148 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[Dkikmi 



The Great Rubber Surplus, 



Till': bilief that there will be 80,000 tons of surplus rubber 

 in and about the Federated Malay States between the 

 present time and June, 1919, naturally stirs the British 

 planters and plantation shareholders. Personally we arc of the 

 opinion that this surplus will be absorbed before that time, and 

 not only that but for the year 1920 so great will the world's 

 rubber business be that manufacturers will be fearful of a 

 shortage. Time will of course prove the truth or falsity of this 

 prophecy. 



To the pessimists, or perhaps the clear-sighted, come many 

 remedies. The most popular which has been advanced from 

 various sources is a sort of valorization plan. A writer to one 

 of the London papers advocates a selling association thus : 



I am not a selling agent and have no interest in sales, but I 

 would suggest that a great obstacle to any arrangement would 

 be removed by limiting the selling association to a term of 

 five years and agreeing that the companies joining the associa- 

 tion should continue existing emoluments to agents during that 

 term. I would suggest a selling association with a capital in 

 £10 shares, the capital to be issued to companies in the proportion 

 of il for each cultivated acre. Of the capital £2 per share only 

 to be called in calls of £1 each, the balance to remain as a guar- 

 antee. I would suggest an initial capital of £1,000,000, which 

 could be increased as the number of members grew. The asso- 

 ciation would take delivery of the rubber of its members and 

 either sell it, warehouse it, lend on it, or carry on any other 

 usual business, etc., at ordinary rates. In addition, it should 

 charge Vzd. per pound, out of which the administration costs 

 would cover any sulplus profit accumulating for distribution at 

 the termination of the association. The advantages of such an 

 association would be so great that I am certam that any com- 

 panies that did not come in at the beginnmg would later on be 

 eagerlv seeking membership. I would suggest that the Com- 

 mittee' of Young Producers should lose no time m preparmg a 

 scheme and submitting it by circular to the London companies. 



The London "Statist" suggests a plan analogous to the Aus- 

 tralian Zinc Producers' Association, Limited, thus: 



The agency companies and administrative groups could vest 

 their rubber selling and crop financing in it, the purchase con- 

 siderations, as agreed upon, to be payable in debentures, prefer- 

 ence or ordinary shares. Warehouses, wharves and other neces- 

 sarv adiuncts to be obtained and the facilities to be expanded as 

 required. Thus would be constituted a considerable portion of 

 the necessary f^xed assets and good will of the undertaking 

 on the selling end of the business. Assuming for the purpose 

 of illustration that producers of a full crop-producing capacity 

 of 100 000 tons per year would participate, a common T)asis tor 

 acquiring a share interest would have to be arrived at, say 

 perhaps 6d. per pound on the annual producing capacity, which 

 rouehlv represents the funds required to hnance production for 

 three months at 2^. per pound. The aggregate sum would be 

 £5 600 000 A company of individuals producing 230,000 pounds 

 per year would take up £6,250 of, say, £1 shares. The corpora- 

 tion would purchase the rubber at the average price ruling for 

 the year, charging a commission on a graduated scale per pound, 

 rising with the average price paid. The better the average 

 nrice the higher the commission paid, the greater the beneht 

 to the producers, and the higher the earning power of the cor- 

 poration. Crops requiring to be financed m excess of the 

 proportion covered bv the actual funds at the corporations 

 disposal could be covered by bills and bankers advances. 



Whether anv of these plans are carried out, certain it is 

 that for a time at least, much plantation rubber must be stored, 

 in fact is being stored. If it were upriver fine or coarse, we 

 would know all about its keeping qualities in storage. But for 

 plantation cr^pe prepared in a variety of ways, neither planter 

 nor manufacturer has anything but judgment to go on. 



Mr. Sidney Morgan of the Research Laboratory in Petaling, 

 Federated Malay States, gives the following as his plan for 

 preparing and storing rubber so that it may not deteriorate: 



(1) Correct preparation of the rubber. 



(2) Thorough drying of crepe rubber; and thorough drying 

 and smoked curing of smoked sheets. 



(3) In the case of crepe rubber it would be advisable to pre- 

 pare only the thin variety so that drying can be seen to 

 complete. 



(4) In the case of smoked sheets they should be marked 

 with a distinct ribbed pattern, preferably of the close-spiral 

 type. 



(5) All wooden boxes should be perfectly dry before use. 

 As a regular precaution the wood sliould be placed in the sun 

 for several days. The use of damp boxes is a frequent source 

 of troubles. 



(6) Packed boxes should never be placed on a cement floor. 

 A wooden floor is advised and even then the boxes should rest 

 upon beams or rails so that there is open ventilation between 

 the floor and the bottom of the boxes. 



(7) Boxes should be placed with a small space between them 

 in all possible directions, so that the surfaces obtain the maxi- 

 mum ventilation. 



(8) The building should be so designed as to permit of all 

 windows being opened without the admission of direct sunlight. 

 This can best be effected by means of verandas all round the 

 building. 



(9) If possible the floor of the building should be raised from 

 the ground to the height of a bullock-cart or motor lorry. This 

 will ensure better ventilation; and will facilitate easier handling 

 of boxes from a loading platform. 



(10) The building should have the best possible ventilation 

 either by ordinary means (e. g., a good jackroof) or by me- 

 chanical devices. It should be a separate building and no moist 

 rubber should be allowed to hang in the upper stories. 



(11) Other factors such as the situation of the building, etc., 

 will appeal to anyone who studies the question. 



In reviewing all of the above they do not seem wholly sound, 

 nor adequately to cover the ground. As some one has wisely 

 said, the best place to store surplus rubber is in the tree. 



As therefore England, France and the United States are 

 planning cooperative farming, and economic growing and dis- 

 tribution of foodstuffs, why not apply the same system to 

 rubber — cooperation ? 



Tapping carried out with wisdom and fairness WDuld seem 

 to offer a solution. 



American Soldiers Le.ilRning to Rep.\ir Tires in the Model 

 Firestone Rep.mr Shop .at .\krox, Ohio 



Should be on every rubber man's desk— Crude Rubber and 

 Compounding Ingredients; Rubber Machinery; Polyglot Rubber 

 Trade Directory ; Rubber Country, of the Amazon : and What I 

 Saw in the Tropics. 



