and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— Feb., 1910. 181 



RUBBER EXPLOITATION SN BRAZIL. 



Followingon substantial interim distributions, 

 anil a few weeks butuie the magnificent dividend 

 declarations about to be ma<ie by the older rub- 

 ber-producing Companies ot 'the Middle-East, we 

 do not envy Brazilian Company i hairmon their 

 task of making the best, as Mr Ashmore Hassan 

 had to do the other day, of a balance sheet, 

 which shows an even poorer result than a year 

 ago, with no dividend, and only a prospect of 

 floating a fresh subsidiary Company. This 

 Company, it seems, is one of those which will 

 do their part in allaying any fears that Brazil, 

 whatever its increase in output, can possibly 

 compete with Plantation Rubber in cheapness of 

 production and net profits. We read of Sd. per 

 lb. profit estimated, while '2s. to 3s. in the next 

 year or two is not by any mear.s an exaggerated 

 estimate for profits on rubber from this side. 

 Further efforts are to be made, it will bo seen, 

 to get the Brazilian Government to reduce the 

 export duty, but the more popular official policy 

 seems to be to grant a bonus on the proper 

 planting of so many hundred thousand rubber 

 trees, and, as Mr Russan says, all this means 

 the expenditure of capital with a long wait for 

 returns; while most Brazilian Companies are for 

 the purpose of working concessions of rubber 

 forests of a considerable ago. While the South 

 American Governments are, therefore, wise in 

 their generation — as was that of the Congo till a 

 few years ago, the attractions of Brazilian Com- 

 panies with the home-investing public must re- 

 main at a discount, in competition with Ceylon, 

 the Malay States and Dutch Indies. 



RUBBER INDUSTRY IN BRAZIL. 



[From the 88-page South American 

 Supplement.] 

 (London Times Rio Correspondent.) 

 Brazil occupies a commanding position iu the 

 world's markets by a product of the country 

 — caoutchouc, or rubber. The wonderful pro- 

 gress in Brazilian rubber can best be gauged 

 from the number of to;i3 exported at intervals 

 of ten years from 1827 to 1907. These are as 

 follows :— 1827, 31; 1837, 290 ; 1847, 625 ; 1857, 

 1,809 ; 1867,5,827; 1877,9,215; 1887,13.390; 

 1897, 21,256 ; and 1907, 36,490. 



Only six foreign nations import Brazilian 

 rubber direct. Below are given the quantities 

 and values for 1908 in metrical tone and sterling : 



Tons. £ 

 United States . . 18,040 5,679,235 



Great Britain . . 15,585 4,659,?S7 



.. 2,311 724,42s 



France 

 Germany 

 Cruuuay 

 Kelf,iuui 



1,859 

 61b 



13 



505,063 

 21M,215 

 3,409 



3S.2U0 11,784,637 



The figures for the first half-year of 1909 show 

 a groat improvement both in quantity and price 

 —21,848 tons were exported, yielding £8,802,793. 



While the supply of [wild.— Ed., CO.] rubber 

 from other countries appears to be on the 

 decline, that of Brazil is constantly increasing. 

 Very extensive regions are still untouched, and 

 quite recently forests of manicoba aud manga- 

 beira have been discovered. The plantation and 

 culture of rubber plants has become very pros- 

 perous in many places, 



The most important varieties of South Ameri- 

 can rubber are called by Brazilians 'Seringa,'' 

 or fine Pas a., "Tapuru,' 1 "Caucho," " M&iiga- 

 beira," aud " Manicoha," and are each derived 

 from a totally different source, • f which several 

 qualities are generally prepared for ma< kefc. 



There are many other milk-yielding plant- in 

 Brazil, the most noteworthy being the gigantic 

 Massaranduba tree, found in seven States of the 

 Republic. The produce of coagulation of the 

 latex is of great value in the rubber trade, and 

 the timber is excellent for shipbuilding. The 

 milk is very abundant, and possesses well de- 

 fined medicinal qualites. This substance appears 

 to be little known as yet, as only 139 kilogram- 

 mes were exported last year to France. In 1907 

 Great Britain took 175 kilos., but for 1906 and 

 1905 there was no shipment recorded. The 

 omission is remarkable, because in 1803 and 

 1904. as much as 4,315 kilos, and 2,062 kilos, 

 respectively, were shipped to the principal col- 

 sumiug markets. — London Times, Dec. 28. 



RUBBER PESTS IN 5CUDAT, BORNEO. 



Of the 450 rubber stumps planted only 112 

 have as yet sprouted ; some from the very root 

 itself and some from the stumps. 1 found the 

 white ant was playing havoc with the stumps, 

 so instituted a crusade against them, with the 

 result that we succeeded in finding 14 nests aud 

 destroying 14 queens ; since then the rubber 

 has been free of this pest, but 1 notice that there 

 is a kind of beetle (bubok), which attacks the 

 trees and bores into the stump even when green. 

 I shall be glad to learn what action ought to be 

 taken to combat this pest. The seeds sent from 

 Tenom have been planted out but are not doing 

 well, although perhaps it is rather early to make 

 this remark.— W H Hastings, Resident, Kr.dat. 



Tenom.— All the stations down on the list for 

 being supplied with Para rubber seeds from the 

 Experimental Gardens have received their first 

 allottment. 200 stumps obtained from Sapong 

 have been planted here and 100 supplied to each 

 Kaningau and Tambunan. The deer are causing 

 great havoc amongst the trees planted on the 

 hill near tho Residency. 1 am afraid it is use- 

 less planting unless one has a wire netting fence 

 aud some barbed wire.— E H Barraut, Resident 

 —B.N.B. Herald, Dec. 16. 



A NEW CEYLON GREEN MANURE. 



FOR TEA AND RUBBER. 

 The Superintendent of Telbedde, Badulla, 

 Ceylon, advertises for sale Boja Medelloa seed. 

 The name will probabJy be strange to most plan- 

 ters. It is a new seed to Cevlon. Mr Bamber 

 saw it growing at Telbedde and was greatly taken 

 with it. He strongly recommended it as a green 

 manure for tea or rubber, especially the latter, 

 and is now experimenting with it at Peradeniya. 

 It willbea valuable addition to tho available 

 green manures of Ceylon. A prominent planting 

 proprietor, who returned recently after an ab- 

 sence of some years from the island, asked what 

 the most notable change was he noted in tho 

 Upcountry planting districta.declared it was the 

 large extent to which green manuring had been 

 adopted ; and he added he had never seen the 

 tea looking better. Boja Medellaa seems * -very 

 suitable plant for the purpose, 



