December 1, 1914] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



167 



Division of Botanic Gardens in Ceylon on the resignation of Dr. 

 Lock, under the new Department of Agriculture so ably presided 

 over by Mr. Lyne. 



With little time for hobbies, he has managed to specialize to 

 some extent in photography, and possesses doubtless the largest 

 collection of photographs of botanic and agri-horticultural sub- 

 jects in Ceylon. He has won many medals, cups, etc., for photo- 

 graphy at exhibitions, the latest being a first prize of £25 ofl 

 by the "India Rubber Journal" at the London Rubber Exhibition 

 for a series of photographs showing the production of plan! 

 rubber from seed to shipment. 



He devised, in the early days of rubber planting, a method of 

 transporting rubber plants and seeds over long journeys, for 

 which a gold medal was awarded at the tirst rubber exhil 



held in Ceylon, in 1906. As a result of this, rubber plants were 

 successfully distributed from Ceylon to practically all parts of the 

 tropical world, including even Brazil and other parts of tropical 

 America. He was closely identified with the introduction of dif- 

 ferent kinds of rubber into Ceylon in the early days of rubber 

 and with the spread of information regarding their cultivation and 

 prospective merits. 



While Mr. Macmillan has devoted himself to tropical botany 

 for so many years, he still finds time for an occasional game of 

 golf, and. as a matter of fact, he laid out, on a very rugged and 

 apparently unpromising piece of land, the popular and picturesque 

 links of tlie Kandy Golf Club, of which he has been made not 

 only Honorary Ground Secretary, in recognition of his services, 

 but an honorary life member. 



Some Rubber 



CEYLON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORT. 



Till'. report .ii the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for the half 

 ii ending June 30, 1914, showed the exports oi i 

 for the first six months of the last three ><;irs to have 

 been a- follows: 1912, 5,697,133 pounds; 1913, 10,498,434 pounds; 

 1914, 17,368,591 pounds. 



Attention is called to the fact that Ceylon rubber exports 

 continue practically to double each year. 



Regarding distribution, it is remarked that the local Colombo 

 market is capable of dealing with much larger supplies than 

 have hitherto been available, enjoying, as it does, special facili- 

 ties for direct shipment to all the principal rubber markets in 

 the world. It is added that it is a matter of conjecture, whether 

 rubber produced in other Eastern countries will be consigned to 

 Colombo for sale, but it is considered that Ceylon grown rub- 

 ber can undoubtedly be dealt with to advantage locally. 



There is room for improvement in the matter of grading and 

 packing, especially on the former point. Good parcels are fre- 

 quently diminished in value by a small proportion of "rocky" 

 pieces, a defect which might easily be overcome by additional 

 factory supervision. The adoption is recommended of some 

 generally accepted uniform method of sorting, thus arriving at 

 standardization. In this way operations with the consuming 

 markets would be facilitated ; the reasonable requirements of 

 manufacturers being met by eliminating a number of the sorts 

 and varieties at present brought to market. 



Mr. William Moir, the chairman, was re-elected for another 

 year. 



CEYLON RUBBER EXPORTS. 



According to the report of the German Imperial Consulate 

 at Colombo, the year 1913 was a critical period for the rubber 

 industry of Ceylon. The price at the beginning of the year 

 equaled $1.06 United States currency per pound, and fell in 

 September to the equivalent of 48 cents per pound. The quan- 

 tity exported in 1913— about 28 million pounds— was distributed 

 as follows: To Great Britain, 15,238,000 pounds; United States, 

 6,572,000 pounds; Belgium, 4,124,000 pounds; Germany. 431,449 

 pounds; other countries (about) 1,634,551 pounds. 



THE AGAR SMOKING APPARATUS. 



C. Alma Baker, of Perak. one of the largest planters of the 

 Federated Malay States, lately visited R. S. Agar's Ceylon estate 

 to see the operation of the Agar smoking machine. Mr. Baker 

 was of the opinion that the Agar machine, with slight alterations, 

 would prove exceedingly valuable to the planting industry. Its 

 absolute simplicity constitutes its chief merit. The rubber is 

 coagulated in a receptacle, through which there passes a large 

 cylinder which carries the smoke through the latex, the latter 

 being either completely coagulated into lump or drawn off before 

 complete coagulation, put into pans and made into the standard 

 required for the market. The machine takes 125 gallons of latex 



Planting Notes. 



at a charge, which requires from 20 to 30 minutes to coagulate, 

 giving in a 10-hour day 3,000 pounds of dry rubber or 6,000 

 pounds with one smoking chamber for two machines. 



The rubber produced by the Agar process is said to be very 

 clear. No acetic acid is required, it being claimed that for this 

 reason the rubber contains much more of the essential qualities 

 than when obtained by the use of acid. 



RUBBER CULTIVATION IN INDIA. 



Rubber production in India is confined to Assam, Burma and 

 the Madras Presidency. Statistics for the fiscal years ending 

 March 31, 1913 and 1914, are as follows: 



1913. 1914. 



Assam tons 52 24 



Madras 444 798 



Burma 235 341 



Total 731 1,163 



While Burma heads the list in acreage and number of trees 

 planted, most of these trees, being less than six years old, are at 

 present unproductive. Burma has 29,544 acres under rubber 

 with 4,911,399 trees; while Madras has 12,022 acres, with 

 1,636,476 trees, and Assam, 4,681 acres, with 137,430 trees. The 

 rubber production of Madras is thus at present more than double 

 that of Burma. 



JOHORE'S PROGRESS. 



According to an official report on Johore for 1913, the revenue 

 equaled in United States currency $2,451,991, with an expenditure 

 equaling $2,435,239. The imports represented $5,240,525 and the 

 exports $7,959,196. 



The principal events which marked the progress of 1913 in 

 Johore were the fall in rubber prices and the consequent re- 

 adjustment of payment for labor. Owing to the former cause, 

 the opening up of new lands for rubber cultivation by European 

 companies nearly ceased, while the Japanese during the year 

 added 11,000 acres to their existing cultivated areas. Many 

 European estates were thus able to discharge a number of 

 coolies, this large available supply of labor resulting in a reduc- 

 tion in the scale of wages 



The export returns of other agricultural produce displayed no 

 marked variation as compared with previous years, rubber form- 

 ing a notable exception, the production having risen from 22,000 

 pikuls (2.933,333 pounds) in 1912 to 46,000 pikuls (6,133.333 

 pounds) in 1913, an advance of about 109 per cent. It is thought 

 that this rate of increase may possibly be maintained during 

 the next few yi the large areas planted in 1911 and 1912 



reach maturity, but with the spread of more rational ideas as 

 to the conservation of bark a reduction in output would naturally 

 result. Areca nut plantations have been in some instances cut 

 down to make room for rubber. 



