A GOVERNMENT REPORT ON RUBBER. 
In a report on “ Agriculture in the Tropical Islands of United 
States,” by Mr. O. F. COOK, botanist in charge of investigations 
in tropical agriculture, less than two pages, under the heading 
“ Rubber and Gutta-percha,” form the single reference to the mat- 
ter under discussion. The spirit in which Mr. COOK writes is 
decidedly unfavourable fo the formation of rubber plantations. He 
says, for example : “ Notwithstanding widespread, interest and the 
investment of millions of dollars, it cannot be said that rubber cul- 
ture has passed the experimental stage, if indeed that period has 
been fairly reached.” But there is no reference to any experiment 
made in an)- country, or to the results, in such detail as will enable 
the reader to look into the subject further with a view to satisfying 
himself as to the present status of rubber cultivation, or to inves- 
tigate the reasons for “the investment of millions of dollars” which 
is still going on. 
Mr. Cook says again; “Moreover, it is known that many rubber 
plantations established with the most lively expectations have been 
abandoned because the anticipation, of a profitable yield of rubber 
from cultivated trees proved to be fallacious.” This report would 
have been more complete and more convincing had it been fol- 
lowed by a list of such plantations and of their locations. As a 
matter of fact, there has not been time, since the systematic plant- 
ing of rubber on a commercial scale began actively, for very many 
of the plantations to becone productive, and, so far as we can learn, 
the results attained have been such as to encourage very many 
others to engage in this branch of planting. There is reason to 
believe that more rubber trees have been planted in Ceylon, the 
Malay Peninsula, Burma, Mexico, Central America, and the West 
Indies during the last twelve months than in any previous year, 
and in the list of plantations on record in the India Rubber World 
office — which includes all that we have been able to gain any 
knowledge of during the past ten years— there has bee* no case 
of abandonment of trees once planted. Mr. Cook admits, how- 
ever, that “ similar disappointments, misapprehensions, and misre- 
presentations”— referring to the prospectuses of certain companies 
formed to plant rubber in Mexico and Central Africa— have of 
course, marked the early history of many finally successful and 
important industries.” From the Consular Report for ig 0 2 
NOTICE. 
It is suggested that Subscribers who are not residents of Singa- 
pore should send Money Orders in preference to Cheques in order 
to avoid the loss due to Bank discount. 
