Anglo-Malay Rubber : 



September 22,260 11,300 



January-August, inclusive 126,701 53,818 



Vallambrosa Rubber : 



September 17,129 13,769 



April-September, inclusive 103,908 55,376 



Kepitigalla Rubber Estates : 

 April-June, inclusive 10,141 5,736 



Perak Rubber Plantations : 

 April-July, inclusive 7,203 4.,362 



P. P. K. {Ceylon) Rubber Estates: 

 January-July, inclusive 7,109 3,273 



Highlands and Lo'cdands: 

 .August 25,614 12,625 



RUBBER AT AN AGaiCTTLTURAL FAIR. 



Rubber occupied a position of importance at the fourth annual 

 joint agri-horticultural show in Malaya, held this year at Kuala 

 Kangsar, in the state of Perak, beginning on August 9. Ex- 

 hibitors of Para rubber received awards as follows : Highlands 

 and Lowlands estate, for dry block and wet block ; Vallambrosa 

 estate, dry block; Lanadron estate, dry block; Bukit Rajah 

 Hope estate, crepe rubber. The governor's cup was awarded to 

 .A. D. Machado. Highlands and Lowlands estate and Golden 

 Hope estate won pri7es for rambong (Ficus elastica) rubber. 

 The show was attended by the British high commissioner (Sir 

 John Anderson, K, c, M, c), the sultans of Perak, Selangor, 

 and Johore, and many other notables, all of whom seemed in- 

 terested in the part that rubber is taking in the development of 

 the Malay peninsula. Fifty elephants competed for prizes at the 

 show and the crowds were entertained with moving pictures. 



NEW SUBSTITUTES FOR LEATHER. 



THE British Leather Cloth Manufacturing Co., Limited, of 

 Hyde, near Manchester, are marketing in a variety of 

 qualities, colors, and leather grains, a material for upholstering 

 furniture, carriage and motor tops, and also for bookbinding and 

 the like, which they call "Rexine." It is referred to as water- 

 proof, scratchproof, and hygienic, and has been supplied to many 

 branches of the government service in Great Britain, and also to 

 the governments of the colonies and various other countries, and 

 to railways in South America and the Far East. The material 

 belongs to the class of which "pantasote," an American product, 

 is a prominent type. 



•RUBBERNIT" FOR CARRIAGE TOPS. 



C. L. Stewart, of Rutland, Vermont, whose waterproofing 

 compound for horse and wagon covers and the like has been re- 

 ferred to in The India Rubber World, has developed specimens 

 of cloth treated by it fitted for hospital sheeting, and heavier types 

 for carriage and automobile tops. This "Rubbernit" fabric is 

 tough, pliable, and apparently durable and is referred to as im- 

 proving with age. Mr. Stewart is prepared to sell his formulas 

 to a waterproofing concern or to organize a new company. 



Mr. Stewart says : "The spread cloth can be proofed ; there is 

 no vulcanizing; can be made in any color; no noticeable odor; 

 tough and durable ; not sticky in hot weather nor stiff in cold ; 

 will not crack or peel ; wears better than oiled or rubber goods." 



