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ORIGIN OF IMPORTS, 1904.

The countries of origin for the merchandise imported into the Republic of Bolivia during 1904, with the valuations furnished by each, were, respectively, as follows:

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The Department of Agriculture and Industries of the Republic of Bolivia reports the details of exports of rubber from that country for the year 1904, showing the receipts of the various custom-houses, as follows:

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The present development of this industry is largely due to the high prices obtained for rubber in Europe and the United States, as well as to the numerous manufacture of things which require its use; therefore it has a very promising future, and the stability of the price of rubber will induce its cultivation to be developed even to a greater

extent.

The subject of rubber is discussed by United States Consul MANSFIELD, of Valparaiso, who states that only a small percentage of the rubber forests of the upper Amazon country have been exploited. The consul writes:

"Rubber is not produced in Chile but in all the country watered by the river Amazon, comprising large portions of Bolivia, the ports of entry for which are in Chile, and as an industry is attracting the attention of foreign capitalists. The more elevated parts of the Amazon

Bull. No. 3-06-10 ·

region produce the kind of rubber known as caucho, while the lowlands flooded by the river produce the jebe. Caucho and jebe are very similar, the only difference consisting in the greater elasticity of the latter. Hence jebe is made to serve more delicate purposes and commands a higher price in the market, the difference being usually about. 25 per cent in value. The two kinds of materials are extracted in different ways. In the case of jebe incisions are made spirally along the whole length of the tree, whereas to obtain the caucho the tree is cut down and the sap or milk distilled is caught in vessels specially adapted for the purpose. The caucho tree can not stand incisions in its bark, but in twenty years' time after being felled a new tree grows up and is ready for treatment. The caucho tree is estimated to yield about 65 pounds, worth from 70 cents to 90 cents per pound on the spot and about 50 per cent more in the market. The jebe tree will yield about 25 pounds a year for an indefinite time. Small sections of the rubber-producing forests adjacent to the headwaters of the Amazon have been depleted, but the rapid natural growth of the tree will soon rehabilitate those sections, rendering them again productive. "The development of the rubber industry in Bolivia is of special interest to Chile and to other countries having commercial relations with west-coast South American Republics, for the reason that all Bolivian products exported from the Pacific coast must reach the markets through Chilean ports. The building of railways through northern Chile into Bolivia, under the treaty of peace and amity celebrated by the two Republics in 1905, will encourage the development of the natural resources of Bolivia by affording transportation facilities for marketing the products. The vast tracts of rubber-producing forests in the upper Amazon country, which produced last year over 50,000 tons of rubber, valued at over $100,000,000, and only a small per cent of which has been exploited, offer an attractive field for the investment of American capital."

BRAZIL.

GROWING PARA RUBBER IN CEYLON.

An interesting article published in the "Commercial Intelligence" (London) for January 31, 1906, reports the following conditions attendant upon the cultivation and prospects of Para rubber in Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula:

"The steady destruction of the wild rubber trees in the forests of Brazil, which has been going on for years, has resulted in the present crisis in the india-rubber trade. The native rubber collectors, the halfbreed seringueros, have an exceedingly arduous task. Their object is

to get as much caoutchouc as they can in the shortest possible time, so that it is not surprising that fine old specimens of the Hevea brasiliensis are overbled and ruthlessly destroyed. In the Amazon forests the rubber trees are scattered about among hosts of other varieties, there being irregular and often long intervals between individual rubber trees, so that the total destruction of all the trees in a district is an easy matter. Each succeeding year, therefore, the collectors have had to penetrate farther inland to more inaccessible districts in order to obtain supplies, and in consequence the output of Brazilian "Para” rubber has not increased in proportion to the growing demand for rubber in the trade.

"The output from Africa, as a whole, has increased but little, and from the West Coast has diminished, in this case also chiefly owing to the destructive methods of collection in vogue among natives. Indeed, on this account, some authorities consider that the African output of wild rubber is more likely to decrease than increase.

"Were the industry in the future to be entirely dependent upon wild rubber the outlook would be black indeed, but fortunately it has now been conclusively proved in Ceylon and in the Malay Peninsula that the cultivation of the rubber tree as an estate product is not only possible but a very profitable industry, and the output of rubber from plantation-grown trees raised in nurseries is rapidly increasing each year. At present, it is true, the production from all plantations in Ceylon, India, Assam, the Malay Peninsula, Java, Borneo, Central America, and Mexico form but a very small proportion of the whole world's yearly output, yet a few years should see a remarkable change in this.

"Before dealing with the Ceylon and Malasian rubber-planting industries more particularly, it may not be out of place here to note how the Brazilian and Mexican rubber trees came to be introduced into Asia. In Ceylon attention was first drawn to rubber-yielding trees when blight stamped out the island's coffee industry, and the Kew authorities sent out, in Wardian cases, young plants of the Para rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), the Central American tree (Castilloa elástica), and the Ceará (Manihot glaziovii). Attention was then mainly paid to the Ceará, and as this variety was unsuccessful in the early years, rubber was neglected. Later, certain men had marked success with Para, with the result that there has been a rush into that variety; though it is found that at certain elevations and in certain districts the Castilloa thrives best. Now, again, also, Ceará is being planted on some estates.

"The first Para trees arrived in Ceylon from Kew in August, 1876. Ninety per cent of the 1,900 plants sent arrived safely and were planted in the low-country Botanic Gardens at Henaratgoda. These trees fourished and soon produced abundant crops of seeds. Plants were

raised and distributed to officials in Ceylon, and some were sent to India, and later seeds were sold to planters and others in Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, etc. Thus the trees in Henaratgoda Gardens are famous as the parents of practically all the Para rubber trees in Asia, and in other colonies in Africa, Fiji, etc.

"Among the very early estates on which rubber planting was commenced was Culloden, in the Kalutara district of the Western Province. The rubber trees planted on the foothills flourished wonderfully, and Culloden is now the most famous rubber estate in the island, remarkable returns in raw caoutchouc having been obtained from the older trees. In April, 1904, four specimen trees were tapped, and in thirty days gave a total of 53 pounds 12 ounces dry rubber, an average of 13 pounds 7 ounces per tree. With rubber selling at 5 to 6 shillings per pound, the value of these trees may be gauged.

"It is specially during recent years, since the price of rubber has gone abnormally high, that rubber planting has rapidly extended in the East, and each year now sees farther acreages of virgin jungle land cleared to be planted in rubber, and more tea estates interplanted with it. But it is not altogether certain that the sudden rush in rubber is a good thing for the industry. In the eagerness to secure shares in rubber-planting companies the public has blindly bought up in every company floated; a struggling tea company has only had to announce its intention to interplant rubber through its estate and shares have rushed up and quickly changed hands. To put it mildly, it is possible that some land thus planted will not suit rubber. It behooves investors to be cautious, although it seems that in some districts, at all events, Para rubber will grow almost everywhere. The tree certainly has enormous vitality.

"Rubber in Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula is singularly free from plant pests. There has been a little canker in both countries, but, assisted by the Government botanical experts, the planters have effectually stamped out such outbreaks. The young plants in the nurseries are liable to depredations from rats, porcupines, wild pigs, and deer, but losses in this respect are not enormous. The young trees in the plantations occasionally suffer from porcupines and deer, but this can be guarded against, as it is on some estates, by good wire fencing.

"The Para rubber of from 4 or 5 years of age bears abundant crops of seeds, which are picked up from the ground and planted in prepared beds of soil under shade. The seeding plants soon appear. They grow in the seed beds for from twelve months to two years, and are then ready to be put out in the prepared holes in the plantations. They are stumped,' i. e., cut down to a short distance above the surface, then carefully lifted so as not to damage the long taproot,

and planted out. A new shoot soon appears and grows up into a vigorous young tree with a rate of growth only to be seen in the Tropics. Planters vary in their opinions as to the distance apart the trees should be planted; some plant as close as 10 feet, others 20 feet, or even 30 feet. If close planting be adopted it is often with the intention of cutting out intermediate lines of trees when fairly mature, and 20 feet apart is generally considered a good average distance.

"During the first year, until a tapping age is reached, the trees require little attention, but the land must be kept clean and free from weeds. Useful catch crops can be grown between the lines of young trees until the shade becomes too dense; such crops are peanuts or groundnuts, cotton, citronella, lemon grass, and nitrogen crops as manures. When the trees keep the ground well shaded no weeds will grow.

"The Para rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), the favorite in Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula, etc., produces rubber when 5 years of age or even younger; but at that stage rubber is not of good quality. The high prices of caoutchouc have encouraged many planters to tap their trees at 6 years, but 7 years is a better age at which to begin, and even then the trees should be lightly tapped.

"The caoutchouc is present in the sap of the tree in minute globules-like butter globules in milk-and the milky sap of the rubber tree is known as 'latex.' This latex is present in nearly all parts of the tree, but contains more caoutchouc in the base of the trunk up to 6 or 8 feet. The caoutchouc or rubber aids the growth of the tree by absorbing much water in wet weather and conserving this for the plant's use in dry periods. The latex tubes run up the tree in horizontal fashion, and the latex is run out by carefully cutting these through the bark. Care has to be taken in tapping so that the tubes are just pierced, otherwise the cambium wood is damaged and the trees badly injured. Various knives are used for tapping, the commonest being a sharp, hollow triangular blade on a handle, by which a conical piece is gouged out of the tree. Various sorts of cuts are practiced by different men, the most popular being V-shaped. The tapping is done twice per annum for a series of consecutive or alternate days. The yield of trees varies a little, but may be roughly estimated at one-half pound per tree at 8 years old to, say, 2 pounds per tree when 12 or 14 years old. The tapping and curing of Castilloa elástica, Gutta ramboug, and Ceara rubber differs from the Para rubber methods, but we need not here dwell upon the differences.

"The curing of rubber is not a complex matter on plantations. Hitherto the usual method in vogue was to collect the latex from the trees each morning and evening. This, on being brought to the factory, was strained, and then a little acetic acid added to quicken coagulation. Next day, when the pans of latex were coagulated, the rubber

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