68 RUBBER 



per pound only amount to something between a shilling 

 and eighteenpence. At present, no popular way has 

 been discovered for smoking plantation latex whilst 

 it is being coagulated ; but great efforts are being made 

 to find a simple and cheap method of curing plantation 

 rubber as thoroughly as the Brazilian product is now 

 cured. Meanwhile, plantation rubber is well smoked, 

 after the milk has been coagulated, in special sheds 

 for the purpose. Excellent material has already been 

 produced at a total cost per pound of varying amounts 

 under two shillings. Some of the cultivated rubber 

 has already fetched a higher price than the best 

 wild grade. 



The price of rubber varies considerably. For 

 instance, during the Boom the best wild grade, Fine 

 Hard Para, was selling at 12s. 6|d. per pound, and the 

 best cultivated Para at 12s. 8|d. In November, 1911, 

 similar rubbers were fetching only 4s. 5|d. and 4s. 8|d. 

 respectively. You will see from this how difficult it is 

 to estimate the profits that a company stands to 

 make out of a year's rubber production. During the 

 Boom, the public believed that they could reckon on 

 rubber fetching even more than 12s. or 13s. per pound ; 

 before the end of 1910 it was already down to 6s. 5|d. 

 per pound. 



We must now see what people who are interested 

 in wild rubber are doing to enable this product to hold 

 the manufacturers' favour in competition with culti- 

 vated rubber, which is trying to oust it. I have 

 already told you that efforts are being made with a view 

 to getting the wild supplies collected in a more economi- 

 cal manner, to see that the trees are not damaged by 

 careless tapping, and to prevent the quality of the 



