Gum$, BesinSi 



and value of the imports of rubber and 

 rubber goods into Japan during the past 

 three years, while it may be noted that 



[January, 1909. 



the figures for the first five months of 

 this year show a considerable advance 

 over.those for the same period in 1907 :— 



Caoutchouc and Gutta Percha. 



From 



1905. 



1906. 



1907. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



Crude — 



Straits Settlements 

 Dutch India 

 United Kingdom 

 U. S, of America 

 Other Countries 



Lbs. 

 336,000 



28,000 

 107,000 

 185,000 



68,000 



£. 



33,000 

 3,000 

 14,000 

 27,000 

 9,000 



Lbs. 



347,000 

 39,000 

 98,000 

 55,000 

 62,000 



£. 

 33,000 

 4,000 

 7,000 

 8,000 

 8,000 



Lbs. 

 323,000 

 125,000 

 73,000 

 95,000 

 72,000 



£. 

 32,000 

 13,000 

 10,000 

 15,000 

 9,000 



Total- 



724,000 



86,000 



601,000 



60,000 



688,000 



97,000 



Plates and sheets 

 Tubes and rods 

 All other 



68,000 

 70,000 



12,000 

 19,000 



78,000 

 57,000 



11,000 

 14,000 



61,000 

 60,000 

 17,000 



11,000 

 13,000 

 4,000 



Caoutchouc and Gutta Percha Manufactures. 



Prom 



1905. 



1906. 



1907. 



United Kingdom 

 Germany 



United States of America ... 



Belgium* 



Other countries 



£. 

 8,000 

 9,000 

 2,000 

 5,000 

 4,000 



£. 



5,000 

 14,000 

 4,000 

 9,000 

 6,000 



£. 



8,000 

 16.000 

 6,000 

 5,000 

 4,000 



Total ... 



28,000 



38,000 



39,000 



Bicycle tyres, etc., are not included in the above return ; they come under 

 the heading of "Bicycle parts and accessories," but it is understood that the 

 import of tyres in 1907 was £45,000, of which £23,600 worth was British, £19,000 

 American, and the balance German.— Indian Trade Journal, Vol. X„ No. 130, 

 September, 1908. 



THE 



FUTURE OF THE 

 TRADE. 



CAMPHOR 



For some time past the cultivation of 

 the Camphor tree for commercial pur- 

 poses has been carried on, even in For- 

 mosa, its native country, under the fear 

 of a diminishing trade. Synthetic 

 camphor has been talked about for many 

 years past, and, like the chemical pro- 

 auction of indigo, which has threatened 

 the Indian planters, with extinction, 

 there has been and is still the tear of 

 the triumph of the chemist over the 

 planter in the future supply of the 

 Camphor market. Incidentally it may 

 be stated that under the new Patents 

 Act, which came into operation recently, 

 a factory has been erected chiefly for the 

 chemical manufacture of indigo by a 

 German firm on the Manchester Ship 

 Canal near Chester, and no one can tel 



how soon a similar factory for the pro- 

 duction of camphor may follow. 



The competition between the two 

 kinds of camphor is sufficiently apparent, 

 when we find both products side by side 

 in the London market, with a strong 

 tendency by the makers of the synthetic 

 product to bring the prices of their 

 article considerably below those of re- 

 fined natural camphor. With the pre- 

 sent camphor supply in the hands of 

 such shrewd commercial people as the 

 Japanese, and with the introduction of 

 the Camphor tree into various other 

 countries, a process that has been going 

 on for several years past, the future of 

 the European trade has become a kind 

 of Chinese puzzle. Thus the Japanese 

 Minister of Finance, < in an official report 

 issued a short time since, drew attention 

 to the circumstance that if Japan wished 



