280 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



inclined to the bettor qualities of clean plan- 

 tation rubbers or to rubbers prepared on the 

 plantation system. I came across a good deal 

 of Ceylon and Malay Hevea and also some line 

 Funtumia from Uganda, which were all well 

 liked. A complaint was made regarding some 

 of the Eastern rubbers which I think deserves 

 the attention of planting companies, and it was 

 that frequently numerous bits of bark, twigs, 

 etc., are tound between the biscuits, crepe and 

 sheet. This involves washing, which operation, 

 for this class of raw material, should be quite 

 unnecessary. I need scarcely say that I am not 

 referring to "bark scrap." What is required is 

 a little more care in packing. American manu- 

 facturers, like their English colleagues, are very 

 emphatic on the point that planters should 

 mark all their goods in some simple fashion, as 

 this enables the manufacturer to know exactly 

 what he is buying— a matter, in view of the con- 

 siderable differences between various plantation 

 rubbers, of some importance to him. Certainly 

 there is avery large field in the IStatesfor the plan- 

 tation product. — India Bubber Journal, July 26. 



NEW GUINEA AS A RUBBER COUNTRY. 



Opinion of Sir Rupert Clarke. 



Sir Rupert Clarke, Bart., passed through 

 Colombo recently on his way to England. A 

 short time before his departure from Australia 

 Sir Rupert returned from New Guinea, where he 

 is largely interested in rubber cultivation, being 

 the director and the largest shareholder in the 

 Papua Rubber Plantations Co., Ltd. This pri- 

 vate company has already about 500 acres under 

 rubber, some three-year old, and he expects in 

 a few years to have 5,000 acres planted. 



"I am a great believer in the future of New 

 Guinea as a rubber country" — remarked Sir Ru- 

 pert (to our contemporary). "Our three-year old 

 rubber, according to our manager, Mr Wallace 

 Westland, excels the growth of the best trees in 

 Ceylon, and we have a 



PLENTIFUL SUPPLY OF CHEAP LABOUR. 



Land is obtainable very easily and cheaply. You 

 get a ninety-nine years' lease from the Crown, 

 free of rent for the first ten years, and then at a 

 rental of half-a-crown per hundred acres, in- 

 creasing every year at a definite rate of progres- 

 sion. At the expiration of the lease Govern- 

 ment have the power to take the land back, but 

 only at an independent valuation." " What do 

 you think of the prospects of Plantation rubber ? 

 Do you think the price is going to keep up ?'' 

 "I think so, but we are quite safe in any case. 

 We can beat any place in the world in cheapness 

 of production. If rubber goes down to a shilling, 

 we can still work at a profit. Our labour is 

 cheap, aud transport is remarkably easy. There 

 is a net-work of fresh -water creeks all over 

 our estate. There are twelve feet of water 

 right up to the bank and we can bring a 

 schooner up to any part of the plantation. We 

 use boats to take plants from the nursery to any 

 part of the estate, and boats will be used to bring 

 the latex down to a central factory or factories." 

 Mr. Wallace Westland. 

 Sir Rupert Clarke spoke with great enthu- 

 siasm of his manager, Mr Wallace Westland, 

 who is so well-known in Ceylon. Those who 

 have read Cutcliffe Hyne's delightful Captain 



Kettle stories, will remember how the Captain, 

 who was nothing if not a very orthodox Me- 

 thodist, was embarrassed by the irrepressible 

 inclination of the natives to make a God of him. 

 In spite of stern warnings, driven home by 

 exemplary punishments, he would now and 

 again in the early mornings surprise some one 

 in the surreptitious act of offering up a village 

 fowl as a sacrifice at his door. Judging by 

 what Sir Rupert said, Mr Westland appears to 

 be making rapid strides in the direction of 

 apotheosis. His name is a household word in 

 the Papuan villages all over the interior, and is 

 moreover the synonym for fair dealing and 

 good treatment, with the result that he can get 

 as much labour as'he likes. Only the other day 

 four or five boats had gone up the river for over 

 a month without being able to secure any labour, 

 but the first day a vessel arrived to recruit for 

 the Papuan Co. it was filled by clamorous re- 

 cruits. On the estates the labour will do any- 

 thing Mr Westland wants. In addition, the 

 ex-Ceylon planter is very popular with the 

 white community, and is consulted by Govern- 

 ment on all planting questions. So well-known 

 is he, Sir Rupert added, that if anyone wishes to 

 communicate with him from Ceylon "Westland, 

 New Guinea," is a perfectly adequate address! 



THE OUTLOOK FOR MEXICAN RUBBER 



Some favoured place in Mexico, says the 

 American consul at Vera Cruz, can make a fair 

 profit on their actual costs of producing rubber; 

 but when rubber falls to 50 cents or less, there is 

 nothing in it for the stockholders. It is stated 

 on good authority that the Mexican planters get 

 more rubber per tapping than the Para people 

 and that the tapping cost is lower per pound of 

 rubber produced, but they can tap only once a 

 year, while the Para planter can tap many times 

 in a year. The Mexican planter loses, because 

 of his greater capital invested, more than he 

 gains in lower tapping cost, and because he 

 must have ten to twenty times as many trees to 

 produce the same amount of rubber as the Para 

 planter, so that the odds are against him, even 

 if he can produce Mexican trees for half or a 

 quarter of what the Para tree costs, which is 

 doubtful. — India-Rubber Journal, July 26. 



GEARA RUBBER IN SOUTH COORG. 



Pollibetta, Aug. 9.— Nothing much is being 

 done in rubber clearings, except some supplying 

 up of vacancies and weeding. The branches of 

 Ceara trees planted in 1906 now form almost a 

 complete canopy overhead. It will be necessary 

 to eliminate alternate trees by exhaustive tap- 

 ping later on, Ceara is making most encouraging 

 growth in these parts, except in exceptionally 

 poor soil. — M. Mail. 



ANOTHER RUBBER CROP. 



London Asiatic Rubber and Produce Co. 



The managing agents cable the rubber crop 

 harvested during July as 6,322 lb. dry, against 

 2,354 lb. dry for the corresponding month of last 

 year. Total for first seven months of 1909 

 33,2001b. dry, against 13,704 lb. dry.— London 

 Times, Aug. 5. 



