Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-03-23
RUBBER INDUSTRY ANOTHER ROMANCE
 OF THE TROPICS
Far East surpasses Brazil In Production of Raw
 Material.

pleteness with which the Far East i has vanquished Brazil in the race for supremacy in crude rubber pro- duction.
 Fifteen years ago Brazil was in pos session of the crude rubber fields with nCne to dispute her. and the chief concern of each rubber manu- facturer was to get his share of Bra Zils crop E5efore it was gobbled up by competitors.
 Brazil came to be synonymous with rubber and today the average man still regards the great South Ameri- can country as the chief source of the crude rubber supply. But in a decade and half the situation has changed completely, and last year the plantations of the Orient produced more than five times as much rubber as Brazil. Brazil's production has been almost stationary for years but the eastern crop is increasing by large per centages every year. Tragedy For Brazil. The story of the department of the plantations in the Far East reads al- most like a tragedy for Brazil, in whose dense forest marshes are still millions of magnificent rubber trees waiting to be tapped. But to the economist it it merely another illus tration that careful business methods and favorable environment count heav- fly in the race for success.
 Numerous causes have contributed to Brazil's failure to keep up with the trade, among them being fail ure to break away from primitive methods of handling the crop, in- sufficient labor supply and high cost of living in the rubber section and lack of intelligent leadership. The crude rubber is there and there in abundance, but the cost of getting it to the market is so great and busi- ness conditions so unstable and un- satisfactory, that capital is not at tracted.
 America Had Hand.
 America has had it's part in the development of the plantations in the Orient. In the Dutch Island of Suma- tra at q point just above the equa- tor is the platation of the United States Rubber Company which has focused the attention of the rubber world by it's vastness. The company has displayed typical American en- ergy in collecting staffs of technical and practical rubber and horticultur-. al experts that are without equal in the plantation fields.
 The plantation is the largest in. the world. More than seventy square, miles of trees growing in stately rows make a picture that stirs the imagi-. nation. Although of the same spe- cies as the rubber trees in Brazil, none of the trees is wild, careful cul- tivation marking every step of growth. Day after day the tapping goes on, each tree adding it's few drops of precious fluid to the supply of crude rubber for the great factories of the United Staes Rubber Company in America. Every tree is carefully nurtured, even the seeds coming in for close treatment and study, so as to make sure of producing rubber of the highest quality.
 Watch Health Conditions.
 Fourteen thousand Asiatics and many whits find employment on the plantation, and suffer no i'll effects from working under tropical condi- tions. Their welfare is the source of constant consideration, and scien- tists are giving attention to the spec ial problems of the workers welfare which must be met to keep them well, and happy in land where heat and humidity make conditions hard to cope with.
 Much of the plantation has been, reclaimed from virgin jungle. Civ lllzation will in time drive away the Wild life, but the section would to- day furnish great sport for the hunt CTS of big game. Man-eating tigers frequently make their presence known and elephants are still numerous. wandering about singly or in herds. The tigers are boon, for they eat the wild pigs that feed on growing rubberi trees. But the elephants are pest at times, for they show fond ness for pulling up the growing trees. Things that crawl are pres ent in abundance, from the harmless little. lizards up to the big deadly cobras and huge pythons.
 Labor Is Cheap.
 The labor supply is inexhaustible With the uncounted millions of all Asia to draw from, and the cost of native living is very low. These con ditions, coupled with efficient busi- ness methods, assure the continuance of the supremacy of the oriental field in crude rubber production.
 By growing it's own crude rubber heUnlted States Rubber Company IS In 2 most advantageous position It handles the crude product from the moment 1t leaves the tree and is able to develop quality and uniformity