Omaha daily bee., 1919-11-23
FAR EAST LEADS
BRAZIL IN SALE
Of GOOD RUBBER
South American Country
Z Allows Itself to Be
0utmanaged by the
Far East.

How Brazil, possessing IN her
vast forests millions Of huge rub
Der trees of the finest quality grow
Sing in rich luxuriance all ready for
the knife of the Taper, has been
forced by unfavorable conditions to
permit the crude rubber supremacy
Of the world to be swept from her
in a decade by the far east is one
of the big events in modern busi-
ness history. ..-..
That Brazil can do big things in
the most approved modern fashion
needs no proof beyond her coffee
industry, her undisputed supremacy
there being due to scientific meth
ods Of the highest order. In cacao
and cattle raising she is also dem
onstrating her capabilities. But in
rubber production she has been
hopelessly outdistanced.
About 40 years ago some seeds
from the rubber trees of Brazil were
taken to England and sprouted.
Then few thousand nurslings were
transplanted to Ceylon, Java, Burma
and Singapore. For years little was
heard of the enterprise and then
came the demand for rubber tires,
and with that demand rubber from
plantations in the far east began to
trickle into the markets.
City Grows Rich.
Meanwhile the Amazon rubber
district was going through scenes
typical of a gold mining rush. For
tunes rocketed to the skies and as
the stream of crude rubber flowed
down the river there flowed back to
Manaos a golden food which made
the rubber city more luxurious for
its size than Paris and made Manaos
the best diamond market in the
world. Anything that was expensive
could be sold, and Jewels, fine silks,
good wines and foods, costly fur
niture and gorgeous carriages found
their way up the great yellow river,
passing for 1000 miles only the
walls of jungle that edged the
stream. Manaos and Para became
beautiful cities with splendid build
ings, costly homes and fine streets.
But by 1910 a change came. The
demand for rubber for automobile
tires and for = thousand other uses
had become tremendous and Brazil
was unable to meet the demand.
That was the plantations opportuni-
ty and they made the best of it.
Enormous acreages were planted
and hundreds Of millions invested.
Today Brazil is far to the rear.
The worlds output Of crude rubber
for the current year will probably
reach about $4,000 tons. OF this
total Brazil will produce, by the
most liberal estimate, not to exceed
$4,000 tons. while from the far east
comes 100000 tons.
Better System in East.
The explanation for the change is
easily found. In Brazil the rubber
trees arc found in the dense jungles
and the work is done along lines de-
veloped by the Indians and little i'm.
proved upon. In the far east trained
business men and scientists have
brought all their skill into play. In
Brazil the worker cuts his way
through the jungle to a tree, and
then to another and another until he
has laid out path which he can
travel day after day to tap the trees
along the route. In the far east vast
areas ar. laid out like great orchards,
the weeds are kept down, every tree
is carefully nursed and the stately |
are among the horticul-
tural wonders of the world.
Among all the plantations in the
far east the great tract of the United
States Rubber company, with more
than 20 square miles OF growing
trees, stands out as by far the larg-
est. Twenty thousand workers care
for its trees, collect its latex and
the crude rubber. Its scien-
tihc staff has studied exhaustively
the problem of preparing the rubber
in the manner that will make the
hest tires and as a consequence have
made it possible for United States
tires to possess uniformity and high
quality to degree never before at
tanned