64 RUBBER 



You must not imagine that the crash put an end to 

 rubber-growing. True, the faith of the public in this 

 industry had been roughly shaken at the critical time 

 when that faith was just beginning to bud ; but the 

 industry was sufficiently well-established to withstand 

 this check, and go on fighting to attain its main object 

 — to become more popular than Wild Rubber with the 

 manufacturer. 



CHAPTER XIV 



WILD RUBBER V. PLANTATION RUBBER 



The Eastern Tropics are the chief seat of rubber- 

 growing, and the countries in which the principal 

 plantations are situated are Ceylon, Malaya (Federated 

 Malay States and Straits Settlements), Java, Sumatra, 

 and Borneo. But the new industry is also receiving 

 considerable attention in the West, where much 

 planting has already been done by Brazil, Central 

 America, Mexico, the West Indies, and British Guiana. 

 The bulk of the cultivated trees are of the Hevea 

 hrasiliensis variety. But many other kinds of rubber 

 are grown, chiefly in the districts where the Hevea 

 hrasiliensis will not flourish ; for instance. Central 

 America is devoting much attention to Manihot 

 Glaziovii, a native of Brazil, as this tree will do well on 

 rocky and stony soil. Manihots are grown in many 

 other parts of the world, and the rubber they yield, 

 called " Ceara " rubber, is of good quality. Several 

 countries are cultivating their native varieties of 

 rubber- trees. Thus Brazil is beginning to grow Hevea 

 hrasiliensis, Mexico has Castilloa plantations, British 



