EH 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



49 



RUBBER AND COCOANUT PLANTING IN MALAYA. 



STATISTICS for 1912 and 1913 ed by Mr. Lewton- 



k -' Brain, liirector of Agriculture, Federated M -tates, 



show an increased acreage undei rubber "i" about 10 per cent., 

 ami an area one-third higher than before in cocoanuts. The exact 

 are: 



. I i i i 



1912. 1913. 



.399,197 433,324 



Cocoanuts 30.308 40.1 75 



i 8.609 



i cultivation 3,068 4,133 



The preponderance and growing impi rubber in the 



Malay States is thus illustrated. Coffee and sugar 

 planting show a decline, the latter having practically gone out 

 in various districts. 



While the above table deals with tin- Federated Malay Si 

 alone, another return foi the whole of the Malayan peninsula is 

 pecial inten si 



STATISTICS Ol MM AYA. 



1912. 1913. 



Estates 1,055 1.151 



Acreage in possession 1,498,282 1,622,231 



Acreage planted 621,621 545 



Rubber alone 587,874 682,613 



Rubber interplanted with catch-crops . 33,748 25,932 



Acreage producing 165.566 213,459 



Planted during year 85,903 86,924 



Output toiu 18,956.8 28,169.16 



STATISTICS "I MALAYAN PENINSULA, 1913. 



Acres Output. 



Planted. Tons. 



Federated Malay Stales 433.324 21.229.17 



Straits Settlements 111,316 6,047.14 



Johore 1 17,022 1.645.70 



Kelantan and Kedah 45,373 246.18 



Trcngganu 1 ,510 



$ not yet 

 / producing 



Total 708,545 29.168.19 



ESTATE LABOR. 



The total number of laborers in 1913 was 282,354, as compared 

 with 255,912 in 1912. Of the later year's number nearly 75 per 

 cent, were employed in the Federated Malay States, the remain- 

 ing 25 per cent, being distributed through the other parts of the 

 peninsula. 



RUBBER IN JAMAICA. 



\\ hile dealing with the various other agricultural features of 

 the island, the annual report of the 1 Kpartment of Agriculture, 

 Jamaica, for the year ending March 31, 1914, contains several 

 references to the cultivation of rubber. Jamaica, as will be re- 

 called, has an area of 4,200 square miles, and the most success- 

 ful variety of rubber tor cultivation has been Castilloa. The 

 distribution of plants for three successive years has been: 1911- 

 12, 22,745: 1912-13, 5,878: 1913-14. 2,667. Most of these plants 

 went to small settlers, with whom their growth has been s.it i ~ 

 factory, but owing to the drop in the price of rubber from 12.f. 

 per pound in 1910 its present value of about 2s.. the opinion is 

 expressed that few crops are at present raised in Jamaica with 

 so meagre a financial return as that indicated for Castilloa rub 

 her. Tapping of eight-year old lie; ra was unsatisfactory and 

 is said to have confirmed the view that Hevca Brasiliensis is not 

 suitahle for commercial cultivation in Jamaica, where any cap- 

 ital invested would have been lost. 



Virgin rubber (Sapium to lime use Jumelle), owing to the 

 length of time required to ripen, seems to have given results of 

 a disappointing character. 



The reports of the various public gardens in Jamaica con- 

 stitute a feature of interest, as showing thi progri -- eil - made 

 in various forms of agriculture in the island. 



EASTERN AND UXSIERN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 



Ion as the site of tin 1'ical 



Agricultut have been ur. land, 



both in thi tnd at home. At the 



of I ropieal Agriculture the choice ed by 



Professor Wyndham R. Dunstan. In this connection in: 



m which I to his 



i 100,000 each, 

 four at £55,000 each. I : 

 these Mr. Smith estimated, wi exceed 10 per 



cent, of that represented by : 



Dunstan's later estimate of £50,000 c outlay for a 



the writer remarks ,1 thai il duplicated 



in the West, wl thi establishment of another 



i olli gi in the \\ est Indies. 



institution, it was added, could train men to go to 



Africa to take up the Imperial work . , as had 



been done with men trained at Trinidad who were better able to 



with local African conditions than if their education had 



i in the East. 



At thi -one time Mr. Smith advocated sending to the East 



those embryo planter- who were looking towards that quarter of 



th< globe, adding : 



"I am not urging the claim of the West Indies in competition 

 with Ceylon. . . . On the contrary, if pro tern, there is to be 

 only one college, then I agree that Ceylon should have it, 

 hm . . . our welfare as a trading nation . . . renders it quite as 

 important that we should establish a college in the Western 

 hemisphere as it is that we should have one in the East." 



TRADE OF GERMAN EAST AFRICA. 



I he imports of German East Africa during the four years 

 1909 to 1912 equaled, respectively, $8,078,125, $9,200,790, $10,- 

 920,790 and $11,973,580. the trade being chiefly with Zanzibar 

 and Germany. Exports principally consisted ,,f rubber, copra, 

 ivory and sisal; the amounts for the respective years representing 

 $3,122,435, $4,951,685, $5,340,185 and 57.47s.575.' 



According to the report of the Department of Commerce and 

 Labor of February 28 last, wild and plantation rubber together 

 occupy the leading position in tin exports of the colony, the 

 production of the former kind tending to decrease while the 

 latter is rapidly growing in importance, having been taken up on 

 a large scale by Europeans in the Kilimaniaro district west of 

 Dar-es-Salaam and in the southern cdastal area. 



While Kickxia, Castilloa. Hevea and Ficus have been tried, the 

 greatest success has been with Manihoi GlazioiAi. Exports of all 

 kinds of rubber increased from 531,460 pounds, valued at $264,910. 

 in 190*. to 2.053.035 pounds, valued at $2,005,436, in 1912. These 

 figures indicate an increased production of the more valuable 

 plantation variety of rubber. 



The report of the British Consul at Dar .-Salaam speaks of 

 the setback which the rubber industry had experienced through 

 the fall in prices which occurred in 1913, there being probably 

 19.000,000 trees planted in the colony of which about half were 

 readj tor tapping. Efforts have been made 1" meet the situation 

 by the reduction of railway and ocean freights as well a- by the 

 abolition of imp, ,rt duty on the acids used in coagulating rubber. 

 •he latest accounts a slight improvement in the value of 

 rubber had led. prior to the outbreak of the war. to the resump- 

 tion of tapping bj sonic planters I he i leniian Colonial Economic 

 Committee had been taking steps to introduce a standard quality 

 of I asl African rubber, the absence of which has impeded the 

 operations of planters. It is added thai there is only one large 

 washing and curing factory in tie at Muhesa, though 



several smaller ones exist at L'sambara — the planters being 

 d to wash the rubber themselves. This fact requires it to- 

 he again washed in Europe. 



