374 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



Indo-Malayan. Quantity. 



1900, 1902. 1903. 1905. 190C. 



lb. lb. lb. lb. lb. 



British India 862,176 116,920 200,704 625,184 502,768 



Ceylon 8,223 21,168 43,568 166,912 414,960 



Papua 12,983 6,891 11,200 590 7,446 

 F. M. S. (without 



Pahang) — 166 1,333 239,663 1,028,792 



N. Borneo — — 123,733 138,800 — 



Sarawak 461,866 233,980 221,733 559,200 628,266 



Indo-Malayan. Value. 



19''0 1902 1903 19 5 1906 



£ £ £ £ £ 



British India .. 103,189 9, 23,146 85.475 74,566 



Ceylon .. 859 2,621 5,652 37,196 1"1,836 



Papua .. 1,435 927 1,029 67 1,145 



F. M. S. — 26 250 54,815 217,651 



N. Borneo — — 7,682 10,121 13.98C 



Sarawak .. 35,1 14,940 18,366 50,771 62,498 



The decline in output from British India 

 will soon be checked when the plantations at- 

 tain maturity ; the export in 1906 was only equal 

 to that from less than 5,000 acres of cultivated 

 land, whereas, as we have previously indicated, 

 there are now from 20,000 to 30,000 acres of 

 land in India planted with rubber trees. From 

 all the countries enumerated above, the exports 

 may be expected to rapidly increase in the 

 coming years. 



African Rubbeb. 



The wild rubber areas in British Africa do 

 not appear to be capable of largely increasing 

 their output even under the stimulus of the 

 high prices which ruled throughout 1906. It is 

 a remarkable fact that the rubber exported 

 during 1906 from all the British areas enumer- 

 ated below is only equal to that obtainable from 

 half the present planted rubber acreage in tho 

 small island of Ceylon. The advantages of 

 plantations instead of wild areas are obviou 

 from this consideration alone. 



African. Quantity. 



1902. 1903. 1905. 



1900. 

 lb 



86,404 



lb. lb. 



11,723 4,372 

 68,626 45,809 



lb. lb. 



17,280 16,408 

 42,718 73,191 



144,032_ 148,624 

 3434,279 



Nyasaland 

 Uganda 

 British East 



Africa 100,600 



„ „. . / 2,251,315 865,834 1,177,8 3 2,842,83 1 \ 



S, Nigeria ^ 596,332 151,440 131,311 271,904/ 



Gold Coast 3,452,140 1,599,974 2,2-^8.981 3,687,778 3,649,668 



Sierra Leone 274,624 103,783 106,648 42o,6i0 240,049 



Gambia .. .. 19,551 9,071 10,454 



African. Value. 



19)0. 1902. 1903. 1905. 1906. 



£ £ £ £ £ 



Nyasaland 9,332 1,180 426 2,160 3,486 



Uganda — 3,430 2,795 5,696 9,759 



British E. Africa 10,060 7,778 10,77; 18,929 19,944 



<• „. ■ / 137,289 46,946 61,816 226,387 1 ,„, „„ 



S. Nigeria j 48j239 9fir2 15i583 23)248 j 307,077 



Gold Coast 3^8,156 88,602 196,500 3:3,774 334,505 



Sierra Leone 25,741 8,192 9,258 49,132 30,170 



Gambia — — 1,544 915 1,084 



The low prices now being paid for most of the 

 Landolphia, Clitandra, Carpodinus, and other 

 African vine rubbers will in all probability be 

 instrumental in curtailing the output during 

 this and the coming year, though it still 

 pays to collect and export the rubber from 

 Funtumia elastica trees. Plantation develop- 

 ments are not as advanced in East, Central 



and West Africa as one might wish, and 

 there is therefore no guarantee that supplies 

 from those areas will be immediately increased 

 to any considerable extent. 



The collection of rubber in S. Nigeria is res- 

 tricted Under Ordinance No. 14 of 1902. In 

 Sierra Leone the exportation of root rubber is 

 now prohibited (from Jan. 1, 1907). The 

 colony and protecturate of Southern Nigeria 

 were placed under the same administration 

 from May 1st, 1906, and the returns for 1906 

 are therefore amalgamated. 



We learn from one in the service of the 

 African Lakes Corporation, Limited, that there 

 is not likely to be a great deal of rubber put on 

 the market this year from British Central 

 Africa. The Landolphia vine gives very little 

 rubber, and that of inferior quality, owing to 

 the method of preparation adopted being un- 

 satisfactory. 



He was of the opinion that British Central 

 Africa would certainly not be a competitor with 

 the East on the rubber market, owing to un- 

 favourable climatic conditionr. 



American and West Indian Rubbers. 



Owing to the scarcity of rubber-yielding trees 

 and vines our areas in tropical America and 

 the West Indies show up poorly when compared 

 with other parts of tropical America or even 

 British Africa. 



West Indian and 

 American. 



Quantity 



1903 19 5 

 lb. lb. 

 84 — 



1906 

 lb. 



1900 19)2 



lb. lb. 



Balance — — 



Jamaica — 232 — 



Trinidad & Tobago — — — 9,394 1,067 



B.Honduras 3,518 30,338 18,93 20,2 4 



B. Guiana 425,371 540.-00 531,399 497,829 639,607 

 West Indian and 



American. VALUE. 



1900. 1902. J 903. 1905. 1906. 



£ £ £ £ £ 



Bahamas . . — — 2 — 



J amaica . . — 22 — — — 



Trinidad & Tobago — — — 1,221 174 



B.Honduras .. 365 2,911 2,165 2,815 3,48>i 



B. Guiana .. 19,58> 40,637 45,187 41,487 64,120 



The returns from West Indian islands for 

 1906 are particularly poor, and only the es- 

 tablishment of large plantations can effect any 

 material increase from these areas. It is difficult 

 to understand why the West Indian islands 

 have been so backward ; latest advices assure 

 us, however, that the growers are at last 

 taking advantage of the advice which has been 

 repeatedly given by the various Botanic De- 

 partments, and that there is a prospect of sub- 

 stantial improvement when the few plantations 

 now established reach the productive stage. 



The figures given in the tables for India, 

 Nyasaland, Uganda, '^British E. A., Jamaica, 

 Trinidad, and Tobago, and British Guiana, 



