Mif Wour in 6astern 

 Uluhher J^ands. 



Free on board once more ! For the fifth time I am 

 facing' the Red Sea, but on thisi occasion there is a pros- 

 pect of getting- back to the old country after a short 

 business holiday. That condition makes all the difference 

 in the world'. It is one thing sasling to the tropics for 

 a future home ; it is quite another matter journeying- there 

 tO' spend a feav pleasant months, to renew old acquaint- 

 ances, andl watch other people work. 



This tripi is being made tO' ascertain tihe present posi- 

 tion of the Eastern rubiber-groiwing industry on the spot, 

 to collect and publish data which will give all readers 

 some idea of what is really happening in the East, and 

 to note the trend of events, so' that manufacturers and 

 investors intimately associated with the raw product may 

 form their own opinion of the promised new sources' of 

 supply. These notes must, until I arrive in the trO'pics, 

 be 'Of a light, disconnected nature ; when I am in the 

 heart of ' the new rubber country my readers might as 

 Weill hope for better and more informing matter. 



Rubber Brokers and the Plantation Industry. 



If the plantation industry is half the success which 

 people in responsible positions opine it will be, there will 

 be many changes to chronicle in relation to markets both 

 in tropical and temperate zones. New centres of distri- 

 bution must spring up as a result of the cultivation in 

 Ceylon, Malaya, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo since these 

 countries have, alm'ost without exception, hitherto been 

 of no real commeroial importance as exporters of raw 

 Para rubber. Furthermore, if, as some leading members 

 of the India-Rubber Manufacturers' Association inform 

 us, there will be an undoubted preference for Para once 



