Gums, Resins, 



362 



Asked if he had any advice to give planters, Mr. Hoffman said: "I should 

 think that if anyone who has the chance of planting that magnificent tree Hevea 

 thinks of anything else he deserves to lose his money." To the question of "Have 

 you any advice to give to planter.'- about putting rubber on the market?" Mr. 

 Hoffman said, "My answer is 6/3 per pound, or 9d. above fine para!" 



Naturally this statement led to discussion of Messrs. Lewis and Peat's letter. 

 (See "T.A", May, page 272.) With regard to this Mr. Hoffman said: '."I think their 

 letter was a great mistake— against Lewis and Peat's own interests and liable to undo 

 the great benefit to themselves derived from the recent visit of their junior partner, 

 Mr. Devitt. Messrs. Lewis and Peat in\ London are continually crying stinking 

 fish about Ceylon rubber, continually trying to impress people that 

 they are not going to get as good a price in comparison with fine Para 

 as at present. Nine-pence a pound over fine Para, however, speaks for itself, and 

 Ceylon planters have several years before them before the output will be at all large, 

 and they will certainly themselves find out what method of curing suits them best, 

 and which commands the best price. When plantation rubber comes forward in 

 larger quantities manufacturers will instal their machinery accordingly. Now 

 their expensive machinery is arranged for handling wild rubber; but this will be 

 chan ged in time ; and planters, in the same way that they find out which grades 

 of tea pay them best, will ship the class of rubber which pays them best also. Lewis 

 and Peat certainly will not get trade by running plantation Para down. Nine-pence 

 a pound over fine Para, I think, answers their letter. Besides, I could quote you cases 

 where big manufacturers of the finest special articles would use biscuits and none 

 other if they could get enough. At present they do not like to so greatly improve 

 their goods at certain times, by the use of nothing but the purest plantation rubber, 

 because they fear that the return of their goods to the usual sort of thing would 

 be " spotted," and would afford much greater dissatisfaction than keeping closely 

 to the original output, until the real thing can be produced in sustained qualities. 



Resuming the conversation about which were the best districts for rubber, 

 Mr. Hoffman said : " I have come to the conclusion that what rubber wants is heat, 

 and that, if you can get adequate heat at a high elevation, I see no reason why 

 rubber should not do well there. 



" The temperature at which rubber seems to thrive best is an average yearly 

 temperature of 80 degrees. Below that it will grow slower. At a higher temper- 

 ature it might possibly do well, provided a good average rainfall takes place, as 

 evaporation must be excessive. But there is plenty of land at a low elevation. 

 What do you want to go to a high elevation for ? " 



To intending purchasers Mr. Hoffman advised : " Don't buy worn-out tea 

 lands. Don't gamble in shares. Buy virgin land and plant it and wait your turn 

 patiently." He, himself, he said, had been offered acres of worn-out tea land, 

 which he had refused to purchase. All his interests were jungle land. 

 Speaking of the prospects of the rubber industry, Mr. Hoffman said : " I am 

 afraid that with all the planting that is going on in this part of the world, the 

 most important thing to be considered is labour, and if labour is going to cost 50 per 

 cent, more in other countries than Ceylon, this will take off value of quite £40 to £50 

 an acre for estates in bearing. The experiments now going on at Henaratgoda, so 

 very ably conducted by Mr. Wright, will teach the planter eventually how to get 

 the best value out of his trees. Yields for the old trees there are so astounding that 

 figures would only be misleading." 



" I don't think there will ever be rubber factories here. I don't see why they 

 should be installed here. I do not see the necessity of it any more than I can see the 

 necessity of making chocolate here or sweets in Mauritius. The future of 



