JuNEi 1912.] 



491 



Saps and Exudations. 



parts to their rubber, forms the brand 

 of their products. 



Three laws were passed on the 17th 

 May 1911, for the protection and exten- 

 tion of the rubber industry in the State 

 of Para ; the second of these laws autho- 

 rises the Brazilian Government to con- 

 tract a loan abroad intended for pro- 

 tecting rubber production.! 



FORWARD CONTRACTS FOB- 

 PLANTATION RUBBER. 



From the India Rubber Journal, Vol. 



XLTII., No. 5, February 3rd, 1912.) 



The attempt to standardise plantation 

 rubber by including first grade crepe 

 and sheet in the term " first , quality 

 latex " has been quite a success, in so far 

 that it has facilitated business in plant- 

 ation futures. Forward contracts made 

 in past years have generally been open 

 to criticism, mainly because the sales 

 were based on specified samples. Even 

 to-day some contracts are made on 

 samples submitted, but only when an 

 estate turns out a special quality of 

 crepe, smoked sheet or block which 

 cannot be contused with similar grades 

 from other plantations. Samples, like 

 prices, are apt to change ; estate managers 

 cannot always turn out twin rubber in 

 point of colour, thickness, surface and 

 size every month in the year, hence the 

 difficulty of strictly carrying out the 

 terms of contracts made on samples only. 



In the future it is very probable that 

 sellers will insist nn the option of deliver- 

 ing rubber to meet forward contracts in 

 the form (1) crepe. (2) smoked sheet, (3) 

 unsmoked sheet. At the moment there 

 is a very keen demand for good thick 

 crepe, unsmoked. It must not be assumed 

 that this means inferiority of all other 

 forms of plantation rubber ; it is the 

 demand of the moment and must only 

 be regarded as such. 



Crepe Versus Sheet Rubber. 

 Planters would, we imagine, be only 

 too pleased to supply crepe in preference 



f SeeB., July 1911, No. 2,182 ; February 1912) 

 No, 273, 



to smoked sheet, and proprietors too 

 would be anxious to meet such a demand 

 if only on account of the saving of ex- 

 penditure necessarily incurred in smok- 

 ing rubber. If we are to accept the 

 assurances of many manufacturers, crepe 

 is not the form of rubber which serves 

 them best. The tearing and maceration 

 to which rubber in this form has been 

 subjected are said to destroy the nerve 

 of tho crude product, the deterioration 

 being specially noticeable in samples 

 fresh from the estate. On the other 

 hand we are told that sheet rubber, not 

 having been passed through tearing 

 rollers, is of better quality, and when 

 smoked is capable of being kept for quite 

 a long period by the manufacturers. It 

 is for these reasons that we expect a re- 

 currence of the demand for smoked sheet 

 in the near future, when market require- 

 ments for crepe have been satisfied, In 

 the meantime planters will be well 

 advised if they try to make themselves 

 familiar with the preparation of crepe 

 and smoked sheet. Crepe in any form 

 should not be smoked ; it should, from 

 the manufacturer's point of view, be 

 made in the thick blanket form. 



It will surprise a few to learn that a 

 considerable quantity of rubber has been 

 sold forward for delivery during 1912. 

 Many contracts were entered into during 

 last year, and the first quarter of 1912 

 has shown a large addition to the list. 



In the early days the majority of for- 

 ward contracts were entered into by 

 companies who, for reasons best known 

 to themselves, found the necessary accom- 

 modation thereby. In some few cases a 

 price of 4s. per lb. was regarded as 

 abnormally high and a forward contract 

 was entered into in the belief that such 

 a figure was not likely to be exceeded. 

 Last year opinion on the subject was 

 divided, some believing that business of 

 this character was speculative in a high 

 degree and could only be entered into by 

 directors imbued with the spirit of 

 gambling. Today one's view is much 

 larger. Supplies are coming forth in 

 very large quantities from the East ; 

 fluctuation in prices has been so great 



