THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1916. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN MALAYA. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE annual meetings of many of the rubber estate com- 

 panies of the Malay Teninsula have been coming thick 

 and fast in the last two months, and to those connected 

 with the industry a comparison of the reports for 1915 is of 

 interest. Though companies may differ widely in degree, some 

 owning new estates which are just beginning to feel their feet, 

 and others being old established concerns— as old established 

 goes in the Eastern rubber trade — one dominant fact stands out 

 in all the reports; that is, 1915 was a good year. Among most 

 of the companies which have reached the paying stage, a dividend 

 of less than 10 per cent for the year is exceptional. In the gilt- 

 edged varieties we find figures calculated to take away the 

 breath of those who are not acquainted with rubber's paying 

 properties. There are companies which have paid 160 per cent 

 and more for the year, and cent per cent is not by any means 

 uncommon. Those outside the magic circle can only vaguely 

 imagine what it feels like to get one's investment, and more, 

 returned annually. 



As perhaps the majority of the companies are registered in 

 England, and the bulk of the shareholders reside there, a matter 

 of immediate concern to directors at the present time is that of 

 excess profits taxation. Just now, no one seems to have any 

 definite idea as to what rubber companies will be called upon to 

 pay in this direction, and all that can be done is to carry forward 

 substantial sums to cover any possible demands. Naturally a 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer, with war expenditure to provide 

 for, is likely to keep a sharp eye on companies which pay big 

 dividends. While the most prosperous companies feel that they 

 cannot reasonably object to whatever calls are made, many of 

 the newer ones feel that they have a legitimate grievance in one 

 respect. Estates may have reached a paying basis only since the 

 war began, and shareholders feel that not only is it impossible 

 to attribute their profits to the fact that war is being waged, but 

 that profits would probably have been a great deal bigger if 

 there had been no war. But these are questions which have still 

 to be decided, and, as I have said, all that companies can do at 

 present is to retain an ample reserve. 



The matter of forward contracts is also prominent in most 

 reports. As is generally known, forward contracts have become 

 a feature of the- rubber business of late years, for when the last 

 echoes of the boom of 1910 had died away, and the price began 

 on a steady downward course, many companies became anxious 

 regarding the policy of selling from month to month, and 

 would agree to sell so much of the monthly output at a fixed 

 price for, say, one year. The days when a price of four shillings 

 a pound was not at all luilikely seemed gone forever. .A two- 

 shilling period appeared to have set in, so it was thought better 

 to sell at, say, a fixed 2s. 4rf. for the year than to fluctuate 

 from \s. lOrf. to 2s. 8d. These figures are, of course, merely 

 approximate. Naturally a forward contract policy cuts both 

 ways, and in 1915 the cut happened to be against the seller. In 

 the last six months of the year there was a sharp rise in prices, 

 and companies which had contracted to sell so much of their 

 output at 2s. 5d. a pound bemoaned the fact that in the ab- 

 sence of forward contracts they could have got an easy 2s. llrf. 

 However, directors console themselves with the reflection that 

 the forward contract policy seemed l)est when the year began, 

 and they could not be expected to foresee what the last few 

 months would bring to light. 



A point in reports which those concerned with the manufac- 

 turing side of the business will note with pleasure, is that it 

 is now quite the rule for companies to earmark a certain por- 

 tion of their output, to be used in the scheme for investigating 

 new uses of rubber. It is generally admitted nowadays that 

 the methods of employing rubber are only beginning to be dis- 

 covered, and with the export fmm Malaya increasing practically 



month by month, it is easy to' see that this is a point which 

 concerns the producer as much as the manufacturer. That com- 

 lianies owning estates realize this is now quite evident, and with 

 the money and produce which is being set aside for the purpose, 

 one hopes to hear of a big step forward in the development of 

 the product's usefulness. 



-As regards the increasing output from Malaya, a passage from 

 the last report of the Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settle- 

 ments is of interest. Here it is said that rice cultivation, formerly 

 the staple industry of the Straits Settlements and the Federated 

 Malay States, is fast disappearing. The Malay who owns a few 

 rubber trees can live in comfort, have silks for himself and his 

 family, and buy all the imported rice he wants — a decided con- 

 trast to the lot of the rice cultivator, who has to cultivate with all 

 bis might, in order to support a bare existence. Demands for rub- 

 lier plantations are increasing enormously, and where possible, 

 as regards small native holders, the government lets them out 

 with the proviso that trees are grown in conjunction with the 

 cultivation of more homely products. Meanwhile, rice fields 

 are allowed to lie fallow so that cultivation can be taken up again 

 ai once if necessity arises. 



The following figures, which are those for the first quarter 

 of the present year, show the increase in the export of rubber 

 from Malaya down to the present time. 



1914. 1915. 1916. 



.January toiis 2,542 3.473 4,471 



February 2,364 3,411 5,207 



March 2.418 3,418 4,429 



Totals 7,324 10,302 14,107 



PECULIAR METHOD OF GATHERING RUBBER IN 

 SIERRA LEONE. 



A CURIOUS and interesting method of collecting Funtumia 

 elastica rubber in Sierra Leone is described in a book re- 

 cently written by O. H. Newland, director of the Peneiro Rub- 

 ber Estates, Limited. 



The natives fell the tree and cover it with dry grass, which is 

 set on fire. The heat generated is just sufficient to cause a prac- 

 tical coagulation of the latex in the lactiferous vessels. The bark 

 is then bruised off by pounding with stones, and the debris taken 

 down to the river and washed thoroughly to separate the bark 

 from the rubber. The separation is seldom complete, and the re- 

 sult is a dirty rubber, fetching 2s. [48 cents] per pound. 



This primitive method, however, is not universal in Sierra 

 Leone. The more intelligent natives ascend the trunk of the 

 standing tree by means of a sling passed around the trunk. One 

 end of the sling is provided with a loop which fits over the right 

 thigh. The worker keeps his left foot on the sling and thus, by 

 moving the rope up the tree the ascent is rapidly accomplished 

 and when the desired point is reached, both hands are free to 

 make the tapping. 



The climber carries a chisel with which he cuts vertical as 

 well as transverse oblique grooves, forming a rough "herring 

 hone" pattern, which may be continued the whole length of the 

 trunk, and even extend up to the main branches. The flow of 

 latex commences at once, and follows the vertical channel into 

 a oalabash placed at the base of the tree, being guided by meaii^ 

 of a lip of clay or a chip of wood. The quantity of latex pro- 

 cured at one tapping varies from a pint to two quarts per tree. 

 .•\fter each tapping the tree is allowed to rest several months, 

 during which the wounds heal. On the second tapping the same 

 form of cut is made upon the opposite side of the tree, and the 

 transverse channels often intersect those made previously. 



In gathering the vine rubber of the Landolphia owariensis, 

 the natives add lime juice to hasten coagulation when it is nec- 

 essary to do so. Usually, however, the Landolphia latex coagu- 

 lates in the tapping wound almost immediately upon exposure 



