566 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



THE RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



(To the Editor, "Aberdeen Free Press.") 

 Sir, — The Brazilian Legation in London are 

 credited (in your leading article today) with pre- 

 dicting the downfall of the rubber industry in 

 the East, as it is now grown under natural con- 

 ditions — i.e., un weeded and in jungle? Actual 

 experience has proved this to be the reverse of 

 the truth, and it may interest your readers to 

 know that, though over 30 years old, trees on 

 Ardoden estate, (? Oulloden) Ceylon, recently 

 gave crops of 18 lb. per tree, the last four years 

 in succession, and look like continuing to give 

 good crops for many years to come. If any of 

 your readers want to invest in rubber shares 

 they will be wise to invest in the shares of those 

 estates which have been properly weeded and 

 kept free from jungle growth from the first. 

 I speak from bitter experience. — 1 am, etc., 



L. Davidson. 

 York House, Cullen, Oct. 28th, 1909. 



RUBBER PROSPECTS IN PAPUA. 



Much interest is being aroused in Papua (for- 

 merly British New Guinea) by the promise of the 

 new rubber plantations. None of these are in full 

 bearing, but the progress of the trees has been 

 so remarkable that the Haevia Brasiliensis is 

 expected to be ready for tapping a full year 

 sooner than in Ceylon or the Malay States. It 

 has also been found that various kinds of rubber- 

 bearing plants which in other countries produce 

 "latex " of small tensile strength and low value 

 in Papua will yield a good marketable rubber 

 The best known of the wild rubber trees of 

 Papua, the " Ficus Rigo," is now being largely 

 cultivated. There are a number of wild rubber 

 vines, from which the natives procure rubber 

 said by experts to be actually superior to the 

 best Para. Everything, in short, seems to pcint 

 to a remarkable future for Papua as a rubber- 

 producing country. — London Times, Nov. 3. 



CEARA RUBBER TAPPING. 



(To the Editor, "India Rubber Journal.") 

 Sir, — We have now been growing Ceara rubber 

 for three years, and have trees ready to tap, but 

 we find everywhere a lack of information as to 

 the best methods of tapping and comparative 

 yields of these trees. The method of tapping 

 hitherto observed has been that of picking the 

 bark with horizontal stabs of a broad-pointed 

 knife after rubbing the stom with dilute acid. 



By this means the rubber which exudes in 

 drops and coagulates on the stem is collected in 

 balls, but it is obvious that the cleanest way of 

 collecting it, especially from a number of small 

 plantations, is to collect it in the liquid form 

 and treat it in a central preparing house, so 

 as to obtain a regular and clean sample of 

 sheet or block rubber. 



Now I believe that in German East Africa 

 where they have been experimenting and collec- 

 ting information for years, they have recently 

 evolved new and better systems. They are, in 

 fact, far in advance of our own colonies as re- 

 gards the Ceara rubber. 



What I particularly want to find out is :— 



(a) The best method of tapping Ceara, in 

 order to collect the latex in liquid form, and the 

 best knife for the purpose. 



(b) What machinery, if any, and treatment is 

 best for this kind of rubber. 



(c) What may bo taken as an average yield 

 ovor large plantations as those in G E Africa, in 

 which up-to-date methods have been observed. 



If you can help me in any of these, you will 

 receive the gratitude of many new planters in 

 British East Africa.— I am, Sir, yours faithfully, 



CEARA. 



[Wo have replied to this correspondent direct, 

 but any aid which readers may proffer will be 

 acceptable. — Ed., I.R.J.]— India Rubber Jour- 

 nal, November 1st. 



LONDON FORWARD SALES OF 

 RUBBER. 



(To the Editor, "India Rubber Journal.") 



Sir, — The present high price of rubber h;is 

 occasioned a good deal of comment recently, 

 and doubts are expressed in some quarters as to 

 the prospects of its continuance! We may say 

 that we have recently arranged a number of 

 contracts for estate crepe and sheet for 1910, 

 and are still open for similar business. For 

 instance, 25,000 to 30,000 lb. to be delivered in 

 about equal quantities monthly, or possibly bi- 

 monthly, at following rates : — 



No. I. Crepe or shei s t at about 7s. 6d. to 

 7s. 8d.. according to quality. 



No. II. Brown crepe (scrap) at about 6s. 9d. 

 to 6s. lid., according to quality. 



Any quantity which owners would sell we 

 could, no doubt, get through. —Yours, etc., 



BROKER. 



20th October, 1909. 



[The above letter emanates from a well known 

 Mincing Lane house, and indicates that there is 

 an important section of the trade which looks 

 for the continuance of high levels throughout 

 1910. We have heard privately of a number of 

 such bargains, and a further number have been 

 announced publicly. For obvious reasons we do 

 not publish the name of our correspondent. — 

 Ed. I. R. J.]— India-Rubber Journal, Nov. 1. 



RUBBER DISCOVERIES IN MEXICO. 



Mexico has long been known as the home of 

 the castilloa elastiua, from which some 5,000 

 tons of rubber are annually extracted. Many 

 capitalists, including the Standard Oil Com- 

 pany, are now engaged in exploiting a shrub 

 called guayule, and the output from this source 

 alone is considerable. 



Some years ago the Mexican Government en- 

 gaged Professor Pehr Olsson Seffer, an eminent 

 botanist, to examine for them the flora of 

 Mexico, with a view to the discovery of new 

 economic plants. He has been engaged in this 

 work for the past five years. The net result of 

 his researches has been the discovery of many 

 entirely unknown trees and shrubs which bear 

 latex containing rubber. They are not all 

 equally valuable, but of many it may be said 

 that they offer a better reward to the capitalist 



