and Magazine of the. Ceylon A gricuUural Soeiety. 



101 



Ceara nibbeg has had a fair trial here, hut as 

 in Oeylon, in days of old, has not been found 

 satisfactory as far as yield goes ; all the trees 

 here have been dug out as they interfere with 

 the growth of tea and coft'ee ; being such gross 

 feeders, nothing grows well under or near them. 



I doubt if Ceylon can do better with any 

 rubber -yielding plant or tree than Para. None 

 of the African vines or trees, even including 

 Funtumia Elastica, yield anything like the 

 amount of latex that Para does. 



Some Para plants have been introduced dur- 

 ing the past two years from Kew. The African 

 Lakes Corporation have several growing well on 

 their Chetaka estate ; and the writer has one 

 doing well. Many attempts in years gone by 

 were made to introduce Para through imported 

 seed, but nobody seems to have succeeded 

 owing to the perishable nature of this seed and 

 the delay in transit. — Yours faithfully, 



H. B. 



BRITISH-GROWN RUBBER. 



{To the Editor, " Ceylon Obseive?'.") 

 13 & 23, Rood Lane, E.C., 12th Sept., 1908. 

 Dear Sirs, — It is now about 18 months since 

 we last dealt with this subject, but the devel- 

 opments that have taken place in the mean- 

 time have been on such a large and varied 

 scale that we have compiled the following 

 remarks in order to bring the information up 

 to date, and trust that they will bo of some 

 value in showing the importance and large 

 possibilities of the industry.— We are, dear 

 Sirs, yours faithfully, 



GOW, WILSON & STANTON, Ltd. 



The following Diagram shows the chemical 

 contents of the different grades of Brazilian 

 Para Rubber compared with British grown 

 " Plantation " varieties. This clearly demons- 

 trates the high degree of purity of the latter. 



Diagram No. 1. — Chemical contents of the 

 different grades of Wild and Cultivated Para 

 Rubber in their relative percentages. 



Caout- Mois- Oils & Mineral Pro- 





chouc 



ture 



Resins matter 



(eids 



Plantation Fine 



'.14-36 



40 



2-01 -30 



•2-93 



do Scrap 



89-10 



2-05 



3-03 2-42 



3-32 



Hard Para Fine 



77 '67 



10-35 



3-2S "15 



a -55 



Soft do 



76'5f. 



16-95 



2-96 -32 



3 21 



Hard Para F;Xtra Fine 



73'6:; 



20-91 



3"05 -20 



2-18 



Soft do do 



70-76 



23-31 



3-01 -22 



2-71 



Negroheads 



fi3-00 



1S-51 



1-27 12-07^ 



4*55 



Cametas 



14-93 



51-02 



1'64 -82 



1.79 



Note — The analyses are I aten 



from 



carefully selected 



Standard Samples of each grade. 



n, This figure includes 4 9 - 75 per cent earth, wood and such 

 impurities. 



Developments. 

 In 1906 the areas devoted to Rubber cultivation 

 in Ceylon and Malaya were estimated to amount 

 altogether to about 200,000 acres,but extensions 

 have been carried on steadily since that timo, 

 so that this total has now been materially in- 

 creased, the latest advice from Ceylon indicating 

 that in all about 180,000 acres are now planted 

 with rubber in the island and the Malay States 

 and Straits Settlements figures are given as 

 179,000 acres at the end of 1907. 



Market Conditions. 

 The fall in the price of raw rubber during the 

 later months of last year has been a factor of im- 

 portance as affecting the prospects of the Plan- 

 tation Industry. Coming as it did at the height 

 of a boom it had the effect of curtailing to a 

 marked degree the extensive programmes that 

 had been formulated. Probably had the high 

 level of price been maintained harm might have 

 been done by the opening of land with rubber 

 in a rapid and promiscuous way. The reduction 

 in values may thus have done much to place the 

 industry on a more stable basis. 



Since the beginning of the present year the 

 American crisis and other adverse features of 

 the market have been to some extent allayed, 

 and the quotation for Fino Hard Para, which in 

 March last, touched the lowest point for over 16 

 years, viz., 2/9 per lb., has recovered to the ex- 

 tent of about 1/3 per lb,, the price now standing 

 at about 4/-. The course of the Plantation Rub- 

 ber market during the last two years is indicated 

 by the' averages given in the following diagram : 



Diagram No. 2— shows average sale prices of 

 all kinds of Plantation Rubber from September, 

 1906, to August, 1908. [Wo regret we cannot 

 reproduce this diagram.] 



Future Production. 

 It is impossible to forecast even approxi- 

 mately the production of Plantation Rubber 

 in the future, but much valuable data has been 

 obtained during the last two years as to the aver- 

 age yield that may be expected from the culti- 

 vated Para variety, and on other important 

 points. If reasonable allowances are made, it 

 will be found that the total quantity that may 

 be looked for when all the rubber now plantei 

 has become mature, perhaps 35,000 tons will 

 give little cause for anxiety on the score of 

 over-production, as seven years hence the world's 

 requirements should amount to over 100,000 

 tons supposing that the average rate of increase 

 in consumption continues. Further it is 

 anticipated that with any marked reduction in 

 prices the available supplies of forest rubber 

 from various parts of the world will show a 

 marked falling off on account of the expense en- 

 tailed in the harvesting as compared with the 

 cheapness of Eastern production. From a re- 

 port on the financial condition affecting com- 

 mercial interests in Para received in the Com - 

 mercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of 

 Trade from H.B.M. Consul at Para, dated Para 

 February 1st, 190S, wo extract the following: 



"While dealing with (his topic reference may also be 

 made to the development of rubber cultivation in Ceylon 

 the Straits Settlements and other British possessions, as 

 well as in Africa, Central America and Mexico. Up to 

 this time little importance has been attached to the pos- 

 sible competition from these sources, but Brazilian eco- 

 nomists are beginning to view this matter as fraught with 

 more consequence to the interests of this country than was 

 at first supposed. It has been even argued that in a 

 period of not more than 10 years the practical Brazilian 

 monopoly in this production may be at an end. Cen- 

 lainly it appears to me that other conditions being fa- 

 vourable the systematic processes observed in the coun- 

 tries named, together with the greater cheapness of labour 

 transport and all items affecting the industry will place 

 these cultivators in a vast ly superior position to those of 

 Brazil where the expenses in every branch of activity con- 

 nected with the industry are on an extremely high scale, 

 and where the process of collection seems, more often than 

 not, attended with risk to health, if not of more serious 

 consequences," 



51 



