THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1, 1919. 



Rubber Planting Notes. 



RUBBER EXPORTS FROM THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS AND 

 FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 



IN 1916, the United States took 43,000 out of 80,000 tons of crude 

 rubber exported from the Straits Setllemcnts ; in 1917, 85,268 

 tons out of a total of 121,082. and in 1918, 92,454 tons out of a 

 total of 122,004. Japan, wliich has been steadily increasing her 

 imports of raw rubber, took 7,579 tons in 1918, against 3,190 tons 

 in 1917 and 2,119 tons in 1916. 



On the other hand, only 14,583 tons of crude rubber were 

 shipped to the United Kingdom from the Straits Settlements 

 in 1918, compared with 27,812 tons in 1917, 28,808 tons in 1916, 

 and 27,473 tons in 1915. 



The value of the rubber exports from the Straits Settle- 

 ments is given, approximately, at $94,925,337, and an idea of 

 the falling off in prices of the product is obtained from the 

 statistics of the Federated Malay States, which set out that the 

 value of 78,225 tons exported in 1918 was $65,867,220, which 

 compared with $107,166,638 for 79,831 tons in 1917. 



The destinations of the year's shipments are given below : 



Straits Scttleme 

 United Kingdoii 



Europe 



Ceylon 



Otlier countries 



Federated Malay States. 

 December, 

 1918. 



tons 5,820.90 



1,103.66 



29.46 



Total for 



Total for 



1917. 

 66.772.82 

 11,889.05 



Totals 



United Kingdom .. 

 United States and 



Europe 



Australia 



Ceylon 



Japan 



Other countries ... 



130.54 



tons 7,084.56 



Straits Settlements. 



December, 

 1918. 



tons 2,021.2 



aada 6,390.3 



341.0 



Total for 



1918. 



14,S83.9 



92.454.0 



5.715.6 



955.0 



643.6 



7,579.6 



73.2 



122,004.9 



27,812.3 

 83,268.3 

 4,259.2 

 193.5 

 358.0 

 3,190.4 



121,082.0 



Totals tons 10,503 



The figures for the Straits Settlements include rubber imported 

 into the markets of the Colony from all places, locally produced, 

 and rubber transshipped from the Federated and non-Federated 

 Malay States. 



Exports in February. 



A report from Kuala Lumpur states that the export of planta- 

 tion rubber from the Federated Malay States for the month of 

 February amounted to 10,809 tons. This is the largest amount 

 ever exported in one month, and compares with 6,820 tons and 

 7,250 tons in the corresponding month of last year and 1917, 

 respectively. The total for two months of the present year is 

 17,972 tons, compared with 14,408 tons in 1918, and 13,245 tons 

 in 1917. Appended are the statistics for three years : 



ARRIVAL OF RUBBER CARGO AT ANTWERP. 

 A consignment of rubber, the first since the German occupa- 

 tion ' in 1914, arrived at Antwerp, Belgium, the latter part of 

 March on the S. S. Albertville, from the Congo. 



TAPPING RESULTS OF PARA RUBBER IN NIGERIA. 



According to the trade supplement to the 'Xigeria Gazette" 

 of October 31, the Hevea brasitiensis now appears to be ac- 

 climatized in many parts of southern Nigeria, and its rate of 

 growth compares favorably with that recorded on plantations 

 in the East. 



From 300 tne-year-old trees growing in the Sapele district, 

 which were tapped by the Agricultural Department in 1911, an 

 average yield of one and one-half pounds of dry rubber was 

 obtained. In the following year, four old trees at Ebrite gave 

 an average yield of seven pounds. From September, 1916, to 

 December, 1917, about one thousand eleven-year-old trees at 

 Agege yielded 4,337 pounds, which was sold locally for 

 £408 15s. 9d. 



SUGAR AS A COAGULANT FOR HEVEA LATEX. 



Rudolph D. Anstead, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Planting 

 Districts, India, writing in "The Planters' Chronicle" (Banga- 

 lore, India), August 10, 1918, page 523, sums up the advantages 

 and disadvantages of sugar as a coagulant for Hevea latex as 

 follows : 



The great advantage is the cheapness of the material as com- 

 pared with acetic acid, especially at the present time, while, 

 moreover, it is always available in the country and does not 

 depend upon shipping facilities. The quantity required is very 

 small, 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of sugar calculated on the latex, or 

 one part of sugar to 500 parts of latex. 



The disadvantages are that it produces a product which differs 

 slightly in rate of cure from acetic-acid coagulated rubber, 

 necessitating in the case of contracts a warning of the change 

 to buyers. Another objection is that the coagulatum is apt to 

 be full of gas bubbles due to the evolution of carbon dioxide 

 during the coagulation process, and sheet rubber showing this 

 defect is regarded with disfavor in the market although the 

 actual quality of the rubber is not affected by the presence of the 

 bubbles. If crepe is being made the bubbles do not matter, but 

 sheet is chiefly made now. 



RUBBER TAPPING RESULTS IN UGANDA. 



The following table from the "Uganda Ofiicial Gazette" of 

 November 15, 1918, shows the results of a year's tapping on fou. 

 groups of trees, and of nine months on another group in the 

 Botanic Gardens at Entebbe. 



The period was an exceptionally dry one, the total rainfall 

 amounting to 50.11 inches during the year of tapping. Series 

 1, 2, and 4 were tapped for the first time, whilst series 3 and S 

 were on renewed bark of four years' growth. 



In series 3 the V-cut is the basal cut of the full herring-bone 

 system, which was being practised at the time when the gardens 

 came under the control of the Department of Agriculture, and 

 similarly in series 5, the cuts are the two basal cuts to the left 

 of the full herring-bone system, which had consisted of four, five 

 or six incisions. This previous history of these two groups must 

 be taken into account in reviewing the yields. The disparity in 

 the number of parings per inch is noticeable. In series 5 the 

 tapper was clumsy, which accounts for the low average obtained. 



The yields have been very uniform throughout, and renewal 

 of bark is good. 



Girth at 

 3 Feet Whe 

 Tapping Begi 



Yield 



Per Tree. 



Pounds, 



1.03 



^ 



Sheet Rubber 



Scrap Rubber. 

 Pounds. Ounces. 



