April, 1910.] 



299 



Saps and Exudations. 



2nd and following years. 

 As above less $4 00 for establish- 

 ing Tephrosia ... ... $6'00 



Total expenses for 5 years ... $34'00 

 Total saving ... ... $66-00 



F. ZERNICHOW, 

 Jendarata Estate, 

 Teluk Anson. 



BRAZILIAN RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol. 

 XV., No. 196, December 30, 1909.) 

 A correspondent writes as follows to 

 the Times Financial and Commercial 

 Supplement of December 10th :— In view 

 of the high price of rubber and the 

 activity shown in the floating planta- 

 tion companies, it is surprising that so 

 little is known concerning the principal 

 rubber field of the world, namely, the 

 Amazon Valley. This ignorance, I think, 

 was clearly illustrated by the comments 

 made in various papers on the report 

 of Mr. Cheetham, Secretary to the 

 British Legation at Rio de Janeiro. 

 When I first went into the Para rubber 

 industry I found it impossible to accept 

 any information respecting the exact 

 facts of working, and other matters, 

 from any one because every one gave 

 a different version, Accordingly I set 

 to work to investigate the matter 

 for myself, and found that there was 

 one essential to be provided ; that was 

 not labour, as may be supposed, but 

 working capital. 



Ownership op Land. 

 It may be useful to deal first with 

 the question of title or ownership, this 

 being a point raised by many. The state- 

 ment that one does not know positively 

 how much land one owns is incorrect. 

 According to Brazilian law as scon as 

 a person has an estate he must know 

 the area to the square metre — the land 

 is measured in metres, and not in acres. 

 Before a purchase is legalized the land 

 must be surveyed (demarcated, it is 

 called) by an authorized surveyor, the 

 plans, etc., deposited with the Govern- 

 ment, and the necessary fees paid. Then, 

 and uot till then, is a grant of land 

 made. No purchase of property should, 

 of course, be made until the survey 

 has been held and the grant forthcoming, 

 so that with care no one can go very 

 far wrong. In the event of the transfer 

 of a rubber or other estate from an 

 individual to a company it would be 

 necessary for the company to deposit in 



one of the local banks 10 per cent, in 

 cash of the total registered capital 

 before the transfer could be legalized, 

 and the company placed in a position 

 to carry on the business in its own 

 name. The deposit, of course, could be 

 withdrawn as soon as the transfer was 

 completed. 



System op Working. 



With regard to the system of work- 

 ing, it will be seen from the following 

 remarks how important is the question 

 of an adequate supply of working capital. 

 For instance, a man gathering from 150 

 to 200 tons of rubber a year, and em- 

 ploying from 500 to 600 workers, whom 

 he would have to supply with food, 

 etc, would have his own boats for the 

 conveyance of rubber down the river 

 to Fara or Manaos, and for carrying 

 back food and other merchandise. If 

 the property were on a river navigable 

 during several months of the year he 

 could buy merchandise on better terms. 

 The cost price of goods, duty paid, 

 at Para or Manaos required for 500 

 men during the year would amount 

 to £20,000 to £25,^00. The grower would 

 be charged by the importer or mer- 

 chant from £28,000 to £36,000, for nearly 

 every grower is more or less in the 

 hands of the merchant, and when the 

 goods were delivered to the chiefs or 

 headmen on the estates the cost would 

 have increased by from 15 to 30 per 

 cent. By the time the goods were 

 distributed by the chiefs or headmen 

 among the labourers another 20 to 

 30 per cent, would have been added to 

 the cost. From these facts it will be 

 seen why Brazilian rubber is so costly 

 to gather. But there is nothing to 

 prevent any company or individual 

 possessing the necessary capital from 

 avoiding many of the charges which 

 help to swell the cost of production. 



The native gatherer from Ceara and 

 Peru earns from £70 to more than £100 

 per annum, and his annual output is 

 about 800 lb. of rubber on the estates 

 on the lower rivers, and 1,200 lb. on 

 the upper, and especially the Acre River. 



Increase in Producing Trees. 

 With regard to the number of rubber 

 trees maturing yearly there is nothing 

 like the number that there should be. 

 Little care is ever taken to assist the 

 growth of the young trees, and most 

 of them are allowed to smother each 

 other in the jungle. In view of the 

 fact that only the districts bordering 

 on the five rivers in the State of Ama- 

 zons produce rubber trees, and that 

 the Island of Marago, State of Para, 

 accounts for half of the entire produo- 



