596 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



that the production of food in the Amazon 

 district would reduce the present cost of collec- 

 ting and preparing 1 kilo of rubber from 5 marks 

 ( = 5 shillings) to 1'60 marks ( = ls 7d.) 



" A comparison of the returns in rubber 

 from a hektar ( = 2 2-5 acres) compared with 

 those from the same area on an estate is 

 not possible. The value of a hoktar of 

 primitive forest to that of an estate often 

 is as 1 to 1,000. Large areas of primitive 

 forest can at the present day bo obtained 

 in the Amazon region for one mark a hectar, 

 that is for the cost of the measuring only. 

 Beside rubber the Brazilian forests yield many 

 other valuable products. Dr. Berkhout is in 

 error when he thinks that, because "Terra firma" 

 (the area which is not Hooded when the river is 

 at its height) is often far from the banks of a 

 river, it must likewise be far from the areas 

 where the rubber is collected. It is true that 

 the areas which Hevea prefers are not always 

 bordering the "Terra firma," but the suitable 

 land for the raising of foodstuffs is exactly the 

 '"Terra tirma," and it can be cultivated when the 

 Hooded areas cannot be worked. 



"So long as rubber brings a high price, no one 

 thinks of improving anything, but 



WITH A FALLING PRICE 



the need for improvement and better work would 

 make itself felt and would be met. 



"The Brazilian Government compared with 

 the Colonies of England, Holland and other 

 countries has yet done little, it is true, in 

 the way of experiment stations and the like to 

 improve land industries, though even here it 

 cannot be denied that Brazil is making progress. 



"Dr. Berkhout's view that a decline in the 

 price of rubber will lead the people to plant 

 cocoa and other cultivations is to be accepted 

 conditionally. If through high cost of living and 

 dear labour the exploitation of rubber must 6top, 

 so will the cocoa estates, etc., in the Amazon 

 region with equivalent rates of labour pay be 

 just e.s little able to withstand the cocoa, etc., 

 estates of Asia and Africa. 



"The comparison with the cinchona industry 

 of Java, which defeated that of Bolivia, would be 

 applicable only if the poorly remunerative cin- 

 chona of the Bolivian forests was comparable to 

 the highly remunerative rubber of Brazil. If a 

 better paid and more easily worked product than 

 rubber was available in the Amazon, the natives 

 would turn to it from the rubber industry. But 

 as long as no easier way of making a livelihood 

 is possible, the natives of the Amazon area must 

 give their attention to rubber. " 



"I must still maintain my conviction that the 

 production of rubber in the Amazon region will 

 be a thing to reckon with in competition when 

 the plantation areas are in full bearing. It is 

 on this account necessary to consider, before 

 opening up new estates, how far these will be 

 capable of yielding a profit in the competition 

 in production and price with Brazil. ,; 



It is interesting to note in the foregoing that 

 a fall in the price of rubber, within limits 

 of course, will increase the Brazilian output, 

 and further the latent capabilities of even the 

 present labour force.— Malay Mail, May 20. 



THE CONSERVATION OF LAND 

 AND WATER. 



A large proportion of the rain, which falls on 

 the land, is practically lost to the cultivator by 

 its flowing over instead of into the soil. But 

 apart from this there is a far greater loss due to 

 erosion, which is responsible for carrying away 

 immense quantities of soil material, partly 

 in solution, but chiefly in suspension. The value 

 of this loss is not easy to compute, but it will 

 be readily admitted that it must be very great 

 when it is recognised that the wash consists of 

 surface soil which is the richest part of it — being, 

 indeed, the "cream" of the land. The opening up 

 of new lands and the exposure of new surfaces, to 

 the action of falling and running water goes to 

 increase this loss. When rain falls, a part of it 

 evaporates directly, a part flows away and joins 

 the streams to finally find its way to the sea, a 

 part soaks in to the soil and sub soil either to 

 emerge as springs, &c., or remains underneath 

 the surface to serve the requirements of plants if 

 it is not allowed to be drawn up and evaporated. 



The amount of water which runs off depends 

 on the slope of the land and the nature of the 

 growthupon it. Forest vegetation, a close growth 

 of grass, on a deep friable soil, will so check or 

 absorb the flow that there will be a minimum of 

 loss of moisture to the soil. The chief source of 

 our prosperity as a colony is the soil ; it is the 

 duty of the Government to encourage the con- 

 servation of the soil and its improvement for the 

 immediate benefit of the planter and native cul- 

 tivator, and the ultimate welfare of the Colony. 

 The most valuable asset to the agriculturist is 

 the water that falls on the land and permeates 

 the soil whore it can aid in the production of 

 crops. It is, therefore, also to the interest of the 

 Government to see that this water shall be so 

 controlled and consorved as to yield the greatest 

 benefits to the cultivator of the land and even- 

 tually to the whole colony. 



It is on cultivated land, however, that the 

 evils of soil erosion begin ; while it is clear, 

 therefore, that the remedy must begin on these 

 areas, it is the duty of Government to see that 

 the remedy is prescribed and applied. The 

 course to be adopted is in some particulars at 

 least quite evident : — 



a. Deep cultivation and good tilth on culti- 

 vated areas By this means the maximum of rain- 

 fall will be absorbed and the minimum allowed 

 to run off the surface. This treatment of the 

 land will, moreover, be an advantage in other 

 respects, inasmuch as it will assist in drawing 

 up plant food to within the reach of the shorter 

 rootlets and also carry down humus to feed the 

 deeper roots. 



b. Deep underground drainage (preferably tile 

 drainage) on flat lands and tenacious soils where 

 the ground water moves sluggishly. This mode 

 of drainage is little known and less practised in 

 the East, but under the conditions referred to 

 its action is most important in helping both soil 

 and subsoil to crumble and disintegrate and 

 through the mechanical and chemical changes 



