136 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1916. 



Plantation Rubber in Cochin China — III. 



By Lawrence P. Briggs, United Slates Consul at Saigon, French Indo-China. 



Ceylon. 



41.29 



55.15 



2.18 



.41 



.36 



















Braiil. 



31.70 



56.37 



1.90 



















7.13 



2.90 



QUALITY OF COCHIN CHINA PLANTATION RUBBER. 



VARIOUS tests show that Cochin China plantation rubber 

 compares favorably with the similar product of other rub- 

 ber i)rotlucing countries. The latex produces the usual 

 percentage of rul)bcr and the purity of the manufactured product 

 is not inferior to that of other rubber. 



The comparison of the analysis of the late.K of the Soui-giao 

 plantation, made by M. Vernct in the Pasteur Institute at 

 Nhatrang, with tests of Brazil and Ceylon rubber shows that the 

 latex of Cochin China contains a greater proportion of rubber 

 than that of Brazil and slightly less than that of Ceylon: 



Constituents. Soui-giao. 



Rubber 37.91 



Water 54.38 



Albuminoids 2.30 



Residue 3.35 



Sugar 1« 



Resin 62 



Acids ^0' 



Organic substances 



Other products 



The following table shows the results of analyses made at the 

 Michelin factory of the various classes of Suoi-giao rubber, com- 

 pared with fine Para rubber of the Upper Amazon: 



Coagulation 

 Natural 

 Para. 



Rubber 96.87 



Resins 2.62 



Moisture ■• ■:?^ 



Residue 19 



These tables show the physical composition of Cochin China 

 latex and rubber. The actual physical tests of the quality of 

 Ong-Yem rubber sent to the 

 International Rubber Exposi- 

 tion at London in 1911 gave 

 this rubber a rating of 89.5 

 points out of a possible 100. 

 Tests were also made to de- 

 termine its tensile strength 

 (j. e., the weight necessary to 

 break a piece of rubber ^4 by 

 J4 by 2 inches), its extension 

 (t. e., the length of the above 

 piece, at the moment of break- 

 ing), its strain or coefficient 

 of resistance (i. e., the exten- 

 sion produced by half the 

 weight necessary to break it) 

 and its force of tension, or 

 stress (t. e., its coefficient of 

 rupture per square inch). 

 These tests show the following 

 comparison between the Ong- 

 Yem predict and fine hard Para rubber. 



Tensile 

 Strength. 



Para 59.4 pounds 



Ong-Yem 55 pounds 



Native Devices for Tapping and Collecting Late.x, 



a — Tapping knife (coupe-coupe), b — Knapsack can for collecting 

 latex, c — Cup from joint of bamboo for receiving late.x. 



Extension. Strain. 



9Vi in. 

 &'/, in. 



4Ji in. 

 4 1/16 in. 



Stress. 



440 pounds 

 475.2 pounds 



Cochin China rubber received honorable mention at the Singa- 

 pore Exposition (1910), a diploma of honor at the London 

 Exposition (1911), a Grand Prize at the Ghent Exposition (1913) 

 and a diploma of honor, two silver medal diplomas, two silver 

 medals and a gold medal at the London Exposition (1914). It 

 is only necessary to add that it receives the highest prices in 

 the rubber market of Paris. 



Kilogram = 2.2 pounds. Hectare = 2.47 acres. 



INSTALLATION: COST OF PRODUCTION. 

 Tile installation used in the preparation of the rubber varie: 

 from a shed containing a set of rollers and some drying space 

 to a fine, large building and the latest modern equipment such as 

 are found on the plantations of Xatrach and Suzannah. The 

 smaller plantations prepare the product with no equipment except 

 a single roller, while the natives roll it into a mass like wild 

 rubber ; but the larger plantations are equipped to make the 

 best quality of smoked sheets of crepe. The Belland estates, 

 which until 1913 produced nearly all the rubber exported from 

 Saigon, now make only crepe and scrap rubber, while Xatrach 

 plantation, which during the past two years has been the most 

 productive, turns out various grades of rubber in the following 

 proportions : Yz smoked sheets, Yi crepe, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. 



Cost of production has, up to the present time, been such » 

 variable quantity that it is v^ry difficult to say anything about it. 

 Only one plantation or group of plantations — the Belland Es- 

 tates — has approached its limit of production. The Xatrach 

 plantation is the most productive at present, but its trees are 

 young and some experts are of the opinion that the installation 

 and initial expense was too great for the size of the estate. It 

 is estimated that, when the larger plantations are fully developed, 

 the cost of production , will be about 50 cents (United States 

 currency) per kilo — a figure somewhat below that of the neigh- 

 boring countries of the Far East. None of the plantations have 

 ever been able to produce at this figure, except, perhaps, the Bel- 

 land Estates, which have practically no installation except crepe 

 '■°"^''S- THE LABOR PROBLEM. 



One of the chief factors of 

 cost of production is labor. The 

 laborers on the rubber planta- 

 tions of Cochin China are near- 

 ly all Annamites or Mois. The 

 cost of coolie hand-labor is 

 about 15 to 20 cents (United 

 States currency) per day for 

 men, and 10 to 15 cents for wo- 

 men, with or without rice. The 

 Annamite is industrious, apt 

 and fairly efficient, but slow. 

 Tlie Mois — a semi-savage tribe 

 — are inferior to the Anna- 

 mites. The Locninh plantation 

 has imported about 600 Jav- 

 anese coolies. Their slight 

 superiority to the Annamite 

 may be due entirely to their 

 previous training in this kind 

 of work. 



The region directly tributary to the port of Saigon — Cochin 

 China, Cambodia and southern Annam — is not overpopulated. 

 This region comprises more than lOO.fKIO square miles and has 

 a population not much above S,000,(KX). It is a very rich country. 

 The exports from the port of Saigon generally amount to about 

 $40,000,000 per year — more than 70 per cent of the entire export 

 of French Indo-China, although this region has less than one- 

 third of the total population. This exportation is almost entirely 

 of agricultural products — mainly rice, Saigon generally ranking 

 second to Rangoon among the ports of the world in the exporta- 

 tion of this product. During rice-harvest the labor question is 

 sometimes an anxious one, and this will be increasingly true as 



Franc = 23.8 cents. Piastre = about SO cents. 



