kTollKK 1. 1915.1 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



nilil)i-r; no pUiiit ..in>iil<.- ni that family pnuluccs giitta ptrcha. 



The geographical limits art- almost etiually precise. The best 

 gutta percha, that from Paliii]iiiu)ii :^iitta and its sub-species, 

 comes only from the lower part of the Malay peninsula, the two 

 gieat islands of Sumatra and Rornen, together with the smaller 

 i.-^lands immediately adjacent to the three chief land masses. 

 The other species which produce what manufacturers recognize 

 as gutta percha, though not of the best quality, arc found in 

 a slightly more extended territor> , including the entire Indo- 

 Malayan region as far as Wallace's Line. This line, named after 

 its discoverer. Alfred Russell 

 Wallace, marks a sharp sep- 

 aration between the tlora and 

 fauna on either side of the 

 line. On one side the plants 

 and animals are essentially 

 .\siatic, on the other they show 

 the characteristics of the Aus- 

 tralian region. This line runs 

 between Bali, an island at the 

 east end of Java, and Sembok. 

 twenty miles further east : 

 passes between Borneo 

 Celebes and then extends south 

 ot the Philippines, which be- 

 long to the Asiatic group and. 

 as it happens, possess sexeral 

 species of gutta-producing trees 

 of the genera Palaqiiuim and 

 Paycna. Of course, Wallace's 

 Line has been crossed, in ilie 

 course of ages, by many species 

 of plants and animals and it is 

 jiossible that there is some 

 truth in the story of the find- 

 ing of gutta percha in German 

 Xew Guinea, but the species 

 reported are said to have .Malay 

 names, which indicates tliat 

 their importation was of re- 

 cent date and does not arfect 

 tlie main facts of the distribu- 

 ti'in of the gutta percha trees. 



Closely related to the Eb^my 

 I'amily, the Sapotads resemlilc 

 them in the structure of their 

 wn.)ds which, however, gen- 

 erally speaking, are red insiea 

 of black. As in most extensive 

 orders and genera there is a 

 wide range in density, etc.. 



some being fine cabinet woods. P-vlaqui 



while others are comparatively 



soft and adapted only for boards and lumbers of inferior class. 

 This is important from an economic point of view because trees, 

 even if long lived, are not immortal and the ultimate value of 

 the lumber product is a necessary factor in a correct estimate 

 of the value of a plantation. Unfortunately, the wood of Pah- 

 tjiiium gutta is not first class, though of handsome appearance 

 and well adapted for purposes where great stren.gth or hard 

 usage is not expected. Payeiia Iccri, which gives a .good quality 

 of gutta percha, furnishes a hard and valuable light brow-n wood, 

 which is more than twice as heavy as that of Palaqidum gutta. 

 The wood of the balata, as well as that of the chicle tree, is 

 handsome and valuable. 



.Speaking again of what the botanists have done in naming 

 and renaming gutta producers, the following partial list is most 

 informing: 



Pole,,.: 

 Palaqv, 



costutata 

 I'hlongifulia ... . 

 Pc-rakcnsis. 



King ai 

 liirysophilla . ... 

 ■cri lienth 



".amble 

 Clarke 

 ..Wall 

 . Ro.vli. 



)LRCE.S .AND SUPPLV. 

 1857 a committee of tlie 

 legislature reported that 

 thure was no need of prolccl- 

 ing the passenger pigeon Iji- 

 cause that bird existed in sucli 

 Countless numbers that the 

 icaselcss activity of the gun- 

 ners could never efifect any 

 serious diminution. Today 

 there is in the world just one 

 solitary passenger pigeon, 

 awaiting in captivity the day 

 when death shall take it to join 

 the millions of its kind, exter- 

 minated by man's brutal and 

 fatuous greed.* Twenty years 

 ago the leading rubber nianu- 

 lacturers were interviewed as 

 to tlie desirability and possible 

 ludlit to be found in the culture 

 .1" india rubber. Without a 

 ■xception the answers 

 were deprecatory, and the\ 

 'M Gltt.v. make curious reading at a tinu- 



when quite half of the india 

 rubber coming to the world's markets is from the plantations 

 of countries then furnishing a negligible quantity of the rubber 

 supply. Here are some of the cominents : 



"The stories about rubber planting .strike me very much as 

 Jules Verne's writings — good reading, but of no practical use. 

 I believe it would be as easy to import the rubber lands and 

 place thein in the United States as to successfully operate a 

 large rubber plantation." 



"Why do I not interest myself in the cultivation of rubber? 

 ] will an.swer that question by asking another. Why don't I go 

 into the cultivation of coal? In other words, what is the use 

 of doing what is already well done?" 



"The rubber forests are inexhaustible and a scarcity of rub- 

 ber or an inadequate supply seetns out of the question. .N'o 



lapci- 



thi: 



specii 



