586 



The Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist 



delivered against too early tapping is a timely 

 one ; and coming, as it does, amidst other 

 information calculated to make the rubber- 

 grower beware of what he is doing in the 

 tapping line, it is of enhanced value. We trust 

 it will be heeded everywhere and the fair name 

 of the Ceylon prociuot preserved. 



IMPORTANT INFORMATION. 



Hylton, Matale, Nov. 15th. 

 Dear Sir, — I enclose extracts from a letter 

 from a friend at Manaos which are, I think, of 

 general interest. My friend has travelled in 

 most tropical countries and is interested in 

 Ceylon Rubber. The warning he gives as to 

 the tapping of young rubber trees, most of ns 

 know now, is sound.— Faithfully yours, 



JAS. R. MARTIN. 

 (Extracts.) 



For the last two years the output of rubber 

 from the Amazon district has been: 



Para rubber. Caucho. Total tons. 

 1906 7 31,537 6,313 37,850 



1907-8 29,725 6,955 36,680 

 For this year 1908-9, an amount the same 

 as last year, or perhaps a little less, is ex- 

 pected. As you know, everything in this in- 

 dustry is done on credit system, and the recent 

 slumps in rubber disorganised things; but with 

 the better price, confidence is returning. Opi- 

 nions as to the expansion of output from the 

 Amazon basin are conflicting. One authority 

 told me that it had nearly reached its maxi- 

 mum ; another, that it would expand indefi- 

 nitely. It is not true that the rubber getlvrers 

 destroy the trees. The trees yielding Caucho 

 ar» certainly cut down, but as you will 6ee, 

 Caucho forms only a small part of the output. 

 The Hevea trees are merely tapped, and not 

 seriously injured. For instance, in the yearly 

 output is included about 10,000 tons from the 

 Islands near the mouth of the river. These 

 trees are tapped year after year and it is 

 evident they must be well taken care of. 



For some months in the year the Amazon 

 valleys are always flooded, and the trees 

 stand— some of them — many feet deep in 

 water. That is the secret of their ferti- 

 lity. No doubt, for trees such as ours, 

 standing on high land, a heavy rainfall, added 

 to a rich soil, may make up for some of this, 

 but 1 fancy that 



CEYLON TEEES WILL ALWAYS HAVE TO BE MORE 

 LIGHTLY TAPPED 



than those of the Amazon. The system of 

 smoking the rubber seems to be bettor than 

 that of chemical treatment, which I believe is 

 adopted in the East. A relative study of the 

 two methods seems advisable, but not knowing 

 what the plantations method is I have not 

 been able to enquire fully into the matter. The 

 cost of producing Para rubber, including an 

 export tax of about 20 per cent is evidei tly not 

 much, if anything, under 3/ a lb. At a super- 

 ficial glance it looks as if — were rubber to fall 

 permanently to 2/ or 2/6— this industry could not 

 live. In a life and death struggle cost of pro- 



duction would certainly come down. The tax 

 would be greatly reduced ; business would be 

 done on a cash basis ; and imports that are 

 now levied on the industry, and on those en- 

 gaged in it, would no longer be tolerated. Still, 

 you have the personal factor to reckon with. 

 The bad climate, the heavy death rate, can 

 only be made tolerable to the rubber gatherers 

 by luxuries and a big wage. Cut off these, 

 and your workers will probably return to their 

 homes in other parts of Brazil — while there is no 

 local population to speak of. 



On the other hand, I have come to believe 

 that Para rubber, with all its' impuri- 

 ties, is probably a better article than the 

 plantations will ever produce. I under- 

 stand that many manufacturers cannot 

 do without it— and I believe that in time 

 to come, should plantation rubber be selling 

 at 2/ or 2/6 a lb., a sufficiently large premium 

 will be put on para rubber to allow of it being 

 gathered at a pr^ fit. Of course I may be wrong, 

 and have no expert knowledge to guide me. I 

 travelled out, however, with a partner of a big 

 rubber-buying house, he assured me that para 

 rubber will not be knocked out of the market, 

 and that many of his customers will take noth- 

 ing else. His interests, no doubt, are largely 

 bound up with the Amazon, but his arguments 

 seemed sound. He did not run down plantation 

 enterprise, but pointed out its weak spots. He 

 particularly said, over and over again that the 

 plantations, in order to pay dividends, and keep 

 their promises to shareholders about the yield, 

 were forcing things, and doing very great harm 

 to their prospects by putting out weak rubber. 

 He pointed out that— for this reason — the pre- 

 mium of 6d or 7d a lb., which used to exist on 

 plantations rubber, had already almost run off, 

 and that his firm had received complaints from 

 customers, as to the rapid falling off in the plan- 

 tation article. he specially instanced as an 



offender. This man's firm are very leading 



people in the rubber market, and no doubt you 

 will give these statements due considera- 

 tion. It would be a catastrophe if at this date, 

 Ceylon rubber were to get a bad name 



If shareholders are led to expect such big 

 yields, and if — to keep to promises, or for stock 

 market purposes — they try and rush things, 

 tapping too soon, and too often, there is going 

 to be much trouble. 



This is an extremely hot place, and not attrac- 

 tive. Para I like better. The river here, 1,000 

 miles from the mouth, is over 1| mile wide. 



RUBBER PRICES. 



In contrasting the prices of Para and Planta- 

 tion rubber, the amount of moisture in the former 

 must always be remembered. It is equal to from 

 20 to 25 per cent, and as this is of no value to the 

 purchaser he is, of course, paying by that percen- 

 tage more for Para than the actual prices quoted. 

 Thus if Para is sold at 4s. per lb., as compared 

 wi*-h Plantation rubber (properly prepared) that 

 price is really equal to 5s. per lb. of the drier 

 Plantation product. 



