i86 



against 3,428 tons at the beginning of January 1910. In the following 

 table we show where these supplies are drawn from : 



WORLD'S OUTPUT. 



Year 



Brazil Para 

 Receipts 



West Africa 



East Indies 



Other sources 



Total. 





Tons. 



Tons. 



Tons. 



Tons. 



Tons. 



1906 



34480 



17,200 



530 



13,800 



65,000 



1907 



37.665 



17,000 



1,100 



13,235 



69,000 



1908 



38,190 



14,000 



2,000 



10,810 



65,000 



1909 



39,040 



15,500 



4,000 



11,460 



70,000* 



* Estimated 



The Brazilian supplies do not show a rapid increase, owing the 

 arduous, costly, and haphazard manner in which collection is underta- 

 ken, although the supply of wild rubber is said to be practically 

 inexhaustible, while the cost of production is becoming greater, as 

 the collectors have year by year to penetrate deeper into the forests 

 to secure supplies. This anxiety to get rubber has in its turn led to 

 the neglect of ipecacuanha collection and cultivation in the Provinces 

 of Matto Grosso and Minas respectively, and it may also alfect 

 cultivation in the Selangor State, from whence our supplies of 

 so-called " Johore " ipecacuanha are drawn. On the other hand, it 

 will be seen from the table that the rubber output from Ceylon, 

 Malaya and other East Indian Centres has practically doubled every 

 year, but so far their contribution is a mere drop in the bucket as 

 compared with the world's total, and it will probably be live to ten 

 years before the proportion becomes considerable. In years to come, 

 it is said, the battle will be between wild and plantation rubber, in 

 regard to the respective merits of which a great div^ersity of opinion 

 prevails. The chief fact at present is that wild rubber does control 

 the market of the world, and will continue to do so for some years 

 yet. Planters are eager to find out which form of rubber manufactu- 

 rers like best - whether in sheets, biscuits, crepe, block, worms, 

 etc - but manufacturers themselves express no decided opinion on 

 the point. At present plantation rubber is inferior to pure Para, and 

 the cause has not yet been determined, though many beliefs arc 

 expressed, 



As regards prices, it is questionable whether the present high 

 level is a good thing for the welfare of the industry, it being probable 

 that lower and more stable values would prove more beneficial in 

 the ^d. The average orirp paid for plantation rubber in 1906 was 



