484 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



" Do you think, Mr. Wright, that Rubber 

 will go up to any appreciable extent ? " 



" Well, the view held by some very promi- 

 nent manufacturers at home is that during 

 1908 there is a possibility that the price will 

 fluctuate from 2s 6d a lb. to 4s a lb. Many 

 parties are in a somewhat nervous state, and 

 any active buying would result 



In an Immediate Rise in the Price of the Raw 

 Article. 



" Yes, a low price may lead to the exten- 

 sion of the uses of rubber." 



"What do you consider the best form in 

 which to send plantation rubber to the London 

 market ? 



"That question I would prefer not to 

 answer." 



" Can you offer any advice to Ceylon 

 planters ?" 



" My advice is this : -The more economically 

 the Ceylon planter can run his estate the 

 better it will be for him and all parties con- 

 cerned. It is just as well to look forward to a 

 price of 



3s. 6d, a lb. for Rubber in the Distant Future, 

 when the supplies from the present exceed- 

 ingly large acreages are being sent home. 1 

 think, as I have said before, that the planters 

 have had a very fair innings, and it rests 

 with them to adopt the strictest economy in 

 tho management to make the rubber industry 

 the sound, financial success it should bo. ; ' 



" What do you consider aro the chances of 

 plantation rubber in competition with wild 

 rubber ? " 



"Generally speaking," resumed Mr Wright, 

 "manufacturers have a decided preference for 

 Para rubber, and if they can have it at a 

 reasonable price they will use it and givo up 

 the use of many other inferior wild rubbers. 

 The competition of plantation with wild 

 Para will be another matter. It is not likely 

 that the authorities in tropical America 

 will let such an important source of revenue 

 decline, even if they go to the extent of actually 

 Subsidising; Exploitation Parties.'' 



" With regard to the Rubber Exhibition, Mr 

 Wright f" 



" All I can say is that the Rubber Exhibition 

 to be held in London shows every prospejt of 

 being a great success. As most of Ceylon 

 people know now, the people in charge of the 

 Exhibition have had to select the Olympia for 

 the exhibits. A very good show indeed can be 



relied upon, and it will be one which will stimu- 

 late interest in the plantation industry as well 

 as in the manufacture and disposal of rubber 

 articles." 



Led on to the subject of the Malay section 

 of the 



Rubber ii rowers' Association Rules, 

 Mr Wright said he would rather not say too 

 much. 



"Naturally, you look upon tho alterations of 

 the former managerial ordinances as being some- 

 what drastic ?" 



"I cannot say that I do. I am not of the 

 opinion, in fact, that the principle of the rules 

 is at all drastic. In view of the present il actua- 

 tion of the price for tho raw article, any sensi- 

 ble body of men must be fully alive to the 

 necessity of conducting rubber estates on effi- 

 cient and economical lines." 



Asked finally as to the prospects of the 

 market absorbing all tho plantation rubber 

 that will come into it during the next few years, 

 and upon tho 



Stability of the Rubber Industry as an Investment, 

 Mr. Wright replied ; "I regard rubber cul- 

 tivation as an investment as being among 

 the best of tho present time— even at 2s 

 6d a lb. As 1 said before, however, the 

 Klondyke days are over. The industry ought 

 to develop into a very steady one and one 

 which will attract fixed investments rather than 

 those men who are imbued with the merely 

 gambling spii it. 1 ' 



HERBERT WRIGHT'S RUBBER 

 EXPERIMENTS. 



Mr. Herbert Wright, the well-known rubber- 

 growing export and writer on rubber subjects, 

 after a tour through some of the Ceylon Rubber 

 Planting Districts and before he left for 

 Penang, where he is intending, among other 

 places he will visit, to make further inquiries 

 and researches, accorded an Observer represen- 

 tative an interesting interview. 



" I have been visiting nearly all tho leading 

 estates," said he, " in the Kalutara district, 

 and have visited Henratgoda and motored 

 through several other localities. I have gathered 

 a large amount of valuable information, too, and 

 I should like, through the Observer, to express 

 my thanks to those planters who have been 

 kind enough to take so much trouble to assist in 

 giving me the knowledge of certain points that 

 I have acquired. In Kalutara 



