364 CHEMICAL DISCOVERY AND INVENTION 



Malay States, which yields rubber, but less abundantly than the 

 Hevea. 



Down to the year 1875 no attempts had been made to provide 

 for the demands of the rubber market artificially, and all the 

 rubber up to that time and for some years later had been derived 

 from the trees growing wild in the Brazilian forests. The idea 

 of cultivating rubber plantations in the British Indian posses- 

 sions was then carried into effect, and starting with large scale 

 experiments in Ceylon, the plantations of, chiefly, Hevea have 

 extended into the neighbouring countries and some other parts 

 of the world. 



The total acreage of rubber plantation was estimated in 1911 

 as follows : 



Country. Acreage. 1 



Ceylon 209,000 



Malay States 400,000 



Java, Sumatra, and Borneo . . . 200,000 



Southern India and Burma . . . 35,000 



German Colonies ..... 45,000 



Mexico, Brazil, Africa, and W. Indies . 100,000 



Total . 980,000 



Estimates as to the yield of rubber from plantation sources 

 differ considerably, but there appears reason to believe that the 

 average yield amounts to between 300 and 400 pounds per acre 

 per annum. 



As to the whole world production it would be very difficult to 

 state a figure even approximately trustworthy, but it certainly 

 appears to be steadily increasing, as might be expected from the 

 increasing demand and the gradual extension of the plantations. 



That the consumption is very large may be inferred from the 

 statistics of the business done in the United Kingdom alone. 



The following statement, based on the official figures of the 

 Board of Trade, show that our imports of raw rubber during the 

 year 1915 reached the record figure of 182,565,900 Ib. The value 

 was 20,225,060, which gives an average value at slightly over 

 2s. 2d. per Ib. The great bulk of our importations is of 

 British growth, and plantation production now exceeds wild 

 forest production, which amounts to little more than one- 

 fourth of the total. It is obvious that business during the year 



1 India Rubber Journal, 1911. 



