August 1, 1916.) 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



631 



— practically the only ones now available. Further, a number 

 of national concerns have also been "blacklisted" for having as- 

 sisted the Germans, by allowing them to ship under their names. 



.\t first much resentment resulted from these British measures, 

 but now we are beginning to understand that Great Britain's 

 shipping and commerce are world-wide and interference is there- 

 fore world-wide in its effects. .'\t the beginning there was a 

 belief that the British blacklists were aimed against Brazil, for 

 the purpose of favoring British plantation rubber, but this feeling 

 is rapidly vanishing. 



RfKBKK \.\I.ORIZATIOX. 



T>\e press here is again talking of rubber valorization and of 

 the law for the protection of articles made of Brazilian rubber, 

 which it was found impossible to apply 



To revive this question — which has always been fruitless — is 

 really childish. One need only recall the disastrous attempt at 

 valorization which occurred in 1909 when the production of 

 plantations was insignificant as compared with that of Brazil. 

 What would valorization lead to now that the positions have 

 been more than reversed? Last year the plantations of the 

 Orient produced close to 100.000 tons of crude rubber against 

 Brazil's 35,000 tons, and even under the present favorable con- 

 ditions, and the trade prospects after the war, there is nothing 

 to encourage the belief that our production of crude rubber 

 under the present system will ever approach that of the planta- 

 tions. Before valorization could prove any measure of success 

 we should create and develop a rubber plantation industry on 

 Eastern lines. We must have vast, easily accessible plantations, 

 in full production and equipped with the most modern machinery, 

 before we can hope to regain our lost leadership. 



If we will get to work and profit by the lessons the East 

 has demonstrated, if we will organize real plantations and take 

 proper care of our trees instead of tapping them to death, as 

 is now the practice, then we may be able to get as good, possibly 

 better prices than the East. Such a course would be far more 

 advantageous to the nation than any valorization chimera. 



RUBBER PLANTATIONS IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



"T^HE official report of the British Guiana Department of 

 ■^ Science and .\gficulture for the year 1914-15, recently 

 published, states that the total area under rubber cultivation 

 in the colony was 4,962 acres, an increase of 743 acres over 

 the previous year. It consists almost entirely of Hevca 

 Brasiliensis and by far the greater proportion of the trees 

 have not yet reached maturity. It is anticipated, however, 

 that tapping operations will be commenced on a fairly ex- 

 tensive scale during 1916. 



The rate of growth of the trees in the colony, generally, 



was more rapid than it was in 1913-14 and considerably 



greater than in the year 1912-13. During the year 1911-12 



the trees were badly afflicted by a prolonged drought. 



F.XPERIMENT.\L TAPPING. 



Experimental tapping was continued at Issorora and On- 

 derneeming during the year; tapping was also commenced 

 at Christianburg towards the end of the year. 



At Issorora the tapping of 379 trees in one experiment 

 was commenced in November, 1913, a basal V being em- 

 ployed as the tapping system and the trees being tapped every 

 day. In January, 1915, the tapping of the surface of bark 

 (18 inches high and ;/. circumference of the tree) marked out 

 for the experiment was completed. Altogether, 714 pounds 

 of dry rubber were collected at an average cost of 16 cents 

 per pound. The trees in this experiment were not adjacent 

 to each other, but were scattered through the older part of 

 the rubber cultivation of the station, and the total number. 

 379, was found to be rather more than a fair task for one 

 man to tap in a morning. These two factors resulted in the 



cost of tapping being higher than it would have been had 

 the conditions been more favorable for the experiment. How- 

 ever, this cost of collection for an initial experiment was con- 

 sidered to be quite reasonable. 



In February, 1915, another experiment was inaugurated; 

 300 trees, the number regarded as a fair task for one man 

 to tap in a morning, being tapped each day with a basal V 

 on the opposite half of the tree to that tapped in the previous 

 experiment. L'p to the end of the financial year (March 31), 

 260 pounds of wet rubber had been collected, the equivalent 

 of 130 pounds dry, at a cost of 7 cents a pound. 



The results of these experiments lead the Department of 

 Science and Agriculture to believe that rubber can be col- 

 lected at a low cost in British Guiana, if the trees are grown 

 under proper estate conditions. 



Tapping experiments at other experimental stations were 

 less extensive than at the Issorora station and had not been 

 sufficiently long in progress to enable any accurate conclu- 

 sion to be drawn as to the probable cost of collection per 

 pound. 



The results obtained at the Issorora experimental station, 

 both in regard to cultivation and tapping of cultivated Hevea 

 Brasiliensis, caused much interest among farmers. Towards 

 the close of the year 9.000 Hcira seedlings were planted on 

 various grants and general progress was made on the grants 

 of the Consolidated Rubber and Balata Co., during the year, 

 in connection with planting and tapping operations. 

 BARTICA RUBBER. 



Some news and views of the Bartica Agricultural States Plan- 

 tation in British Guiana were published in the June 1, 1916, 

 issue of The Indi.\ Rubber World. Since that date the first 

 shipment of crude rubber from that plantation has been re- 



'■"•n''i HI I'". ..-.iiiii-, li li.i- Inrii valued at fully equal to 

 iirst lairx ii.p< Xiiu ih.ii ih< MKl acres are coming into bear- 

 ing, the Bartica brand is likely to be well known. The accom- 

 panying view is of one end of the dry-house on this plantation, 

 and shows the first product from five-year-old Hcvca. 



RUBBER EXPORTS FROM TRINIDAD. 



According to a recent report of the .Agricultural Society 

 of Trinidad, B. W. I., rubber is showing up somewhat better 

 on that island, but is still a disappointing item in the exports 

 of the colony. Very few planters have realized expectations. 



