3 
ring to is not what we call peat in this country, it is 
rather more compact, the stems of the mosses, the 
heather roots, etc. being finer than the wood fragments 
of the so-called peat soils here, but, generally speaking, 
the result appears to be the same, and as decomposition 
has gone on to a considerable extent as it had in sample 
B, and the vegetable remains were quite broken up and 
powdery, there would be little difference between the 
two. The excess of water in the soil, if the water was 
saturated with humid acid, would not be advantageous 
to the growth of Para rubber, as explained in previous 
papers.— ED. 
RUBBER IN LIBERIA. 
Mr. E. D. Wi Idem an gives some notes of the rubber business in 
Liberia which may be of interest to some of our readers. The 
republic of Liberia, since it began to be the centre for repatriation 
of freed slaves and negroes from the United States, has, to a large 
extent, closed to the commerce of the outer world. However, since 
1906, some opening up of the country has taken place, and an act 
was recently passed permitting firms and foreigners to settle at one 
of the ports and to trade in the interior. The Liberia Rubber Corpo- 
ration, founded 1905* took up large concessions, giving it the right 
to collect rubber in public forests. In the year beginning October, 
1907, to November, 1908, 148,826 pounds of rubber were exported by 
this company and 12,815 pounds by other firms. 
The ordinary rate of exportation licence is 12 cents a pound, but 
the Liberian Corporation pay only 6 cents. 
According to a consular report, the hinterland contains great 
abundance of rubber, good and bad. About 22 different kinds of 
trees and climbers supply this more or less. 
The collection seems to attract the natives more and more. The 
collectors get on an average 9 pence a day and 3 pence for food. The 
collection takes place between September and March, as it is not easy 
to get labour in April, May and June, when the natives are at work 
on their own crops. 
In collecting, the trunk of the tree is cut with a knife and the 
latex caught in a pot and boiled ; as soon as it coagulates it is dried 
and smoked and is ready for the market. 
The chief difficulty in the collection is the disorganised state of 
the interior, the roads are often impracticable and the collectors are 
plundered of their rubber. 
