The Washington times., 1922-11-03
RUBBER RBUY|NC
CALLSFOR WIDE
STUDYOF CAME
Product Comes From Growers
In Variety Of Forms and
Grades.

has made the work Of buying crude
rubber an altogether different KIND
OF task from what II was when
practically all rubber was wild
and when scores Of varieties were
coming In from all parts OF the
tropics in all sorts OF conditions.
Now. about nine.tenths OF tho
crude rubber produced in the world
In grown on plantations In TIA"
Far East under the direction or Eu'
ropeans. One notable exception is
the great plantations OF the United
States Rubber Company in SumatrI
and Malaya. These are under the
direction OF Americans. and II IL
not exaggerating 10 say that they
lead all the plantations OF the
world in the scientific culture OF
the rubber tree.
The methods OF preparing crude
rubber on the plantations are such
as trained business men would use.
clean and in standard forms. = So
that about all Il rubber merchant
need know about rubber today j.
the various grades OF ribbed and
crepe rubber-the standard forms
In which rubber comes from tho
plantations-and a few grades OF
Brazilian rubber. The latter, be
cause OF its high quality. still re
mains a factor in the market,
bers havo disappeared in compe-
tition with the plantation product.
When wild rubber" dominated
the market, a buyer had to be en-
perienced and clever to Il high de-
gree to differentiate between the
many varieties and forms and
grades in which crude rubber was
offered, and particularly to guard
against being cheated out Of his
eye teeth in sharp trades. Buying
rubber in those days was like the
old business of swapping horses.
All sorts of tricks were in vogue
and only the shrewdcst OF mCr-
chants had any chance OF avoiding
the pitfalls. There grew up in
those times group OF trained,
careful buyers who could tell AT
sight every one OF the varieties,
their place of origin and thca
value when cleaned and dried.
Each rubber district had It's own
peculiar method of preparing the
rubber for market, and the forms
in which it was put up were in many
cases almost grOtesque. There wcle t
virgins" from Matta-GroSSo
twists" from Manoh and LahOu, and
balls" from the CAMERON and
Gaboon. Other forms were nuts, y
'spindles," "thimbles," Sheets, -
slabs" marbles, worms" bis
cults" SCRAPS" and Jumps"
In the earlier days a buyer had ia
give chief thought to getting full
value for his money. Today. with a
vast production and only a te"
varieties the buyers chief study is
the condition OF business throughout
the world and the probable fluctua
tions in prices.
In the old days there used to he
many important crude rubber
markets: London and Liverpool in
England: Para and Manaos in Brazil
Bordeaux for wild rubber from
French Africa and Madagascar
Lisbon for Portuguese East Africa,
and Antwerp for the Belgian Congo
Weekly auctions were held In Ant
werp and Liverpool.
Even today no rubber center has
rubber exchange. Singapore, in
the heart of the plantation section,
has become the greatest primary
market in the world. and London,
through the fact that 20 per cent of
the crude rubber is produced by Brit.
ish capital, is the largest secondary
market. New York is the chief con
sumers' market, America consuming
about IS per cent of all the rubber
produced. Singapore, Colombo, and
Amsterdam have weekly auctions
where lots are offered I'm a variety Of
quantities and qualities. All the
wild rubber markets have SUM;
into insignificance except Para and
Manaos.
In the primary markets in :ha
plantation district agents OF the
growers offer their goods to repro.
sentatives of American and It;.
TODtdIl bIOhtIS ana ND ill''
facturers. In the great secondary
markets, such as London and New
York, rubber Is handled largely by
brokers'.
The manner IN which crude rubber
comes to market in Brazil is still
very primitive. In spite of this fact
there will probably always be mar.
ket for Brazilian rubber because of
its high quality, but the high cost OF
getting It out Of the jungle will pre-.
vent it's ever regaining n supreme
position. With food scarce and OK
pensive and labor high, Brazil can
hardly hope ever again to become
the first rubber nation of the world
in competition with the Far East,
which has the inexpensive labor of
China and India at it's disposal.
In the vast forests which cover
the valley of the Amazon and it's trip.
utaries are numberless scattered
groups of wild rubber trees. In the
important towns and cities II used
to be the custom for rubber. mcr.
chants to fit out collecting cNncdi.
tions under men who gathered about
them groups of Indian workers. The
entire equipment for the expedition
was furnished by the merchant, who
literally "grub.staked" the eNpcdi.
ton. Now there Is much less Of
-. I.Nf Nssth Ia n A