442 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1, 1916. 



Rubber Planting Notes. 



CRUDE RUBBER EXPORTS FROM FRENCH INDO-CHnJA. RUBBER IN BURMA. 



Till'! latest availabli; official statistics regarding crude rubber b'or years past ibe government of British Burma has been un- 

 exports from French Indo-China are for the calendar year decided as to the revenue which the rubber industry there ought 

 1914. and show that the total of these exports for the period to yield to the Provincial Exchequer and the longstanding dis- 

 covered amounted to 180,692 kilograms [397,522 pounds], and cussion as to the extent of the government's share has materially 

 were distributed as follows : retarded the industry. 



France : — Most of the plantations are on leased lands, paying a rent to 



Plantation rubber Pounds 297,161 the government; and all along there appears to have existed a 



Wild Forest rubber " 79 feeling that, in addition to the rent, the rubber planters, whether 



Singapore : — private individuals or limited companies, should pay something 



Plantation rubber Pounds 100,283 additional either in the form of a royalty or as an export duty, 



Compared with 1913 these ligures show a decrease of 66,000 as is done in Ceylon and elsewhere, 



pounds in the exports of plantation rubber to France and a de- Recently a deputation representing the Upper and Lower 



crease of 8,800 pounds for the same exports to Singapore. The Burma Planters' Association called upon the Lieutenant-Gover- 



year 1913 was, however, exceptional, for the plantation rubber nor and views of the situation were interchanged, 



exports to Singapore amounted to 99,000 pounds against 13,200 Among the suggestions made, one, that is most likely to be 



pounds in 1912. The decrease in the plantation rubber exports acceptable to both the local government and the planters, pro- 



to Singapore during 1914 was due to the fact that the great poses that the latter pay an equitable rent for the land under 



Michelin company of France bought up the whole output of one rubber and a further contribution based on the selling price of 



of the largest plantations of Indo-China. rubber in London. This payment would rise and fall as the 



However, the fact remains that the war has injuriously affected selling price fluctuates, 



the plantation rubber industry in French Indo-China. The The matter is now in the hands of the government, which has 



measures of financial conservation which the .Allies took from decided to refer the proposals for fuller discussion and to evolve 



the very beginning of the war prevented the sale of plantation some definite proposition, to a sub-committee in which both 



shares on European markets and, as reported in The Indi.\ Rub- sides are represented. 



BER World for February, 1916, many plantations would have been The climate of Burma is considered a good one fur rubber 



obliged to abandon operations had the local government not been growing, and the proposed arrangement, if definitely adopted, 



able to negotiate loans through the Banque de I'lndo-Chine for should encourage people in going into tlie ruljber planting busi- 



tlie benefit of those Hevca planters most seriously affected. These ness in the colony. 



loans accomplished great good, because they were timely and 



were allowed only after careful investigation of both the plant- 



, , . . , ,. . r , , ■ INDENTURED LABOR FOR RUBBER ESTATES. 



mg and the financial condition of the plantations. 



India and Java have, for many years, been the source of labor 



supply for all parts of the tropical world, India furnishing labor 



DIFFERENCE IN QUALITY OF HEVEA LATEX. chiefly to Ccylon and Malaya, while Java was the supplier of 



.\ rubber expert writing in the "Monthly Bulletin of .\gricul- hands for Sumatra and other countries. This labor received 



tural Intelligence and Plant Diseases" is of opinion that the "coast advances" and similar money and was indentured for 



properties of Hevca late.x vary according to the tree from which three or more years. 



it is obtained, and he bases his opinion on determinations Recently the government of the Netherlands and East Indies 



of viscosity of rubber in solution in benzene. He made up an put a stop to the three-year indenture of Javanese coolies for 



index of viscosity, and discovered large differences among the Sumatra, and now it is said that the Government of British India 



individual trees yielding the rubber. This expert also believes will follow suit by deciding to abolish the system of Indian in- 



that there is a correlation between the color of the latex and dentured labor. 



the quality of the rubber obtained from it. It would appear that Such a policy would affect the labor of the whole of the tropical 



these observations are of use in the selection of seed-bearing world, including Jamaica, Trinidad, British and Dutch Guiana, 



trees. Fiji- ^tc., but it would be particularly felt on Ceylon and Malayan 



rubber plantations where labor is of vital importance and, as 



EXPERIMENTS FOR PREVENTING THE BARK ROT DISEASE OF before Said, comes chiefly from India. 



RUBBER TREES. 



The Progress Report of the Peradeniya Experiment Station. „^„ „„ „„» „ ,„ „, ^ „ 



, . ^ , . . . , ELEPHANTS UPROOTING RUBBER TREES. 



Peradeniva, Ceylon, contains interesting reference to experiments 



conducted at that station for preventing the development of the •' >^ '^P'''''"^ ^'"" 'he Middle East that several large rubber 



bark rot disease of rubber trees. ^^'^'^ '" '^^ Kalutara district of Ceylon are using elephants for 



The newly tapped surfaces of the trees are covered with a thin "''""'"^ °"t ™°':''- This scheme for uprooting rubber trees was 



coating of a mixture made bv boiling 1 ounce of sulphur in half ^'^^ '^^°'^^'^ t° '" Ka utara, it is said, by a contractor, who, hav- 



a kerosene tin [2.< gallons] 'of water and adding equal parts of '"S. «"'"^d into a felling agreement, made a profitable business 



animal compost and clay till a thick paste is obtained. A pinch °^ " ''>' *"'^ method, 

 of salt is added to keep the paste moist and prevent cracking and 



peeling off from the tree. The object of this treatment is to pro- proposed Japanese customs tariff revision. 



tect the exposed delicate, cambium layer from sun and drying A Government Bill recently introduced in the Japanese Diet 



w-inds, as a precaution against the bark rot, and to encourage (Parliament) proposes to modify the customs duties on various 



good bark renewal. The experiments proved it to be advisable articles imported into Japan. .Among these articles are seeds of 



to apply this treatment monthly during the dry weather to within rubber and gutta percha trees which are proposed for the free 



a quarter of an inch of the tapping area. list. These seeds are not specified in the tariff rates now in force. 



