September 1, 1919.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



'22> 



and not fit for sale was mixed with Hcvea and worked through 

 the machines into crepe, scrap, etc. 



Zinc coagulation tanks were gradually replaced by wooden 

 ones. The little Chinese earthen-ware cups were used as latex 

 cups, which served the purpose very well and are to be ob- 

 tained at a very reasonable price. The Chinese inlander or 

 e.xporter pays little attention to the packing, the rubber sheets 

 coming from various sources being bundled and tied with ropes 

 and hoisted on board the ship for the Singapore market. Not- 

 withstanding the crude methods of preparing and packing the 

 rubber, it is unusually pure and free from foreign matter. 



Pontianak boasts of a rubber market where rubber dealers 

 from inland and elsewhere present their rubber to be sold to 

 the highest bidder. Lately the Japanese have bought rubber, 

 not only from the European, but from the Chinese planters as 

 well. 



The question of labor has caused the proprietors of the larger 

 plantations much trouble. In the beginning, coolie tappers re- 

 ceived 24 florins a month or 80 cents (Dutch currency) a day. 



Free coolies, Pontianakers, Javanese, etc., were also employed. 

 These arbitrary people went from one plantation to another, 

 terrorizing the foremen who had little authority over the labor- 

 ers who worked as long as they pleased, and at their own terms, 

 so that many plantation owners were forced to shut down. 

 Conditions, however, have changed and coolies are satisfied 

 to work for 9 to 10 florins per month. 



The Chinese planters are also in need of workers. For- 

 merly Chinese labor was plentiful and cheap, but in 1913 the 

 government imposed a levy of 25 florins for Chinese entering 

 the country. Not long ago a law was passed forcing them to 

 make payment in Singapore. Previously this could be done 

 in Pontianak. The government fears that after planting Hcvca 

 and other well-paying crops the people will not care to raise 

 rice any longer, and will suffer for want of food. The Chi- 

 nese have the best rice fields in the west, and also raise pepper, 

 gambler, sago, cocoa, rubber and even sugar cane, and although 

 they are said to he ignorant and careless, the fact remains that 

 Ihcy are directly responsible for the progress of the West Coast. 



Rubber Planting Notes. 



RUBBER PLANTING IN WEST DUTCH BORNEO. ^^ high tableland, called attention to the variety of crops that can be 



RUBBER culture has extended greatly in West Dutch Borneo raised, among them rubber, along the whole extent and especially 



in the last ten years. Nearly 90 per cent, of the plantations in the Lake Nyassa region. 



belong to Chinese, Malayans, and, more recently, to Japa- 



ULse. The climate is well suited for rubber; rain falls the year AMENITIES OF MALAYAN RUBBER CULTIVATION. 



around, and there is no dry season as in Java Labor conditions ^,^^,.^^_^ incidents recorded in the "Straits Budget" show how 



are favorable, for Borneo has plenty of native laborers, Dyaks for ^^^ ,„o„„,„„^ of plantation life is broken. In Kajang a herd 



the hard work, like felling the jungle and Malayans for lighter ^^ ,, ^ants broke into an estate and destroved 600 rubber trees, 



work, like weeding tapping etc. Most of the estates are of _^^ ^angakah the coolies would not work "because a tiger was 



cornparatively small size. Nearly every Malayan has an estate ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^,^^^ ^ ^^^^. afterward and 



of 50,000 to 60,000 trees, too closely planted, and the.r handling of ^^.^^^^ 3^^, ^^^^^^^ . ^^ ^^_^g^. ^^^^. ^^^^^^^ ^.^^^ ^^^^.^^ ^^ 



the crop is primitive. They borrow of the Chinese, who in that . ,,11. j ir ^i^u 



^ ^ ^ ,•,,-,«■, • , 3 tapper in broad daylight and only fragments of the man were 



way come to own plantations too, while the Malayan sinks to ^ . , , t c- •. ir '1^ r ^ 1 \, c j 



, -^ , ,. ^, , , , . f ,,r T> found later. In Singapore itself a 16-foot-long cobra was found 



the status of a coohe. The rubber production of West Borneo . .r^uju jj jo-.u 



^ one one of the piers, and, after it had been noosed, dragged off the 



was as follows pj^^. ^^ ^j^^ highroad three men who were holding it. 



\9\i Minu/.! 100,936 



1916 313,616 



Wi '.'.''...'.'....'..'.'.....'.'.".'.'.'.'.'.'.■'■'.'.'.'■'.'. vtoMO PARA RUBBER IN UGANDA, AFRICA. 



It is expected that in five years the output of the Sambas In Uganda. Para rubber has become the main crop on inost 



estates alone will be 6,600,000 pounds. plantations, particularly those in the more humid parts of the 



. Protectorate. Other rubbers are neglected because Hevea proves 



RUBBER PLANTING IN BRITISH NORTH BORNEO. well suited to conditions, and suffers little from pests and 

 In 1917 about 3,000 additional acres were planted in British diseases. The 1918 output was 144,727 pounds of plantation rub- 

 North Borneo, making the total acreage 34,828, according to ber valued at €9,965, and 9,362 pounds of forest rubber worth 

 the ".'\nnual Report for Agriculture," British North Borneo, , i92i. Prices are low on account of the restrictions of the United 

 1917. Of this area, 21,400 acres, representing half the total States on imports and prices. 



number of trees, were tapped. The production in 1917 was 



2,611 tons, of which 2,444 was exported. In 1917, 14,292 coolies export duty on netherland east Indian rubber. 



were employed, the number having doubled in two years. Much ^,^^ Pcrsbureau Vac Dias of Amsterdam, Holland, reports 



of the land is hilly and the q uestion of soil erosion is serious. j,,^j pj^^^ ^^^ ^^i^^ ^^^^ ,^ ,^^y ^ ^^^ ^f 10 ^^ I5 ^^^^^ q^jj^j, 



currency (4 to 6 cents U. S. currency) per pound on crude rubber 



EXPORT DUTY ON FRENCH COLONIAL RUBBER. ^^-^^^^ j^^^ „^^ Netherland East Indies. 



A proposal to put a duty of 1.50 francs per kilogram Protests have been made by the Internationale Vereemging 



($0.13-f per pound) on raw rubber that is not produced in "the j.,,^^ ^^ Rubberkultuur (Inlernational Society for Rubber 



French Colonies has been made by the Deputy for Indo-China. Culture) at the Hague, representing nearly all the Netherland 



The Paris Chamber of Commerce has protested vigorously East Indian plantations, and also by de Amsterdamscke 



against the proposed law. Vereemging voor den Rubber Handel (Amsterdam Society for 



■ the Rubber Trade), which is made up of dealers, brokers and 



RUBBER LANDS IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA. plantations. 



The new governor of British East Africa, Gen. Sir Edward Fear is expressed that higher prices, which necessarily must 



Northey, in expatiating on the advantages of all East Africa, from follow the adoption of the proposed plan, would prevent com- 



Somaliland and Abyssinia to Natal, for white immigration, owing petition with the Netherland East Indian rubber in the world 



to the accessibility to temperate climate on the mountains and market. While an export duty might not result in profit to the 



