99 
proper  handling.  Alter  rubber  has  once  been  gathered  it  ought 
not  to  be  difficult  for  its  owners  to  enforce  j:>roper  regulations  for 
its  care,  and  here  again  appears  a ray  of  hope  for  the  rubber  col- 
lecting companies.  Wdth  all  the  discouraging  conditions,  however, 
the  collection  of  rubber  continues  to  increase,  and  attention  is 
directed  to  some  figures  we  give  elsewhere,  showing  a growth  in 
the  rubber  exports  from  Bolivia  of  about  eleven  fold  in  eleven 
years.  The  total  for  1901  was  nearly  8^000, oOo  pounds,  mostly  of 
iiigh  grades,  and  this  from  a country  scarcely  known  twenty  years 
ago  to  contain  rubber,  and  yet  the  most  inconveniently  situated 
country  on  the  globe  with  regard  to  transportation. 
An  item  of  news  published  this  month  that  will  attract  much 
attention  relates  to  the  negotiations  of  the  United  States  Rubber 
Co.  who  consume  more  rubber  than  any  other  company  in  the 
world  for  obtaining  supplies  of  rubber  direct  from  the  producing 
countries,  instead  of  buying  through  importing  houses,  d'his  would 
involve  the  investment  of  part  of  their  capital  outside  of  the  manu- 
facturing held,  and  as  it  is  the  first  time  that  a manufacturing 
company  has  made  such  a venture,  and  in  view  of  the  large  scope 
of  the  plans  under  consideration,  the  experiment  will  be  watched 
with  great  interest. 
It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  that  there  are  many  problmse 
conneeted  with  rubber  yet  to  be  solved,  outside  of  those  which 
daily  confront  the  factory  superintendent,  the  rubber  chemist,  and 
the  inventor  in  the  rubber  field.  These  problems  have  an  ultimate 
bearing  upon  every  user  of  rubber  in  the  world,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible that  the  sources  of  rubber  should  always  remain  less  acces- 
sible to  the  people  who  require  it  than  the  sources  of  any  other 
commodity  in  general  demand.  While  the  conditions  do  not  appear 
propitious  for  the  investment  of  large  sums  in  tropical  .America  and 
Africa,  in  charge,  perhaps,  of  managers  who  have  had  no  experience 
to  fit  them  for  such  business,  it  does  appear  to  us  that  a field  offers 
for  intelligent  young'  men  to  make  a study  of  rubber  districts,  of 
the  present  methods  of  work,  of  the  possibilities  of  improvement, 
of  the  character  of  the  natives  and  of  the  best  means  of  dealing 
with  them,  with  a view  to  becoming  qualified  to  manage  large  rub- 
ber concessions.  With  qualified  men  available,  there  will  always 
be  a possibility  of  sec'uring  ca[)ital  for  working  rubber,  and,  at  the 
prices  which  promise  to  prevail  for  a long  time  to  come,  we  still 
feel  that  good  profits  are  possible  from  the  more  direct  transition 
ol  rubber  from  the  forest  to  the  consumer. 
WORKING  RUBBER  ESTATES  ON  THE  AMAZON. 
Hv  Ashmork  Russ.an,  ‘ London” 
I have  read  with  great  interest  the  account  of  the  interview  with 
Mr.  X.  H.  Wn  r,  of  Manaos,  on  the  subject  expressed  in  my  head- 
ing, which  appeared  in  the  July  number  of  The  India  Rubber 
World,  and  I may  say  at  oiice  that  I agree  generally  with  his  views 
