230 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January 1, 1917. 



market. The war is sure to be over within three years, and by 

 that time all of the young trees of this section will be producing 

 their full amount of latex, insuring four or five thousand tons of 

 crude rubber annually— enough in itself to supply all of the 

 Japanese manufactories. 



NEW PATENTS. 



NISIIIMURA RUBBER REPRODUCER. 

 ""PHE Oriental Rubber Co., of Tokio, has secured a patent for 

 this device which is made of common rubber, and is used 

 to reproduce any print in black or color from paper or other 

 material. Papers are laid on a bench and pressed by the repro- 

 ducer. A little heat is needed for the process, and at the end 

 the papers are washed clean by a chemical solution. 



RUBBERIZED WOVEN BELTS. 

 The Band and Belt Co., of Kobe, have rights in this invention. 

 Twisted threads are woven together and then coated on both 

 sides with a rubber fluid. The belts thus formed are cheap and 

 strong, and give more satisfaction than those made of leather. 



AUTOMATIC INK STAMP. 

 Toichi Watanake, of Tokio, is the inventor of this stamp. No 

 ink has to be used except to keep the machine well filled. 



CELLULOID POLISHER. 

 This is the invention of Teisuke Koyama. It is used to polish 

 anything made of celluloid, and is generally considered better 

 than cloth polishers. If all moisture is excluded in the making, 

 the polisher is very durable. 



THE BALATA INDUSTRY IN DUTCH GUIANA. 



THE 1916 balata crop has been reaped and prospecting opera- 

 tions for next year's production are in full swing. A fair 

 amount of money has been made this year, and had the Euro- 

 pean war not closed the most lucrative markets the returns 

 would have been highly satisfactory. 



The 1915 crop, however, was fairly good and had conditions 

 been normal the balata industry in Dutch Guiana would now 

 be in a flourishing condition. This statement is borne out by the 

 report of the Balata Co., Surinam, extracts from which follow: 



During 1915 the business has presented many difficulties, some 

 of which were hard to face. We do not say these difficulties 

 were connected with the new ordinance, under which for the first 

 time the operations were carried out — in fact, this exploitation 

 took place on too small a scale for the observation of the 

 ordinance to come up to expectations — but the difficulties were 

 the consequence of the belated enactment of the ordinance, so 

 that the granting of concessions by the government also was 

 considerably retarded. The result of this was that a goodly part 

 of the laborers, not being able to afford a long idleness, had to 

 seek other employment elsewhere. When, therefore, the opera- 

 tions were started afresh — some four months later than usual — 

 only a very few men could be obtained. 



Weather conditions, with the exception of a too early drought, 

 were favorable, so that operating with only 370 men, a production 

 of 99,608 kilograms [219,596 pounds] was brought in to our 

 stores. 



During the year past we could dispose of our balata here, and 

 the stock at Paramaribo was also converted into cash. By these 

 transactions the financial obligations were somewhat ameliorated 

 and a part of the debit balance of advances was neutralized. It 

 is proposed, therefore, to utilize the provisional profit-balance of 

 the year 1915 in addition to the profits on the sales of the prod- 

 ucts of 1913-14, after deduction of the losses known at the end 

 of those years. 



The administration of the Balata Co., Guiana, has been amal- 

 gamated with the Balata Co., Surinam, and the exploitation of 

 this concern appears to have given satisfactory results this year. 

 Some delay was experienced, however, the rains not having ap- 

 peared in the month of April as expected, and for the want of 

 good drinking water, a bowel disorder broke out among the 

 laborers. The last news from our administrator in Surinam 



seems to indicate that the production will be satisfactory. Three 

 times as many men are now operating in the bush. There is 

 good reason to believe that the company has passed its worst 

 period and that the future promises well. 



According to the profit and loss account, the profits amount 

 to 161,469 florins [$64,910.54]. 



The above is but one example; if capital be invested judiciously 

 in balata undertakings and well managed, there is big money to 

 be made, and to the writer's knowledge no well-managed com- 

 pany ever failed. Of course, however, there is a certain amount 

 of risk in all enterprises. 



In the Nickerie district a very extensive balata area has just 

 been discovered ; it promises to rival any part of the colony so 

 far under exploitation. This district has already enriched a 

 few companies, and there is room for several more. 



Up to the end of October reports coming in from the several 

 districts were highly satisfactory; this gives every hope that 

 the 1917 crop will be unprecedented, provided conditions are 

 normal. 



EFFECTS OF THE BRITISH BLACKLIST IN BRAZIL. 



That Brazilian and Portuguese concerns in Brazil have been 

 benefited by the effects of the British blacklist, is asserted by our 

 South American contemporary, "Wileman's Brazilian Review," 

 which states that, out of 13,751 tons of crude rubber exported 

 from Brazil since the blacklist went into operation, blacklisted 

 firms have shipped only 894 tons, whereas Brazilian and Portu- 

 guese concerns have shipped 4,689 tons. 



MEXICAN DUTY ON CRrDE RUBBER. 



A decree of the Carranza Government, published December 12, 

 1916, amends article I, section 4 of the revenue law of Mexico 

 and, beginning December 15, 1916, places the export duty on 

 guayule and caucho at $0.10 per kilogram. 



RUBBER TAPPING DURING WINTERING. 



The question of the cessation of tapping plantation Hevea dur- 

 ing the wintering period was brought up at a recent meeting of 

 the Committee of Agricultural Experiments, Kandy, Ceylon. It 

 was pointed out that, according to results obtained from experi- 

 ments, there was no considerable variation in the amount of 

 starch in the bark and wood from November up to the time of 

 leaf fall in March. When the trees were leafless the amount 

 of starch showed no signs of decreasing. It was deduced from 

 investigations that the period during which plantation Hevca 

 should be rested must include the period which extends from the 

 time new leaves start growing to about three weeks after the 

 leaves are fully developed. 



Tapping during the wintering period was unprofitable, due to 

 the small yield per tree, but it was not advisable to stop tapping 

 operations, for the cessation of tapping would upset labor forces. 



The question ultimately resolved itself as to whether the dam- 

 age incurred by the trees through tapping in the wintering period 

 was greater than the loss sustained by the disorganization of 

 labor which could not be prevented were tapping operations 

 suspended during the same period. Data on hand was insuffi- 

 cient to decide the question definitely. 



RUBBER PLANTATION TRIPLES ITS OUTPUT. 



The Brooklands Rubber. Co., Limited, owning plantations in 

 Selangor, Federated Malay States, reports profits amounting to 

 £27,725, or $138,625 for the fiscal year 1915-1916. The directors 

 were able to raise the dividend from 9 to 15 per cent. The cost 

 of production increased, chiefly on account of high freight rates, 

 but the crop increased from 174,050 pounds to 397,007 pounds; 

 27,000 pounds above the estimate of production announced at 

 the general shareholders' meeting in 1915. 



