Dec.  2,  1895.] 
THE  TROPICAI.  AGRICULTURIST. 
425 
doubted.  Tbe  news  may  Im  prcmatuie.  That  it  is 
absolutely  false,  no  person  acquainted  witli  Russia’s 
style  of  'policy  iii  the  Far  Fast  can  for  a moment 
believe.  Most  of  tbe  reasons  are  obvious. 
the  future  SUPI’LV  of  INDIA  UUHHER. 
An  Engliih  Vieiu  oj  the  Situation. 
Some  twenty  years  ago  sinister  rumors  as  to  the 
depletion  of  the  rubber  forests  of  South  America 
caused  a new  departure  in  economic  botany,  namely, 
the  systematic  planting  of  rubber  trees,  and  the 
results  may  be  considered  satisfactory  as  tar  as  the 
possibilities  are  concerned,  although  the  garden  pro- 
duct, as  we  may  term  it,  has  not  yet  entered  into 
serious  competition  with  that  from  untended  natuie. 
The  question  now  arises  as  to  whether  all  the  time 
and  trouble  has  been  expended  needlessly  or  not. 
From  what  has  appeared  recently  in  the  American 
technical  press,  this  would  appear  to  be  the  case, 
and  it  seems  of  some  interest  to  briefly  recapitu- 
late those  criticisms  on  what  is  almost  entirely  an 
English  enterprise.  Attention  is  drawn  to  the  tact 
that  vast  forests  of  rubber  trees  exists  untapped, 
and  that  any  fear  of  curtailment  of  supply  is  il- 
lusory. This  statement  is  supported  by  the  tact 
tliat  the  market  price  of  rubber  remains  practically 
stationary,  while  the  demand  has  largely  increased 
of  recent  vears.  A critic  remarks  that  there  is  no 
■rood  in  doing  what  nature  has  already  done  so  well 
For  us ; and  another  practical  man,  when  asked  why 
he  did  not  support  the  rubber  plantations,  made 
answer  by  the  ipiery,  “ Why  do  i not  go  in  for  the 
cultivation  of  coal  These  and  similar  remaiks  go 
to  show  that  in  America  there  is  no  tear  as  to  the 
supply  running  out,  and  that,  therefore,  any  pre- 
cautionaryr  measures  which  prudence  niiglit  dictate 
are  unnecessary  and  uncalled  for.  Ihe  Anieiican 
business  man  cannot  see  any  pressing  need  tor  the 
movement  under  consideration,  and  he  is  unw’illing 
to  embark  his  capital  in  an  affair  the  benefits  ot 
which,  to  him  at  any  rate,  are  so  problematical. 
With  regard  to  this  point  of  unlimited  supply,  it  may 
be  noted  that  recent  travellers  in  the  upper  parts 
of  Bra7.il  report  that  there  is  a large  iinworked  area 
of  rubber  forests  in  the  watershed  of  the  Orinoco, 
and  even  where  the  forests  are  worked  it  is  only  in 
rare  instances  that  more  than  the  borders  of  the 
stream  have  been  tapped,  no  trouble  being  taken  to  get 
spoil  from  the  higher  regions.  Further  than  this 
there  is  a constant  succession  of  trees  arising  from 
seeds.  Count  de  Berthier  has  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  Venezuelan  forests  could  be  made  to  yield 
loco  tons  of  the  best  rubber  per  annum  if  carefully 
worked,  and  he  is  supported  in^  bis  optimistic 
tone  by  what  the  Baron  de  Marajd  has  written  in 
a recent  number  of  the  New  Tork  India  Rubber 
World.  In  Africa,  although  the  supply  is  abundant, 
the  want  of  navigable  rivers  has  acted  prejudicially 
a^^ainst  the  due  expansion  of  the  trade,  as  undei 
the  conditions  of  porterage  at  present  obtaining  in 
many  localities  the  natives  find  it  unprofitable  to 
carry  rubber  any  distance  to  the  coast  when  the 
item  of  paying  tribute  to  ^ the  various  tribes  en- 
countered Ml  route  has  to  figure  in  the  profit  and 
loss  account.  W bile  on  this  niattei  of  Africa  s ad- 
dition to  our  supply,  we  should  like  to  take  the  oppor- 
tunity of  referring  to  the  statement  of  M,  Chapel  that  if 
the  African  ruboers  were  collected  and  prepared  for 
market  by  the  more  enlightened  methods  in  vogue  in 
South  America,  the  resulting  product  would  be  equal 
to  the  best  Fard  rubber.  ^Ve  confess  to  a mild 
feeling  of  surprise  at  this  statement,  and 
consiuer  it  a bold  assertion  which  is  not  supported 
by  the  facts  of  the  case,  though  as  it  must  be 
remembered  that  some  kinds  of  African  rubber  are 
much  superior  to  others,  the  author  quoted  may  have 
had  in  his  mind  the  best  of  the  African  sorts.  As 
regards  the  bulk  of  the  rubber,  that  from  the  Landol- 
pliia.'i,  or  the  species  of  Ficus  found  on  the  west 
coast,  we  think  the  day  is  very  far  distant  which  will 
see  thein  improved  to  the  stiindard  of  PaiTi  rubbeij 
* From  London  Engineeriruj . 
though  we  certainly  do  not  doubt  that  some  amount 
of  improvement  is  possible,  and  indeed,  to  our  own 
knowledge,  this  has  been  effected  of  recent  years  in 
the  case  of  the  Lagos  rubber,  which,  though  a.t  first 
practically  worthless,  now  fetches  a fair  price  in  the 
market.  However,  we  are  rather  wandering  away 
from  the  lines  of  this  article,  and  to  return  to 
the  critics  of  the  rubber  plantations,  it  may  be 
noted  that  they  prognosticate  great  difficulty  in 
obtaining  labor  if  the  jilantations  are  carried  out  on 
anything  like  a large  scale.  The  Indian,  it  is  as- 
serted, will  not  change  the  whole  course  of  their  lives 
and  submit  to  the  entire  revolution  of  their  methods  of 
work,  while  it  has  been  amply  demonstrated  that 
Europeans  or  Asiatics  are  incapable  of  sustained  work 
in  the  climate.  Other  objections  have  been  urged, 
but  in  face  of  the  chief  one,  viz.,  unlimited  supply, 
there  seems  but  little  use  drawing  attention  to  them. 
The  case  then  seems  a tolerably  clear  one  for  those 
wffio  argue  that  rubber  plantations  are  not  warranted 
by  the  facts  of  the  case.  In  passing  judgment,  how- 
ever, on  those  who,  in  the  light  of  recent  discoveries, 
may  seem  to  have  acted  somewhat  precipitately, 
and  without  the  exercise  of  due  foresight,  we 
should,  of  course,  bear  in  mind  that  the  common 
facts  of  today  were  not  the  common  facts  of  10  or 
20  years  ago.  The  discovery  of  these  rubber  forests 
is  of  recent  dale,  and  it  cannot,  therefore,  be 
pointed  at  as  an  overloked  factor  in  the  original 
consideration  of  the  matter.  It  will  be  remembered 
|jy  those  interested  that  the  representations  made 
to  our  Kew  authorities  as  to  the  depletion  of  the 
rubber  forests,  were  couched  in  distinctly  alarmist 
language,  and  therefore  they  quite  merited  the 
measures  taken  by  the  India  Office.  Of  course  it 
was  possible  for  our  government  to  have  undertaken 
such  explorations  as  have  recently  been  made  by 
private  individuals,  and  this  would  probably  have 
resulted  in  the  alarmist  rumors  being  somewhat 
discounted,  as  we  may  presume  that  the  forests  of 
today  existed  in  much  the  same  condition  20  or  30 
years  ago.  However,  it  is  easy  to  be  wdse  after  the 
event,  and  we  shall  certainly  not  be  found  in  the  ranks 
of  those  who  seek  to  throw  ridicule  on  the  whole  move- 
ment, because,  whether  the  expense  and  trouble 
which  our  Kew  authorities  have  been  put  to  seem 
warranted  or  not  at  the  present  time,  it  has  certainly 
been  shown  that  rubber  trees  can  be  successfully 
acclimatized  and  grown  in  India  and  other  districts 
far  remote  from  their  original  habitat,  and  occasion 
may  yet  arise  when  the  information  thus  gained  may 
prove  of  much  value  to  the  India-rubber  industry. 
COMMENT  BY  .\N  AMERICAN  IMPORTER. 
A gentleman  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  conditions 
of  trade  and  industry  in  Central  and  South  America 
entertained  somewhat  different  views  from  the  above. 
'■  While,”  said  he,  “ it  is  true  that  not  much  capital, 
American  or  foreign  is  invested  in  rubber  planta- 
tions, the  question  is  certainly  in  the  air,  and  be- 
fore long  the  vague  notions  and  ideas  on  the  sub- 
ject will  assume  practical  shape.  The  rubber  coun- 
tries are  poor  and  naturally  anxious  to  attract  capi- 
tal from  outside  to  develop  their  industries  and  re- 
sources. On  the  other  hand,  it  is  beginning  to  be 
felt  that  some  measures  have  to  be  taken  to  insure 
the  future  supply  of  the  ever-increasing  demand  for 
rubber.  As  population  grows,  and  as  new  applications 
or  extensions  of  old  applications  of  rubber  in  indus- 
try, are  made,  the  demand  for  rubber  increases, 
and  it  is  a short-sighted  policy  to  depend  on 
existing  rubber  forests,  which  surely  cannot  last 
forever  and  access  to  which  must  become  snore 
• and  more  difficult  and  exq>ensive.  Not  only  will  rubber 
plantations  be  needed,  but  there  will  be  more  profit 
in  them  than  in'  going  to  the  inaccessible  forests 
for  the  supply.  The  business  world  is  not  entirely 
ripe  for  it,  but  the  subject  is  in  the  air,  and  you 
may  expect  to  see  the  starting  of  a great  many 
enterprises  in  that  direction  before  many  years  go 
by.  It  is,  however,  to  American  capital  that  we 
have  to  look  for  this.  Foreign  capital  will  not  go 
into  anything  the  price  of  which  is  controlled  by 
this  countrj'.  We  consume  two-thirds  of  the  rubber 
product  of  the  world,  and  hence  control  prices.  In 
tw'enty  years  our  consumption  has  risen  from  less 
