340 



TJie Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



tine vessels of 3,200 tons each, and the United 

 Fruit Company of Boston undertook to buy the 

 fruit, and at the same time guaranteed a mini- 

 mum freight. 



Two of the ships were built in Belfast, and two 

 iu Amsterdam ; and all were fitted with the 

 special facilities for carrying bananas as intro- 

 duced by Elders and Fyffes (Ltd.) 



So far the arrangement seemed highly satis- 

 factory to all parties concerned. They had the 

 ships, they had the men, and they had the 

 money too. 



Unfortunately the bananas were not forth- 

 coming. Although Surinam is apparently in 

 the banana-growing part of the world, it was 

 found impossible to grow the fruit successfully. 

 Ever since its inauguration the venture has 

 proved a lamentable failure, and the three con- 

 tracting parties have lost heavily on the ceal. 



About four years ago the steamers were ready, 

 and during the whole of that period not more 

 than a third of a cargo per vessel has been forth- 

 coming. The boats had each a carrying capa- 

 city ot 40,000 bunches. Now the whole affair 

 has been abandoned, and the ships will no 

 longer call at Paramaribo, the port of embarka- 

 tion. The United Fruit Company have bought 

 the vessels — which originally cost over a quar- 

 ter of a million sterling — and will use them on 

 their other routes. It is quite impossible to 

 estimate the total loss incurred. 



Other Disasters. 



The phenomenal success of the banana trade 

 has attracted many people. It is only to be 

 expected that fortune hunters would rush 

 in. Vast wealth has been attained in Cesta 

 Rica, Santa Marta, and Jamaica by means of the 

 popular fruit ; yet it seems very difficult to hit 

 upon the right spot to grow bananas. At the 

 present time the world is being searched for suit- 

 able ground for the cult of the '• wise man's 

 fruit. Even the wise men who have done well 

 with bananas have made many mistakes. Thus 

 the attempt to grow bananas in fertile Cuba was 

 utterly futile. Another abortive effort took 

 place in Panama. In both these instances the 

 United .bruit Company sustained severe re- 

 verses. 



No difficulty whatever is experienced in sel- 

 ling bananas, the trouble is to get them ; and 

 that is why the very word " banana" on a pros- 

 pectus acts like magic. So many are apt to as- 

 sume that the fruit will grow in any tropical 

 country, but even the greatest experts have 

 been deceived on that point. Growing bananas 

 is playing for a big stake. Should the fruit 

 flourish then the reward is indeed golden, but 

 failing that the debit balances are such as to 

 terrify merchant princes. There is an indis- 

 soluble association between bananas and ship- 

 owning, and failure with the fruit means losing 

 valuable ships. Those who have the temerity 

 to enter into the field must be prepared to think 

 in millions. The disaster at Surinam is but 

 another illustration of the the perils of fruit- 

 growing. There are no half measures in regard 

 to bananas — it is fortune or extinction.— Daily 

 Telegraph, Sept, 10. 



RUBBER IN BURMA. 



Though the history of rubber cultivation in 

 Burma dates back to so long ago as the late 

 seventies, it was only about a decade ago that 

 the plantation industry came to be placed on a 

 commercial basis, and the most noteworthy 

 feature in the history of modern agriculture in 

 the Province is the rapid strides made in the 

 cultivation of this valuable product. Rubber 

 planting in Burma has long since passed the 

 experimental stage an:! though the industry is 

 still comparatively young when we consider the 

 extent of the areas under rubber in the Fede- 

 rated Malay States and the Straits, it is never- 

 theless a fact that rubber cultivation is one of 

 the successful commercial enterprises in this 

 Province. As in all industrial ventures demand- 

 ing the expenditure of large sums, private enter- 

 prise for some years was slow in embarking on 

 the industry on a commercial scale ; but as ex- 

 perimental cultivations carried on over a series 

 of years in various centres showed that Burma 

 was an ideal place for the cultivation of rubber, 

 the hesitancy and diffidence which early marked 

 the history of the industry disappeared and 

 Burma at the present day has a right to be con- 

 sidered as one of the important centres of plan- 

 tation rubber cultivation. In view of the pre- 

 sent activity it may be interesting to ob- 

 serve that the plantation product now covers 

 an area of nearly 33,000 acres showing an 

 increase of 265 per cent, as compared with 

 the area of five years ago. Kubber is 

 is now cultivated in ten districts in Lower 

 Burma and in the Bhamo, Myitkyina Katha 

 and Yamethin districts of Upper Burma. The 

 areas in the more important rubber-growing 

 districts during the five years ending 1911-12 

 are respectively as follows : — Hanthawaday, 

 2,627 acres, 3,189 acres, 3,724 acres, 3,814 acres 

 and 5,903 acres ; Toungoo, 1,857 acres, 2,368 

 acres, 2,213 acres, 2,587 acres and 2,477 acres ; 

 Thaton, 11 acres, 97 acres, 97 acres, 3,488 acres 

 and 4,133 acres; Amherst 100 acres, j00 acres, 

 168 aciess, 676 acres and 1,450 acres ; Tavoy, 109 

 acres, 406 acres, 666 acres, 1,013 acres and 2,381 

 acres ; Mergui, 4,239 acres, 5,540 acres, 5,762 

 acres, 5,932 acres and 13,103 acres ; and Myitky- 

 ina, nil, 50 acres, 800 acres, 2,382 acres and 

 2,712 acres The total Provincial area during 

 the same period has been 8,9^7 acres in 1907-'J8, 

 11,849 acres in 1908 09, 13,525 acres in 1909-10, 

 20,100 acres in 1910-11 and 32,772 acres in 

 1911-12. 



The most remarkable increases have been in 

 the Tenasserim division and in the Myitkyina 

 district. In Thaton where two years ago there 

 were only about xUO acres under rubber, the 

 area now amounts to over 4,000 acres ; the cul- 

 tivation, 'so far, promises welt and a further 

 expansion is anticipated in the near future. 

 Large tracts in Shwegyin are row cultivated 

 with rubber and new tracts are being applied 

 for both in Shwegyin and Toungoo towuships, 

 while in Tavoy rubber planting is proceeding 

 apace and applications for grants or leases of 

 land continue to be received. A grant of 2,000 

 acres is being worked by one planter but 

 Mr. Marshall has disposed of his plantation 

 above Ye Byu. In Mergui also rubber cultiva- 



