June 1908.] 517 



The sample weighed about 13 ounces, 

 and consisted of a large porous lump of 

 rubber which had been formed appar- 

 ently by the aggregation of thin sheets 

 and scrap. It was dark coloured, slightly 

 sticky, and contained a considerable 

 quantity of vegetable and mineral im- 

 purities. The rubber exhibited very 

 fair elasticity and tenacity. 



The rubber was found to have the 

 following percentage composition :— 



Per cent. 

 Moisture ... ... 3*6 



Caoutchouc ... ... 64*3 



Resin 10-1 



Albuminoid matter ... 7 '9 



Insoluble matter (including ash) H'l 



Ash 8-22 



The percentage of resin and albumin- 

 oid matter are both high, but the chief 

 defect of the rubber is the presence of 

 the large amount of insoluble matter, 

 consisting of vegetable and mineral 

 impurities. The presence of mineral 

 impurity points to the contamination of 

 the rubber, possibly the scrap rubber 

 present in the sample, by contact with 

 the soil, and precautions should be 

 taken to avoid this in future. The 

 percentage of caoutchouc is rather low, 

 but this is chiefly due to the excessive 

 amount of the impurities contained in 

 the present sample. 



A sample of the rubber was submitted 

 for valuation to brokers, who reported 

 that it was rather sticky and slightly 

 heated, and would probably be worth 

 3s. 6d. per lb. in London (May, 190(5), when 

 tine hard Para from South Ameiica was 

 quoted at 5s. 4d. per lb. — Bulletin of 

 the Imperial Institute, Vol. V., No. 4. 



Saps and Exudation^ 



RUBBER PRICES. 



The following article is so well worth 

 careful attention locally, that we venture 

 to reprint it from tne India Rubber 

 World of New York :— 



The Cost of Amazon Rubber. 

 No question in connection with crude 

 rubber is of more commanding interest 

 to-day than the probable effect of a 

 large production from plantations upon 

 ultimate prices of staple rubber grades. 

 Five years ago such a question would 

 not have had respectful attention out- 

 side the then narrow circle of rubber 

 planters. The rapid increase in the out- 

 put of rubber plantations of late, how- 

 over, has made a marked impression 

 even in Stock Exchange circles in London, 

 in which city the leading financial 

 journals give relatively as much atten- 

 tion to rubber as to railway or mining 

 interests, 



It may be said, of course, that rubber 

 planting commands so much attention 

 because it is the newest marked success 

 with which investing interests have 

 been concerned. But it has been proved 

 that rubber can be produced under culti- 

 vation with as much certainty as wheat 

 or cotton, and the fact that the forest 

 product in recent years has been sold to 

 factories at as much as $3,000 per ton, 

 while steel has been produced at not 

 above §3'30 for the same weight, has 

 rendered most alluring the possibility of 

 cheapening the cost of production of 

 rubber without wholly upsetting the 

 long maintained price levels. In fact, 

 it has been possible to draw a most 

 spectacular picture of the near future of 

 rubber planting profits. 



But just as a thousand or so tons of 

 cultivated rubber began to be produced, 

 along with say 70,000 tons a year of the 

 forest product, an unexampled drop in 

 prices occurred, and investors in plant- 

 ations naturally have been disturbed. 

 The exact cause of the drop remains yet 

 to be understood ; up to date nobody 

 seems to be able to fully understand 

 what sent rubber up or down, or " where 

 prices are made." At every meeting of 

 a Planters' Association in Ceylon it is 

 gravely stated that the lower prices 

 to-day are due to something having 

 happened in America. 



But that is because the planters in 

 Ceylon are British. Ten years ago, or 

 live years ago, whenever crude rubber 

 prices went up, London and Liverpool 

 dealers told their customers it was 

 because "something had happened in 

 America." But all the while every 

 American who cared a snap of his fingers 

 about the situation blamed everything 

 upon England or some other country, 

 and at this moment the same thing is true 

 — iu every market it is said that rubber 

 has gone up or down because of con- 

 ditions somewhere else. And there 

 you are. 



The United States has not ceased to 

 buy rubber. Look at these figures, show- 

 ing the Government statement of the 

 quantity and value of rubber— total and 

 average per pound— imported into the 

 United States during ten calendar years 

 past : — 



Year. Pounds. Value $ Per lb. 



1898 ... 44,236,070 25,937,108 56 cents. 



1899 ... 54,408,495 34.219,019 6i do 



1900 ... 49,337,183 28,577,789 58 do 



1901 ... 55,152,810 28,120,218 51 do 



1902 ... 50,851,257 25,158,591 49 do 



1903 ... 55.744,120 35,152,042 G3 do 



1904 ... 61,889,758 43,784,297 71 do 



1905 ... 64,147,701 48,517,906 76 do 



1906 ... 67,907,251 53,391,137 79 do 



1907 ,.. 08,635,647 49,797,437 73 dp. 



