380 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1916. 



UDAPUSSEl.LAWA PLA.VTKRS' ASSOCIATION. 



This association held its annual meeting on January 16. Ac- 

 cording to its report the year just closed was an exceptional one, 

 the crops of every estate showing a gain over 1914. This was 

 doubtless due to a continuance of rainfall during June, July 

 and Au.gu.st. 



S.M.K OK RlHr.ER SHARES. 



WIk'ii the little boom of rubber shares in London occurred, 

 late in 191.^, cclunial holders of such shares were placed at a dis- 

 tinct disadvantage, compared with their British fellow-investors, 

 because of the ruling of the Home Government that unless hold- 

 ers of stock residing abroad could prove physical possession in 

 Cireat Britain on September 14, 1914, they would not be permit- 

 ted to sell their holdings in the London market. Because of this 

 disadvantage shares can be purchased in Ceylon at a lower rate 

 than is possible in London, but, as a matter of fact, there are 

 practically no sales of sterling shares here. The British Govern- 

 ment can prevent the sale of rupee shares in London, but they 

 cannot prevent London purchasers remitting money to Ceylon 

 and having rupee shares purchased here on their account. 



Cevlo.n T.apper Paring the Cuts. 



Thus the purpose of the government's restriction, the preven- 

 tion of sending money out of Great Britain, is frustrated, and 

 purchases of shares continue, in spite of this legal obstacle. 

 RUBBER EXPORTS TO AMERICA. 



In the latter part of January a rumor reached us from Lon- 

 don that the export of crude rubber direct to America from 

 British ports in the East was to be prohibited. This report 

 caused some commotion, but was generally received with skepti- 

 cism, for many of us believe that Mincing Lane has certain rea- 

 sons for readily accepting any reported embargo on direct ship- 

 ments from the East. As far as I have been able to learn from 

 investigations here, all that has happened up to the present is 

 an increased difficulty in obtaining permits from London. Should 

 the rumored prohibition actually go into effect, shippers here 

 would find themselves in the same position as at the outbreak 

 of the war, when a similar prohibition was actually put into 

 effect. This embargo was short-lived, but, had it lasted, it is 

 probable that its effects would not have been too severe upon 



our exporters, as our rubber would have continued to reach the 

 United States via London. 



Here at Ceylon, we are aware that some rublier has found 

 it,", way from the United States to Germany, but we cannot see 

 in this the necessity of discriminating against direct exports 

 from Eastern ports, and it is difficult to see how there can be 

 less control over shipments received in America from the East 

 direct, than over those passing through London. We feel that 

 it is entirely a question of the American manufacturers keeping 

 their faith with the British Government and not permitting rub- 

 ber to get into the hands of German agents. If the .American 

 manufacturers have failed to protect what are in fact their own 

 interests we cannot blame the British Government for taking 

 whatever steps they lielie\e necessary to prevent our rubber 

 reaching the enemy. 



However, from all one is able to learn here, there is no ques- 

 tion of prohibiting the export of rubber from here to America, 

 but the applications for export permits have become so numer- 

 ous that it has been found necessary to do something to check 

 the movement. Already this year large quantities of rubber have 

 been loaded here for New York, San Francisco, Seattle and 

 other American ports. During the past few weeks applications 

 for export permits have been received in such large quantities in 

 London that, had all of them been granted, the result would 

 have been that practically the entire output of the East in the 

 period in question would have been shipped to the United 

 States. 



HUOOMHAI.L'S RUBBER CODE. 



Soon after the outbreak of the war, the British Government 

 prohibited the use of cable codes in foreign cablegrams. Later, 

 ci>ncessi<ins were allowed for all recognized codes, including 

 r.rn.mdialls Code for general purposes, but not the Rubber Edi- 

 tinn. This omission, which was solely due to lack of agitation on 

 tlie part of those interested, has been corrected and the British 

 authorities now sanction the use of Broomhall's Rubber Code, 

 which is much used by the rubber interests here. 



PLANTERS- ASSOCIATION OF CEYLON. 

 The 62nd annual meeting of this association was held recently, 

 and the report submitted by the committee for the year 1915 

 touched several interestmg subjects. The first half of the year 

 was quite favorable for harvesting rubber crops, but the re- 

 mainder was decidedly unpropitious, the production of most of 

 the rubber estates being far behind their estimates. It has been 

 found that the cost of tapping decreases as the yield increases, 

 and the following table was submitted as giving the average costs 

 for several years : 



200 pounds per acre 20 cents per pound 



300 pounds per acre 17 cents per pound 



400 pounds per acre 13-14 cents per pound 



Over 400 pounds per acre 10-13 cents per pound 



It was found that some of the diseases which attacked the 

 ruliber trees were more virulent the past year, the principal ones 

 being bark canker, leaf fall or glco spormin, and die-back of 

 renewed bark. This latter was the most serious, and was par- 

 ticularly severe during the wet weather. Various remedial 

 treatments are being used experimentally, but no definite report 

 as to their success was given. The increase of acreage under 

 cultivation was very small. Thinning out is being continued on 

 most estates, and it is believed that later on not more than 

 80 to 100 trees will be the rule, it having been found that in 

 properly thinned out estates disease is less common and bark 

 renewal much more rapid. The shortage of potash has brought 

 about changes in fertilizing mixtures. A fair average yield per 

 acre was pronounced to be 350 pounds where estates had been in- 

 telligently thinned out and cultivated. A few cases showed 

 yields amounting to 500 pounds per acre. 



