166 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1914. 



PLANTATION RUBBER INDUSTRY AND THE WAR. 



ACCORDING to a communication from M. X. Le Coispellier 

 to the "Annals of Indo-China Rubber Planters," the rub- 

 ber trade in common with business m general, was surpi 

 at tin- sudden breaking ■ « war in the closing days of 



July last, when .^1 in th< East. Penang and Singa] 



held their last aucti to tin war on July 28. They 



showed a lack of activity under the influence of the European 

 cables, which left but small hope of maintaining peace 

 were resumed rather timidly on August 12. The last sale bi Fore 



the war was held al i eyl n July 31. when the situation was 



such that the principal sellers withdrew their offerings, some 



private sales being afterwards made at prices equaling bet. 



48 and 49 cents I Aim i ican currency) per pound. 



On the suspension of sales the planters of the -Malay Peninsula 

 lost no time in devising pl.m- for meeting the situation. Messrs. 

 Skinner and Macfadyen, former and present presidents of the 

 Planters' Association of Malaya, went to Singapore to call the 

 attention of the government to the prospective effect of the 

 altered conditions on the plantation industry. A general meet- 

 ing of the association was also held August 6, at Kuala Lumpur, 

 to discuss the steps to be taken. 



After an ineffectual attempt to obtain the co-operation of 

 financial institutions, an arrangement was made by which both 

 in the Federated Malay States and in the colony of the Straits 

 Settlements the respective governments would make cash ad- 

 vances to the estate owners for the purpose of at least feeding 

 the laborers, while official intervention would be used to persuade 

 the latter that it was in their interest to remain on the planta- 

 tions on the terms which would be offered them. 



To cover these advances the government would receive con- 

 signments of tirst quality rubber, on which advances would be 

 made at a rate equaling about 18 cents American currency per 

 pound, or listed securities. In certain special eases loans would 

 be made on personal guarantees. The requirements of the Fed- 

 erated Malay States for making these advances in money or 

 rice w-ere met by the help of the Straits Settlement colony, 

 which took over shares from the Federated Malay States, which 

 it would have been difficult to sell in present conditions, but 

 which the colony was in a position to handle, having acquired 

 a considerable stock of gold. 



The principal anxiety of the planters was lest they would be 

 unable to retain their coolies (estimated at 270,000), hence ad- 

 dresses were delivered in the various districts urging the laborers 

 to accept the temporary conditions offered them for keeping the 

 estates in good shape and doing a small amount of tapping. 



According to M. Le Coispellier's statement, a large number of 

 estates on the east of Sumatra belonging to English and German 

 planters decided to cease operations, leaving to their own re- 

 sources their 30,000 to 40,000 coolies, who were obliged to return 

 to Java. 



The efforts made on the Malay Peninsula to open up new out- 

 lets for rubber, in order to replace those closed in Europe, are 

 spoken of as being all the more opportune, as there is a certain 

 slackening of the English rubber industry and almost a total 

 cessation in France, Belgium, Russia, Austria and Germany. 



It is added that the horizon is becoming clearer for the rubber 

 industry in general, and particularly for producers, the mari- 

 time commercial routes remaining free, which enables the raw 

 material to be brought in security to the markets. The un- 

 precedented consumption of rubber for the pneumatic tires of 

 automobiles for military purposes will alone form an important 

 outlet. This situation, the planters believe, cannot fail to react 

 on the price of the raw material, all the more as, owing to the 

 uncertainties of the opening of the campaign, a slackening of 

 production took place which may lead to a scarcity of product. 

 The hope is expressed that the reaction will not he sufficient to 



bring back low class wild rubbers to consumption. Had planta- 

 tion rubber not continued to reach the markets, manufacturers 

 would have tried to promote the cultivation of lower grades in 

 Brazil. 



Regarding the Indo-China plantations M. Le Coispellier re- 

 marks : 



"The question of labor not having to he met tit present, our 



should he to continue as we have begun, so as to be 



i" benefit i>\ the increasi oi price which will certainly take 



in Europe titter the war, when the rubber industry there 



will he revived pacified for a long time to come. 



H. F. MACMILLAN, F. L. S. 



tiT^HE most beautiful gardens in the world'' is the way a great 

 1 many tourists describe the Royal Botanic Gardens at Pera- 

 deniya, Ceylon. However that may be, these gardens are cer- 

 tainly, from the rubber standpoint, the most interesting and 

 important anywhere in the tropics. They have achieved this 

 distinction through the intelligent work of the long line of well 

 trained and con- 

 scientious scientists 

 who since the Gar- 

 dens were first 

 started, in 1821, 

 have devoted their 

 lives to the success 

 of agriculture and 

 horticulture in the 

 British tropical col- 

 onies. 



i in the retirement 

 of Mr. J. C. Willis 

 in December, 1911, 

 II. F. Macmillan, 

 F. L. S., was ap- 

 pointed superintend- 

 ent of these Gar- 

 dens. He received 

 his early training at 

 the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens. Kew, Lon- 

 don, and at the 



Roval College of TT „ ,, 



~ . c- -, tr H. F. Macmillan. 



Science. South Ken- 

 sington, London. The Secretary of State for the Colonies made 

 him Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya in 1895. 

 He began at once to develop new features, transforming a por- 

 tion of the grounds into an extensive floricultural section, now 

 easily the most popular and attractive feature of the Gardens. 



He is well known as the author of numerous pamphlets and 

 bulletins on botanical, horticultural and agricultural subjects, 

 including "Xotes on Ceylon Botany," "Illustrated Guide to the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya" (an elaborate publication 

 now in its second edition) and the familiar "Handbook of Trop- 

 ical Gardening and Planting." The first edition of the latter, 

 of which the Government of Ceylon purchased a large number 

 of copies, was sold out within ten month- of its publication. A 

 second and much enlarged edition containing some 300 illustra- 

 tions (mostly from photographs taken by the author) is now out 

 of the press. Another vcork recently completed is an illustrated 

 bulletin on "The Use of Explosives in Agriculture." while he has 

 in hand the preparation of a "Classified Catalog of the Collection 

 at the Royal Botanic Gardens. Peradeniya." 



Mr. Macmillan was secretary of the All-Ceylon Exhibition of 

 1912, the largest exhibition ever held in Ceylon, and in recogni- 

 tion of his services in this capacity he was presented with a spe- 

 cial gold medal. He was promoted to the office of Chief of 



