T 8 PARA RUBBER. 



undoubtedly diminish the output there would still be a keen 

 competition between wild Brazilian and cultivated rubber for 

 many years. The inferior grades of rubber, such as many of 

 those received from Africa, would possibly be the first to feel the 

 struggle. Those persons acquainted with the small cost at which 

 many of these are obtained locally, and with the endeavours now 

 being made to improve their quality by adopting better methods 

 of collection and preparation, will appreciate the difficulty which 

 the rubber planter will be likely to experience in substituting his 

 products for these grades. Vice-Consul Armstrong has shown, 

 in regard to the cost of collecting Congo rubber, that in one 

 district the natives are paid only 50 cents. (56.) per kilo, 

 administration expenses being estimated to increase this cost 

 to i franc per kilo., while he considers that transport expenses 

 cannot be more than 2 francs per kilo. a total cost of 3 francs 

 per kilo., or about is. 2d. per Ib. Rubber from Landolphia 

 Kirkii, the commonest rubber-bearing liana in East Africa, 

 which often realises prices only id. to 2d. per Ib. less than fine 

 Para, can be collected in East Africa under equally favourable 

 conditions. 



Some manufacturers still view cultivated rubber with sus- 

 picion. Those who have erected expensive plant for the express 

 purpose of purifying the lower grades of rubber will obviously 

 not be anxious to purchase washed plantation rubber. Many of 

 the processes now in vogue for dealing with wild rubber have 

 only been elaborated after a large number of years of careful 

 experimenting, and it is not surprising that the new forms of 

 rubber are looked at with a certain amount of disfavour by 

 manufacturers. 



Before closing this chapter a few words are necessary con- 

 cerning three most important factors likely to affect the rubber 

 industry, viz., shortage and increased cost of labour, epidemics, 

 and the discovery of artificial or synthetic rubber. 



LABOUR. 



The labour problem is already commencing to cause anxiety 

 to rubber planters in the East. The report of the Ceylon Planters' 

 Association for the year 1907 states in regard to rubber: "The 

 growth of the trees is good, and the estates are generally in 



