THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1915 



continuance of the manufacture of military supplii-;. tliis will 

 be compensated for by resumption of activities in oilu-r lines 

 tliat have been affected by tlie war. Of course, tlicrc is little 

 cliance of a commodity continuing to sell at more than twice 

 the cost of production when the supply is rapidly increasing, 

 but there is good reason to believe that plantation rubber will 

 always yield substantial if not phenomenal protii to its pro- 

 ducers. Some of the old-established plantations have already 

 reduced tlieir cost of production to the neighborhood of 9rf 

 ( 18.24 cents) per pound, and the chances are th.it turtlier re- 

 ductions will be possible, though generally the cost on a yield 

 of 400 pounds to the acre amounts to about l.t (24.33 cents) 

 |nr pound. The cheapest producers to date arc in the Straits 

 ."-lettlcments. Ceylon's advantages in the matter of general ex- 

 penditure are counter-balanced by a poor soil which necessi- 

 tates the extensive use of fertilizers and naturally adds to the 

 cost of production. The same applies to a great extent to South- 

 ern India. Sumatra should ultimately be abk to produce crude 

 ruliber as cheaply as Malaya, but although the same claim has 

 been made for Java, results do not appear to sustain the conten- 

 tion. 



Regarding production per acre the editor states that he has 

 fi.\ed 400 pounds as an average for mature plantations, but that 

 the productivity of rubber estates varies, like costs of production. 

 Climate and soil are the two principal factors in rubber produc- 

 tion, and in these respects Malaya is most favored, with Sumatra 

 and North Borneo nearly as fortunate; so that these three coun- 

 tries should stand first in respect to yields. Fertilizers have 

 enabled Ceylon to keep well up with Malaya in rubber yields in 

 spite of her less favorable climate and poor soil. Droughts in 

 Java are against that country's obtaining yields equal to those ob- 

 tained in the other rubber producing countries, and Java is not 

 likely to average more than 100 pounds of Hcrca rubber per 

 acre. 



Of course, these facts do not necessarily affect the value of 

 estate investments, for shares in an estate producing 600 pounds 

 of crude rubber per acre may be inferior in value to holdings in 

 another property yielding only 300 pounds per acre ; everything 

 depending upon the share market capitalization per acre of the 

 respective estates. 



Rubber trees in Malaya, Sumatra and North Borneo are gen- 

 erally considered tappable at the end of the fifth year, when the 

 trees are about 18 inches in girth at 3 feet from the ground. In 

 Ceylon, India and Java the tappable stage is reached about one 

 year later. This is true only of plantations where there are no 

 intercrops, for, when Hcvca is interplanted with tea, coffee, 

 cocoa, etc., the development of the rubber-producing trees is re- 

 tarded, in some cases, as much as two years. 



T 



NEW TRADE PUBLICATIONS. 



OUTING. SPORTING AND TENNIS LISTS. 



HE new price lists of the United States Rubber Co., issued 

 September 1, and covering its various brands of sporting, 

 outing and tennis shoes, show what great expansion has taken 

 place during the last few years in this particular department of 

 rubber footwear. The company has issued five different lists 

 as follows : "United States Rubber Co.'s Sporting and Outing 

 Shoes," "The Glove Brand of Canvas Rubber-Soled Shoes for 

 Tennis, Yachting and Dancing," "The Hub-Mark and Rival 

 Rubber-Soled Canvas Shoes for Yachting, Tennis and Summer 

 Wear," the "Rival Tennis" and "Vim Tennis." 



All these lists are of uniform size, iYz x 65/^, but they vary 

 in the volume of contents from the list of Sporting and Outing 

 Shoes, which contains 28 pages, to the Rival and Vim Tennis 

 lists, which consist of a single card. The twenty-eight page list 

 contains thirty-six illustrations and describes over twenty differ- 

 ent types of rubber-soled summer footwear. This list is quite an 



artistic creation, being printed in black, blue and buff and hav- 

 ing at the top and bottom of every page some scene in colors 

 appropriate to the shoe described. These little sketches, which 

 are deftly done, show tennis, yachting, golf, camping, baseball 

 and a variety of other spirited scenes. 



The Glove brand list contains sixteen pages and shows as 

 many half-tone illustrations of the outing shoes made in this 

 brand. The Hub-Mark list is confined to eight pages and con- 

 tains half-a-dozen illustrations showing the yachting, gymnasium 

 and tennis shoes made with this popular trade-mark. The \'im 

 tennis list is evidently intended for people who w'ant comfortable 

 summer shoes at a very comfortably low price. This brand em- 

 braces only Oxfords and the prices, which are net in all these 

 different lists, run from 40 cents for men's to 32 cents for chil- 

 'dren's sizes. 



The growth of the popularity of the canvas rubber-soled shoe 

 and the development of different types to supply every demand, 

 constitute one of the most interesting features of recent rubber 

 footwear history. 



SOME FIRESTONE BOOKLETS. 



"Mileage Talks" is an interesting booklet of 24 pages, in 

 octavo size, published by the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., of 

 Akron, Ohio, to show on just what tire mileage depends. 



The booklet is full of information aliout tires, their durability 

 and details of their construction. The wliole is generously 

 illustrated. 



Another enterprising Firestone publication is evidently in- 

 tended to assist retailers in utilizing Firestone advertisements. 

 It is a 16-page booklet, 1054 x 614 inches in size, the title, 

 "Boom" spectacularly illustrated in black, pink and green on the 

 cover by the blast of a cannon. Within are specific descriptions 

 of the various Firestone "ads" — which include folders and cata- 

 logs, road signs of steel and cloth, posters, hangers, and even 

 lantern slides — with "live wire" suggestions to the dealer as to 

 how he may make use of them for his own benefit. 



The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., of Akron, is publishing 

 a new house organ called "The Firestone." It is a four-page 

 illustrated paper, intended for circulation among the em- 

 ployees in the company's many branches throughout the 

 country and it gives a readable and naturally optimistic ac- 

 count of the various Firestone activities, both commercial 

 and social. 



On the occasion of the flag raising ceremonies described on 

 page 620 of the August issue of The Indi.\ Rubber World, the 

 Essex Rubber Co., Inc., of Trenton, New Jersey, distributed 

 an attractive souvenir in the form of a metal medallion three 

 inches in diameter, with a raised brass edge and having in 

 the center, in a raised design, enameled in colors, the seal 

 of the United States. The souvenir evidently is intended for 

 a paper weight and is admirably adapted for this purpose. 



A booklet issued by the General Bakelite Co., 100 William 

 street. New York, with the somewhat complicated title of 

 "Oxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride" — the full chemical 

 name for the condensation product known as Bakelite — con- 

 tains a description of the distinctive properties of this com- 

 pound and illustrations of the various products made of it. 



GOVERNMENT REPORTS AS AN AID TO EXPORTERS. 



.American manufacturers desiring export trade will find much 

 to interest them in "Commerce Reports," a daily publication is- 

 sued by the United States government. Besides listing the op- 

 portunities for the sale of American goods in foreign markets, it 

 gives a complete daily record of the requirements of the United 

 States government, notices of current changes in the tariff' and 

 trade-mark laws of foreign countries, and other valuable in- 

 formation. This is a pamphlet of 20 or more pages, the cost of 

 which is $2.50 per annum. 



