PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF RUBBER. 17 



many that the latter contingency would materially benefit the 

 rubber industry, as rubber could then be largely employed in the 

 manufacture of numerous articles for which its present high 

 price renders its use prohibitive. Floor-tiling and paving are 

 two striking examples of the uses for which rubber may be 

 extensively employed in the future. It has been repeatedly 

 demonstrated that for these purposes rubber is far more durable 

 than wood, stone, or asphalt. With reference to a paper * read 

 before the Royal Society of Arts, Mr W. R. Broadbent wrote :f 



"The authors of the above paper state on page 379 of the Journal 

 that only steel-covered roads would stand the wear of the new studded 

 tyre with projecting steel studs. I wish to point out that a road com- 

 posed of rubber blocks or some form of gutta-percha would stand the 

 wear for a considerable time, but, as Mr P. J. Thomas remarks in the 

 discussion, it is mostly a matter of s. d. If it were not so, I should 

 consider that for town use, in place of the present wooden blocks, some 

 kind of rubber, gutta-percha, or substitute in the form of blocks or thick 

 sheets, would solve the problem of road covering, rubber being 

 noiseless, waterproof, pliable, and cleanly ; also having rubber to rubber 

 in the case of motor cars. The question, of course, of the first cost of 

 such an undertaking makes it utterly out of the question." 



Many planters affirm that under existing conditions they can 

 bring rubber trees to the producing stage for from .30 to 35 

 per acre, and place the rubber on the market for from is. to 

 is. 6d. per Ib. 



In 1907 the accounts of one rubber- planting company 

 operating in the Federated Malay States showed that the cost of 

 delivering rubber in Colombo amounted to about 2s. per Ib. 

 Doubts have been expressed in regard to the possibility of the 

 rubber planter's keenest rival in the Amazon being able to 

 compete with him in the event of a serious permanent fall in 

 price, in view of the high cost of collection and heavy export 

 dues obtaining in that country. It is, however, only reasonable 

 to suppose that the Brazilian Government would prefer to reduce 

 their export duties rather than damn their rubber industry. 

 Long established institutions, such as the Brazilian rubber 

 industry, die hard, and although a permanent fall in price would 



* Journal of 'the Royal Society of Arts, No. 2884, vol. Ivi. 

 t Ibid., No. 2885, vol. Ivi. 



B 



