202 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[Janvarv 1, 1916. 



Rubber Planting Notes. 



CEYLON FORWARD CONTRACTS FOR 1916 EXEMPT FROM TAX. 



Till-: decision of the British Colonial authorities to place a 

 duty of 10 shillings ($2.42) per 100 pounds, or about 2.5 

 cents a pound, on all Ceylon rubber exports, was reported 

 and commented upon editorially in the November issue of The 

 India Rubber World. 



Recent information shows that this decision has caused much 

 unrest among the rubber buyers of Colombo, many of whom, as 

 commission agents acting for principals in other countries, had 

 contracted for future delivery of rubber still to be gathered and 

 delivered month by month. The government's intention was to 

 tax the producer, but the absence of any clause in the contracts 

 for future delivery, relating to duty payments, caused the liability 

 to fall on the buyer. 



Meetings of buyers were held and much correspondence was 

 exchanged between the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the 

 Colonial Government with the result that the latter has consented 

 to exempt, for a period not to extend beyond December 31, 1916, 

 payment of the new tax on all rubber still to be delivered to 

 shippers month by month under formal contracts entered into 

 before October 1, 1915. 



CRUDE RUBBER EXPORTS FROM SUMATRA. 



The latest report published by the Chamber of Commerce of 

 Medan, Sumatra, covers the first six months of 1915, and from 

 it we have compiled the following table, showing the destination 

 and quantities of crude rubber exported from Sumatra during 

 this period : 



To— 



London pounds 4,918,232 



United States 1,281,027 



Netherlands 749,773 



. Singapore 292,081 



Penana 207,429 



Tava T 44,801 



Other destinations 339,876 



Total 7.833,219 



A DISEASE OF MALAYA PLANTATION RUBBER. 



A fungoid disease of plantation rubber in Malaya is the 

 suliject of Bulletin Xo. 22. of the Federated Malay States 

 Department of Agriculture, by Mr. F. T. Brooks, M.A., who 

 states; 



This disease is caused by a fungus known as Ustulina 

 sonata and is easily distinguished from root diseases caused by 

 Fames scmitostus. Sphocrostilbc rcpinis and Hymcnochoete noxia. 

 Its fructifications present themselves in the shape of greyish and 

 blackish plates on the collar and on exposed lateral roots mostly 

 of old rubber trees, though five-year-old trees are also attacked. 

 It is believed that the fungus begins to grow on rotten roots, but 

 in some cases it has been observed to follow attacks of white 

 ants. The development of the disease can often be arrested by 

 cutting off and destroying all discolored tissues when the fungus 

 is in its early stages. 



A rubber "goldbrick" is reported as offered for sale in the Far 

 East, where the government of the Federated Malay States has 

 issued a warning to "get-rich-quick" investors against the pur- 

 chase, from designing individuals, of seeds of the "paint tree," 

 said to yield a latex from which rubber-paint can be made. The 

 seeds are those of a Manihot, the cultivation of which proved 

 a failure in Malaya. 



The Imperial Ethiopian Rubber Co., Limited, an English cor- 

 poration that received from the Emperor Menelik of Abyssinia 

 an exclusive concession for the collection and exportation of 

 rubber, covering the whole of his empire, has been placed in liqui- 

 dation. The monopoly was withdrawn in 1908. 



Replete with information for rubber manufacturers. — Mr. 

 Pearson's "Crude Rubber and Compounding Ingredients." 



MALAY PRODUCTION COSTS. 



The foUowing list, taken from "Grenier's Rubber News." 

 Kuala Lumpur, shows the progress made by 20 leading compa- 

 nies in reducing the cost of producing plantation rubber during 

 tlie past three years : 



Cost Per 

 Pound in United States Currency. 



I'lanuuions. wT. 1913. 19l7! 



Batu Caves cents 36.6 25.5 18.6 



ICapar Para 36.1 29.8 19.8 



Pataling 33.0 26.2 19.8 



Selangor 34.0 27.7 20.1 



Kuala Selangor 39.7 31.1 20.3 



Straits Rubber 38.0 26.8 20.5 



Sungei Kapar 35.9 27.1 20.8 



Harpenden 36.6 30.7 21.8 



Highlands 39.0 28.4 22.2 



Seafield 42.5 32.8 23.3 



Nordanal 37.5 32.1 2i.i 



Klanang 39.2 26.2 23.6 



Kcpong 48.4 33.3 24.1 



Scottish Malay 43.3 26.9 24.1 



Lanadron 47.6 38.9 24.3 



Ledbury 40.6 30.5 24.3 



Damansara 37.4 30.4 24.7 



Gula-Kalumpong 50.5 36.5 24.9 



Golconda 43.0 30.4 24.9 



Anglo-.Malay 41.1 30.3 25.3 



.\ver.nge cost 35.0 30.5 23.9 



THE RUBBER PLANTATION INDUSTRY IN THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 



The total area under ruliber cultivation in Malacca is 117,200 

 acres, and evidence of the steadiness and good future of the in- 

 dustry is shown in recent reports from the Far East, which 

 state that various rubber estates throughout the country are 

 opening up fresh areas to rubber plantations. 



It has long been a practice in the Straits Settlements' planta- 

 tions to interplant rubber with tapioca. Now, however, these 

 catch crops under rubber are being abandoned. 



VIEWS or R. DERRY ON HEVEA PLANTING. 



In a paper on the "Life of a Rubber Estate." R. Derry, ex- 

 ofliicer of the Federated Malay States Agricultural Department, 

 sets forth in detail a plan to utilize the advantages of different 

 methods in Hevca planting. In part, Mr. Derry states that the 

 primary tree is the best form to cultivate but that in close plant- 

 ing this advantage is lost, owing to the fact that in the struggle 

 for light the strong branches do not develop. The "pollard" tree 

 is a fast grower and bears early, but is the first exploited. Early 

 tapping is necessary, but injurious to subsequent growth, leading 

 to early exhaustion of the estate. Mr. Derry advises planting one 

 set of permanent, primary trees wide apart and leaving them un- 

 tapped ; at the same time inter-planting another set of subsidiary, 

 pollard trees, to be kept pruned and brought into bearing early. 

 The primary trees should be left untapped for the term of the 

 subsidiary crop — 10 to 11 years after transplanting. 



PRUNING RUBBER TREES ON PLANTATIONS, 



Writing on the subject of wholesale pruning of rubber trees, 

 as practiced on Malayan plantations, an expert correspondent 

 of our Far Eastern contemporary, the "Malay Mail," is of the 

 opinion that it is not good practice unless carried out with suf- 

 ficient discrimination. On many plantations the lower branches 

 of trees are removed, not only from closely planted trees where 

 the branches have met, but also on open plantations where the 

 trees have not yet completely shaded the ground. Indiscriminate 

 pruners are guided more by routine than by the theory that the 

 lower branches which they destroy prevent light and air reaching 

 the tree stems, thus retarding the growth of the plants. In 

 closely planted areas the additional shade provided by lower 

 branches may preserve humidity and thus retard bark renewal 



