182 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



gistered in England and Scotland. Germany 

 has planted Hevea in Samoa and New Guinea, 

 and Manihot and Fuvtumia in Africa. During 

 recent times many of the producing or well- 

 advanced estates in German colonies have 

 been taken over by London companies. This 

 is only one of the ways in which the new 

 plantation industry has altered international 

 conditions in the tropics. Great Britain seems 

 likely to increase its control over supplies of 

 rubber in the East, for while it is true that 

 the United States are credited with conspic- 

 uous activity today in Suintara, this country 

 must continue to lead, since it is already in 

 poBEession, in Ceylon, Malaya, aud India alone, 

 of more than half the world's total planted 

 acreage, a good part of which is already pro- 

 ducing. 



Yielding Capacity of Plantations. 



The fact that Ceylon alone produced 1,600 

 tons of plantation rubber last year, as against 

 75 tons in 1905, and that the East — mainly 

 Malaya and Ceylon — turned out 1,800, 3,850, 

 and 8,230 tons respectively in the years 1908, 

 1909, and 1910, point to the likelihood of con- 

 spicuous developments in the next three or four 

 years. There are possibilities in the raw rubber 

 industry and the rubber manufacturing trade 

 which very few seem to realise. I have traversed 

 many parts of the East and have spent several 

 years compiling statistics relating to the pro- 

 ducing capacity of Eevet trees of various ages 

 in the tropics. I believe that in the most 

 favourable parts of Malaya a yield of one ton per 

 five acres will ultimately be annually obtained ; 

 in less favoured parts of Java and Ceylon 1 

 estimate the yield at one ton per ten acres; for 

 reasonably good estates in Sumatra and South 

 India I anticipate the yield to bo between the 

 two estimates here given. In other words, de- 

 ducting a certain percentage from the world's 

 planted acreage, I estimate that the balance in 

 full bearing will each yield far more than is now 

 annually produced from wild sources. The 

 island of Ceylon alone should, unless some 

 unforeseen disaster overtake it, annually yield 

 from its concentrated 200,000 acres more rubber 

 than is or has ever been yearly obtained from 

 the whole continent of Africa. Furthermore, 

 Malaya and Ceylon alone should within rive or 

 six years annually produce more rubber than 

 the whole of Brazil and Central America gave 

 us last year. 



Important Changes Imminent. 



It should be clear from this that the day is 

 near at hand when the balance of power in 

 the crude rubber market will be considerably 

 changed. Brazil has hitherto had the monopoly 

 and the officials there know how the country 

 has prospered from the revenue from rubber 

 alone. Africa has, unlike Brazil, been largely 

 dependent upon vines as sources of rubber, and 

 the lessened production noticeable, espoeially 

 during the past few years, is regarded as hope- 

 less. Both Brazil and Africa alike realise that 

 the shadow of huge plantation supplies is upon 

 them, and that sooner or later the abundance 

 of rubber will have its effect on price. Inferior- 

 grade Africans, which make up a good part of 

 that continent's supply, must suffer first ; then 



the better grades from bushes and trees other 

 than Hevea, and finally must come a struggle 

 between rubber from the wild and from the 

 cultivated forms of Hevea. The supply, in the 

 event of low prices, will be most seriously 

 curtailed from Africa ; it will also be evident 

 in tropical America, but not in the same degreo. 

 The Brazilian authorities are giving all possible 

 aid and encouragement to those concerned with 

 the collection of rubber in that part of the 

 world, and tneir country can always be relied 

 upon to give a fair yield. Complete extinction 

 of the wild rubber crops from the forests of 

 Africa or America there cannot be, in virtue 

 of the existence of a population in both areas 

 which must find some means of employment. 

 Yet a curtailment in supplies from wild areas 

 is a certainty, when Eastern plantation crops 

 shall be coming over at the rate of 3,000 tons 

 per month. 



Hitherto London has not ranked as of much 

 importance as a centre for rubber, Liverpool 

 having alwaya held the first position. Now a 

 change is already evident. Most of the planta- 

 tion companies are owned by companies whose 

 interests more or less compel them to sell their 

 produce in Mincing-lane. This business will 

 continue to grow as the yielding capacity of 

 estates increases, while that of Liverpool will, 

 in consequence of lower supplies from Africa 

 and Brazil, tend to lessen. Most London 

 brokers, when asked what prospects they have 

 of dealing monthly with 3,000 tons of plantation 

 rubber, seem disturbed. No time should be 

 lost in preparing the way for the disposal of 

 such quantities, for they will be upon us much 

 earlier than most people imagine. — Home paper. 



THE GUANO-PALM INDUSTRY IN 

 HONDURAS. 



This tree requires a damp marshy soil for 

 its best development, and frequently attains 

 a diameter of more than 2 ft. It is not market- 

 able above that size, however, while the mini- 

 mum is 8 and 10 inches. It flourishes and is 

 abundant along the lowlands of the coast. The 

 wood in its natural state is exceedingly porous 

 and light, but damp and soggy. To prepare it 

 for commercial use it is put through an evapora- 

 ting process to extract the moisture, thereby 

 greatly reducing the weight, so that it is not 

 only lighter than ordinary cork, but a given 

 weight is capable of being compressed into much 

 smaller bulk. It is used pulverisedand in slabs. 

 Lately the commercial possibilities of the wood 

 have become known, as indicated by. advertise- 

 ments in trade journals offering for sale life- 

 preserving equipments made from guano-palm. 

 Planters in Honduras are awakening to the 

 possibilities of the tree, and one banana grower, 

 who annually clears a large acreage for banana 

 cultivation, is about to send a representative to 

 close a contract with New York importers for a 

 cargo of 150,000 ft. of guano-palm. A recent 

 enquiry from the same market calls for 1,000,000 

 ft. The greatest drawback to the rapid execu- 

 tion of orders is the difficulty of transportation. 

 —Royal Society of Arts Journal for J ulyi 



