THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. 1, 1901. 
THE STATE OF AMAZONAS (BRAZIL) AND 
THE RUBBER INDUSTRY. 
The State of Amazonap, the greateRt iti area of 
the United States of ifrazil, lies between loii<;itncles 
74° W. 54° W., and between latitudes 4° N. and 
lOO S., having a total area of about 600,000 fquare 
miles. It is bounded on the north by British 
Guiana and Venezuela; on the west by Columbia, 
Peru, and Bolivia ; on the south by the State of Matto 
Grosso ; and on the east by the State of Para. 
On the rorth and west frontiers there are some 
highlands and plateaux, but for the most part the 
State consists of vast, low-lying, forest-clad plains 
intersected by the innumerable tributaries of the 
River Amazon. These rising in the Andes, converge 
to the mnin stream of the Amazon, named in this 
State the Soliinoes. Flowing as they do, through 
fiat counliy, their course is generally extremely 
sinuous, and their current sluggish. The course of 
the main stream, on the contrary, is comparatively 
straight a'.id the current swift, that is to say, about 
(our miles per hour. Flowing from west to east 
the Solimoes divides the State into two, about cqnal, 
parts, and forms a most important highway for com- 
merce between Para, situated at the mouth of the 
Amazon, Manaos, the capital of the State of Ama- 
Eonas, and Iquitos, situated in Peru, being navigable 
aa far as the latter part at all times of the year 
for vessels drawing not more than 12 feet. The dis- 
tances betwei n Manaos and other points on the 
Amazon and its tributaries will be found in Tables 
NoH. I and 3. 
It is noticeable that the majority of the larger 
tributaries of the Solimnes, namely, the Javary, 
which forms the boundary between Brazil and Peru, 
the Jutahy, Jurua, Puru?, and Madeira, flow from south 
to north, whilst only one large tributary, the Negro, and 
two smaller, the Japura and Iga, or Putumayo. enter the 
main stream from the north. Although no mountains 
occur until the extreme north and west frontiers of 
the State are reached, yet, on the whole, the part 
lying to the north of the Solimoes is considerably 
higher and less swampy than that lying to the south. 
On the Upper reaches of the KioBranco, a tributary 
of the Negro, large grass-covered plains, known 
ocally as " Campos Geraes," occur, on which a 
considerable number of cattle are raised. For this 
very reason, however, that part of the State is at 
present of less valu", and is less explored than the 
southern part, where the immense tracts of swampy 
land produce the invaluable " Hevea Braziliensis," 
from which the rubber is extracted. 
The recent report of the British Vice-Consul at 
Manaos, from which the above description is taken, 
says that it may indeed be said that the whole com- 
mercial import«nce of the State depends npon the 
extraction of rubber which is the paramount native 
industi-y. 
The following tables show (I,) the distance from 
Manaos to the ultimate porta on various rivers, aad 
(II.) to Para and to various ports abroad, and (III.) 
an estimate of the total world's supply and con- 
sumption of rubber; — 
I'he State of Amazonas {Brazil) and the Rubber 
InJusln/. 
I. 
Manaos to— Distance. River. 
Miles. 
Slo. Antonio ... 697 Madeira. 
Days. 
Alto Acre ... 39« Purus 
BoccadoBreu ... 50a Jurua 
Ouro Preto .. 21a Jutahy 
Bocca do Jaquiraua ... 20« Javary 
Pongo de Manseriche ... 24« Solimoes 
Oamanaos ... 8a Rio Negro 
Boa Vista 10a Rio Branco 
o Steaming from Manaos. 
Note. — The number of days includes those spent at 
at various points called at during the voyage. 
Manaos to — 
Paia 
Lisbon 
Havre 
Liverpool 
New York 
II. 
Distance. 
Miles. 
86 
... 4.14 
... 4,90 
... 5,149 
... 4,240 
III. 
Production of Rubber. 
Phoducing Counthies. 
Estimated 
Quantity 
of rubbeb 
Produced 
Annually. 
Tons. 
Amazon district (Brazil, Pem, Bolivia) . . 25,000 
Rest of South America ... ... 3,500 
Central America and Mexico ... ... 2,500 
Java, Borneo, and Eastern Archipelago ... 1,000 
East and West Africa ... ... 24,000 
Madagascar and Mauritius ... ... 1,000 
India, Burmah, and Ceylon ... ... 500 
Total 
57,500 
Consuming Countries. 
Consumption of Rubber- 
Estimated 
Quantity 
OF Rubber 
CONSUMED 
ANNUALLY. 
Tons. 
United States and Canada ... 21,000 
United Kingdom ... ... 21,000 
Europe (excepting United KiDgdom) 15,500 
Total ... 57,500 
[These e-timates are, we think, taken from onr 
" All about Rubber," .some of the figures being 
slightl.y altered and given in " tons" in place of 
"cwt."— Ed. T.A.^ 
THE SUPPLY OF TEA AND LOW PRICES. 
(To the editor of the Home and Colonial Mail.) 
Sir, — In looking through the market reports 
of the various clironielers of cm rent opinion on 
Indian tea one is struck by the ingenuity dis- 
played in accounting for the depres.sion in market 
values. " The increase in the duly," " The gene- 
ral knock-out," " IrreE;ularity in bidding," " The 
burden of 6d per lb duty, wliiist coffee and cocoa 
escape at Id to 2d," &c., &c,, every one of which 
reasons, I venture to think, would not matter 
in the slightest if the real reason were not predom- 
inant, namely, over-supply. It is quite appa- 
rent that the self-denying ordinance of last sea- 
son, or automatic feed regulator, is out of working 
order ; and the old policy of printing tea for public 
sale on the principle of " Devil take the hind- 
most" has again been resumed. One broker's 
circular recognises this by saying that ■' the quan- 
tity offered was in excess of the requirements of 
the trade." The total number of packages offered 
in public sale for the whole fifty two weeks ot 
1899 was about 1,600,000 packages or, omit- 
ting five weeks' holidays, an average of 
34,000 packages per week. And as for the last 
six weeks, the market supply has been 
over 300,000 packages, or 50,(500 packages per 
week, with every prospect of more to follow ; 
the cause of the depression is not difficult to find. 
It is a maxim in political economy that " limita- 
tion in supply is the most powerful augmentor of 
