and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, 



373 



in each year from 1900 to 1908, are of 



particular 



interest at the present moment : — 





Liverpool 





Year. 



January 



vaiue oi nne irara. 





Stock. 







Tons. 



s. d. s. d. 



1MUU 



466 



4 5i to 4 9.V 



1S01 



'.. 1220 



3 7,i to 4 t 



1902 



1438 



3 2| to 3 6£ 



1903 



1129 



3 7 to 4 1 



19,4 



668 



3 10£ to 4 4 



1906 



466 



4 9£ to 5 4 



1906 



.. 549 



5 k| to 5 5j 



1907 



40) 



6 to 5 4 



1908 



2304 



3 U to 3 5J 



There is 



a difference 



of approximately 2s. 



per lb. between the prices ruling for January 

 of this and the previous year, and though 

 merchants do not anticipate a rapid advance 

 in price, they are generally of the opinion 

 that the crisis is practically over. The J anuary 

 stocks for 1908 easily beat all records for the 

 last dozen years cr more, and so did the price 

 for fine Para. 



During the last twelve years the nearest 

 approach to the market conditions of the # 

 past month was in 1902, when the Liverpoo 1 

 stock was little over half that for 1908 and 

 the price ranged from 3s. 2jd. to 3s. 6^d : 

 that same year the stocks gradually in- 

 creased and the value declined until a record of 

 2,448 tons stock and a price of 2s. 1 1 Jd. to 

 3s. Id. was reached in June, but after that 

 month stock declined and prices again rose ; 

 now, with a stock at Liverpool of 2,300 tons 

 our fine Para is realising 3s. ljd. — a price which, 

 after all, is comparable to that ruling in pre- 

 vious years, if one allows for the increased 

 demand. 



It is true that the average monthly consum- 

 ption, now over 5,000 tons, is higher than it 

 was in 1902 ; nevertheless, a stock of 2,300 tons 

 in Liverpool alone is sufficiently large to con- 

 trol the destiny of prices for some little time 

 to come. Supplies have come in as rapidly as 

 in previous years, many buyers are taking pro- 

 portionately less off the markets, and several 

 factories are not yet again in full swing. The 

 present stocks may, therefore, be liable to a 

 further increase. If such depression can be 

 caused by only 2,300 tons of surplus rubber, 

 what may it be when our planted acreages are 

 in bearing and yielding only from 10,000 to 

 20,000 extra tons of rubber annually ? 



Even allowing for a very big decline in the 

 output of wild rubber from Africa and America, 

 it is fairly safe to conclude that the total quan- 

 tity of raw rubber which will be annually placed 

 on the markets of the world from Eastern 

 plantations alone promises to more than 



counterbalance the reduction from wild areas. 

 The increased production must be seriously 

 considered by manufacterers and those inter- 

 ested in plantation companies. All parties, we 

 believe, are unanimous in hoping that the crude 

 product will always be available at a reason- 

 able price. The manufacturers feel sure that 

 the high price of a couple of years ago have 

 gone for good, and the producers wish for a 

 steady increase in consumption in order that 

 a fair average price shall rule for their com- 

 modity. 



Advertising Uses of Rubber. 

 Despite statements intended to imply the 

 contrary, there is a limit to the con- 

 sumption of rubber just as there is to any 

 other commodity. The sooner planters 

 fully realize this and agree to check their plant- 

 ing-up programme the better for all concerned. 

 That the limit of consumption of raw rubber has 

 not been reached and that there are vast op- 

 portunities for using the manufactured article 

 is patent to everyone. Sooner or later the 

 rubber planters of the Indo- Malayan region and 

 manufacturers in Europe and America will have 

 to systematically advertise their goods. The 

 extent to which planters alone can act in this 

 capacity is clear from the results which the 

 Ceylon Planters' Association have achieved in 

 connection with their tea industry. There is 

 every reason why, in order to stimulate consum- 

 ption, manufacturers and producers should com- 

 bine to publicly display the purposes for which 

 rubber can be utilized and the advantages ac- 

 companying the use of india-rubber articles. 

 Fine Para rubber is £200 per ton cheaper today 

 than it was twelve months ago and both parties 

 can therefore afford to consider an advertising 

 programme based on mutual interests. — India 

 Rubber Journal, Feb. 10. 



BRITISH RAW RUBBER PRODUCTION. 



The Statistical Abstracts just published 

 enable us to show the official figures relating to 

 the export of raw rubber from the various 

 British Protectorates and Dependencies up to 

 the end of 1906. The information is grouped 

 under each of three divisions adopted in this 

 office— Indo-Malayan, American (including West 

 Indies), and African. 



Indo-Malayan Exports. 

 We have already given the total quantities of 

 rubber exported from Ceylon and Malaya for 

 the year 1907 ; these have therefore been 

 omitted in the records given below. 



