Gums, Resins, 



420 



[May 1908. 



seemed to produce some unfavourable 

 chemical action, for it was sticky and 

 dried very slowly subsequently. 



Report on the Rubber.— The sample 

 obtained was sent to the Director 

 of Kew Gardens, who submitted it 

 for report to the Iudia-Rubber, Gutta 

 Percha and Telegraph Works Company, 

 Limited. 



According to the report furnished, the 

 substance was said to have many valu- 

 able properties, but the quantity sent was 

 too small to determine its value satis- 

 factorily, It contained a large percent- 

 age of caoutchouc, but on removing the 

 resin, the former was obtained in a soft, 

 sticky condition unfit for manipulating 

 as india-rubber. The concluding sentence 

 of the report runs :— " When a substance 

 of such promise is sent for examination, 

 it is not only important that a large 

 supply should be available for the pur- 

 pose of a preliminary examination, but 

 for subsequent experiments ; frequently 

 an application has been found for a 

 vegetable product by accident, from 

 being able to fall back upon it, as it 

 were, when an opportunity presents 

 itself." 



This interesting report on Macwarrie- 

 balli ends with a request to balata 

 collectors and wood cutters, that they 

 would endeavour to procure and send 

 him (Mr. Jenman) a few pounds of this 

 new rubber for trial. He deplores the 

 extent to which the practice has grown, 

 of mixing the milk of this and of various 

 other trees capable of yielding rubber or 

 gutta-percha with the balata milk, 

 which he considers must cause a dete- 

 rioration in the product obtained, causing 

 perplexity and trouble to the manu- 

 facturers. 



" The object of collectors and exporters 

 alike should be to endeavour to gain a 

 market reputation and demand for each 

 of our several rubbers and guttas, allow- 

 ing each one to rest upon its own merits 

 and so determine the intrinsic value of 

 each. By the present system of mixing 

 the milk of all kinds together, they are 

 probably inflicting unwittingly a per- 

 manent loss on their work in modifying 

 the quality, and hence the value of the 

 balata or rubber exported." 



This advice would appear to be of 

 special importance now, nearly twenty 

 years after the above was written, as the 

 demand for and consequently the value 

 of every kind of rubber has increased so 

 considerably.— The Journal of the Board 

 of Agriculture of British Guiana, Vol. 

 1— Nos. 1 & 2, July and October, 1907, 

 pp. 1/10 and 29/37. 



THE CAMPHOR MONOPOLY. 



In our issue of December 21, 1907, 

 (p. 945), we announced that the contract 

 of the Japanese Government with Messrs. 

 Samuel Samuel & Co. relating to the 

 sole agency for the disposal of camphor 

 produced in Formosa expires on March 

 31 next. We also stated that the Formosa 

 authorities had decided to conduct the 

 business themselves without the assi- 

 stance of agents. We are now able to 

 give some particulars on the authority 

 of the accredited agent of the Japanese 

 Financial Commission, now in this 

 country attending to the preliminary 

 arrangements connected with the future 

 sale of the monopoly's products. We 

 understand that the Government have 

 already opened an office in New ifork, 

 and that it is their intention to also open 

 one in London, from which fact it may 

 easily be gathered that the Government 

 intend to deal direct with large con- 

 sumers and buyers without the inter- 

 vention of a selling agent. This will 

 not, of course, preclude firms obtaining 

 the assistance of a broker if necessary. 

 For some time past there have been 

 rumours of impending changes in the 

 distribution of* camphor, so that the 

 above facts will cause no surprise. It 

 has not actually transpired why the 

 services of Messrs. Samuel Samuel & Co. 

 have been dispensed with, as they have 

 rendered good service since they acquir- 

 ed the agency eight years ago ; but the 

 idea of the Formosan Government is to 

 save expense and reap a larger revenue. 

 Pending the arrival of the Japanese 

 Commissioner in London, the well-known 

 firm of Messrs. Mitsui & Co. are assisting 

 the Government. It may be pointed out 

 that the camphor industry has been 

 under investigation by the Formosan 

 Government, and in this connection it 

 will be remembered that Mr. T. Iwai, 

 now the chief of the Camphor Monopoly 

 Bureau in Formosa, inquired into the 

 conditions under which camphor is sold 

 in the principal markets of the world, 

 and evidently the new regime is the 

 result of his recommendations. In some 

 quarters the attempt of the Japanese 

 Government to monopolise the produc- 

 tion of camphor is regarded as a failure, 

 simply because they have not been able 

 to control the China output. When the 

 monopoly was established in 1899, four 

 years after Formosa was ceded to Japan, 

 the impression was that Formosa ruled 

 the market, and that it would be im- 

 possible for production elsewhere to 

 break down prices. Not only was China 

 ignored, but at that time the monopoly 

 was not even extended to the camphor 

 produced*on the Japanese mainland. It 



