176 The Supplement to the 



direct, may collect rubber without a permit. The 

 right of collecting is given subject to rights of 

 third parties who may already have received 

 grants covering the same ground given by the Gov- 

 ernment and published in the Official Bulletin.' 



' Will there be any 



RESTRICTION ON THE GATHERING OF RUBBER ?' 



' In the case of rubber trees, incisions or ex- 

 cisions of the main trunk will alone be allowed ; 

 it is also forbidden to penetrate the bark as far 

 as the cambium. In the case of vines, incisions, 

 excisions, and actual severing of the vine will be 

 permitted, but the roots shall not be cut or tap- 

 ped nor the main stem tampered with at any 

 point less than lm. 50 from the ground/' 



' With regard to replanting ?' 



' The obligation to replant has been abrogated, 

 and in its place there is a 



TAX IMPOSED ON THE RUBBER COLLECTED 



of 40 centimes per kilogramme of rubber col- 

 lected from tree's and vines and of 20 centimes 

 per kilogramme of rubber collected from small 

 plants (herbes). The tax is calculated on t he 

 weight of rubber ascertained on exportation. 

 This tax will be devoted to the creation and 

 maintenance of plantations in the State lands. 1 



1 Are there any other rub her taxes ?' 

 ' There is an impost of 75 centimes per koil- 

 gramme on 



RUBBER OTHER THAN PLANTATION RUBBER, 



gathered from trees and vines, and 50 centimes 

 per kilogramme on rubber gathered from 'her- 

 bes'. There is also an export duty of 60 francs per 

 100 kilos. These taxes are collected together when 

 the weight of rubber is ascertained before expor- 

 tation. Other taxes, including the 5,000-franc 

 licence to collect rubber, have been abrogated.' 



f Is it easy to acquire land for plantation pur- 

 poses ? ' 



1 At one time State land was only let and sold by 

 public auction. That rule has been abolished, as it 

 was found to discourage private ownership. With 

 State land of more than 10 hectares the approval 

 of the Government must be secured before buy- 

 ing or renting. Special rules will be applied to 

 the Katanga district.' 



' What is the Government doing to facilitate 

 industry ?' 



'Transport has been greatly facilitated. Rail- 

 wavs have been and are being built ; also De- 

 cauville lines, of which one is already running. 

 Then there are the State steamers, which carry 

 private merchandise at low rates. In fact, the 

 old system of porterage by natives will gradually 

 be superseded throughout the Congo. Another 

 service is the 



INTRODUCTION OF COTN INTO GENERAL USE. 



Three million five hundred thousand francs 

 have already been sent out, and another 200,000 

 despatched recently. The Budget of 1910 autho- 

 rises the coining of 1,000,0(0 nickel coins, with 

 a hole bored through centre, for the use of the 

 natives. In Belgium we have, in fact, borrowed 

 this idea of hole-bored coins from the Congo ; 

 it is so much easier to distinguish nickel from 



Tropical Agriculturist 



silver when it is treated in this way. In future 

 the natives will pay their taxes in coiD.' 



' Have the taxes generally been reduced ?' 

 ' The personal, or what I suppose you would 

 call the income, tax has been reduced ; but it 

 falls principally upon Europeans, as it is levied 

 upon the size of house, number of employees, 

 and so on. One alteration affecting the natives 

 is the abolition of recruitment ; in future all 

 contracts will be voluntary. There has already 

 been a loss this year of 2,000,000 francs from the 

 State lands alone, and owing to general altera- 

 tions of tariffs, licences, etc., the total loss in 

 revenue is estimated at 4,000,000 francs; and in 

 future years this loss may increase.' 



' Unless, of course, the increase of trade more 

 than counterbalances it ?' 



' Quite so. There is another instapce of in- 

 creased expenditure during the current year, a 

 credit of 1,626,000 francs for practical work in 

 the way of combating the sleeping sickness, and 

 there is also a speciatcredit for new schools for 

 native children and for the improvement of old 

 schools.' 



' With regard to 



PLANTATION RUBBER, HAS MUCH BEEN DONE ? 



" Well with reference to the plantations of 

 private people and companies I have no infor- 

 mation; but the Government is fully alive to the 

 possibilities of rubber cultivation in the Congo, 

 and every rubber tree of approved quality as a 

 producer has been cultivated in the botanical 

 gardens of the Congo, and a 



VOLUME HAS BEEN ISSUED BY THE MINISTER FOR 

 THE COLONIES 



which gives the fullest possible description of 

 the various trees, the best methods of planting 

 and tapping, the most suitable soils, and so on ; 

 and I should think, judging from the success 

 with which all the best rubber trees have been 

 cultivated in the Congo, the colony will be in 

 the future a large exporter of plantation rubber _ 

 The book referred to by Mr. Pollet is the most 

 useful handbook to rubber planting we have 

 seen. All the valuable varieties of rubber trees 

 and vines are minutely described and admirably 

 illustrated from photographs, both plants and 

 detailed leaves being shown. The soil most 

 suited to each plant is given, and the best me- 

 thods of tapping the different species explained 

 in letterpress and diagram. There is no doubt 

 that the Belgian Government has had the wis- 

 dom to profit by the practical experience of our 

 planters in the East and if the plantations of the 

 Congo are conducted in accordance with the 

 rules laid down by the Government experts, the 

 Congo as a plantation country has to be reck- 

 oned with. That facilities for transport have 

 already been provided shows that the Belgians, 

 who have a genius for transport, mean to give 

 the Congo planter every possible aid in market- 

 ing his rubber ; and, apart from the commercial 

 side of the matter, the reforms already inaugu- 

 rated go far to prove that under the present 

 regime the Congo will be developed on lines 

 which should recommend themselves to all who 

 have the interests of the natives at heart.— 

 India Rubber World, July 14. 



