2 



[Jan. 1908. 



GUMS, RESINS, SAPS, AND EXUDATIONS. 



Consular Reports on Rubber. 



REPORT ON THE VENEZUELAN RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



The Venezuelan Rubber Industry, although rich in possibilities, cannot be 

 regarded as of any present importance ; nor does it appear probable that it will 

 assume any very considerable dimensions in the near future. The following facts 

 will serve to illustrate this opinion. 



Actual Conditions.— All the rubber shipped from Venezuela passes through 

 the port of Ciudad Bolivar, on the Orinoco, and amounts, according to the latest 

 returns, to some 200 tons a year ; the source of this supply is on the upper waters 

 of the River Orinoco, not far from the Brazil boundary line. This may be said to 

 constitute the actual extent of the rubber industry in this country, as apart from 

 experiments and schemes for its cultivation in other districts of the Republic. The 

 plant from which the above supply is extracted is known as the Hevea brasiliensis, 

 which grows wild in the district mentioned and is found in great abundance. The 

 inaccessible nature of the region, however, and the political conditions, combined 

 with difficulties of labour and transport, have hitherto restricted the annual output 

 to its present meagre limits. It may perhaps be a question as to whether some 

 rubber of Venezuelan origin, be not shipped, with that from Brazil, through the 

 port of Para, but this does not probably amount to anything very considerable. 



Yield per Tree. — With respect to the average yield per tree, an official 

 publication on Venezuela, compiled in 1904, states that " in the Orinoco region the 

 rubber tree found produces from 40 to 50 grammes of sap. In December and January, 

 two hundred plants will produce from 12 to 14 kilos, which is equivalent to some 

 seven kilos* of rubber. In April the sap contains more water and only yields about 

 four to five kilos of rubber." 



Price.— As regards the price, that publication places it between 40 and 50 

 pesos (equal to about £6 10s. to £8) to the hundred pounds, although the finest 

 qualities are more expensive. 



Method of Extraction.— The method of extraction is primitive, but, I 

 believe, effective. Incisions are made at different levels in the trunk of the tree, 

 and the sap is allowed to drop into a vessel provided for the purpose. . A photograph 

 illustrating this process is enclosed. 



Extent of Venezuelan Rubber Resources.— It is, unfortunately, not 

 possible to convey any just estimate as to the actual extent of the rubber-bearing 

 districts in this country, for the region of the Upper Orinoco is practically a terra 

 incognita. In the official publication referred to above, its extent is estimated at 

 some thirty million ' hectares.' It is known to possess unbounded resources and to 

 be capable, were the district opened up, of producing an almost unlimited supply of 

 rubber for a large number of years ; the absence of population, however, and the 

 difficulties of every kind hitherto encountered, have disappointed all the hopes of the 

 Venezuelan enterprise, and of the fairly numerous group of American and European 

 capitalists who have, from time to time, interested themselves in this branch of the 

 national wealth. 



Prospects.— To turn from the actual to the prospective state of the industry 

 in Venezuela, I should mention that efforts are being made by Messrs Sprick, 

 Luis & Co., as well as by other firms on the Orinoco, to develope the dis- 



* About 14 lbs. 



