The public, as a mass, did not awaken to the money-making possibilities of rubber cultivation until a few years later. Some of the companies owning Eastern estates which had been planted up with Hevea in 1905, or earlier, paid to their shareholders in 1909 interest amounting to 80, 165, even 300 per cent., and tongues will very quickly wag into fame an industry that yields such enormous profits. Also, the price of rubber was going up, and people began to talk about the large number of new uses to which the material was being put. It was now widely believed that there would be such a shortage of rubber in the near future that the supply would fetch famine prices. Thus came the moment, in the spring of 19101 when a feverishly-excited public began the great gamble in rubber shares which has come to be known as the "Rubber Boom."

From £60,000,000 to £100,000,000 has been invested in the plantation rubber industry. Although much of this money conferred no benefit on the industry, going into the pockets of certain well-informed people who knew when to buy and when to sell shares, and certain cunning people who played the gambling game with a reckless public, the capital subscribed for rubber-growing is now represented by over a million acres of plantations, whose annual output of rubber is threatening to outrival that of Brazil.

Under normal conditions best quality rubber from the Amazon was selling at from 4s. to 5s., even 6s. per pound. During the boom, similar rubber fetched as much as 12s. 6d. per pound, whilst inferior grades commanded equally high prices in proportion. As, up to this time, the Amazon Valley countries had been annually exporting from 30,000 to 40,000 tons of rubber, Brazil in general and the Amazon region in particular enjoyed a period of great prosperity.

Competition has quickly brought down the price of raw rubber. Best quality Para, which still comes from Brazil, has recently been fetching less than 3S. per pound—that is to say, less than the figure that has hitherto been quoted as the minimum cost of production. Best quality plantation Para usually fetches a few pence less per pound than its Brazilian competitor, but the cost of production is very considerably lower; it is reckoned that the average cost of producing plantation rubber in the near future will be about 1s. per pound.

Owing to the greatly increased demand for rubber, the enormous new supplies from the Eastern plantations have not yet seriously affected the Brazilian output so far as bulk is concerned; but the influence of competition on Brazilian prosperity may be judged from the fact that the value of the rubber exported by one State alone, Amazonas, fell from £5,284,000, in 1909, to £2,882,600 in 1913.

Although the rivalry of plantation rubber has compelled the Amazon Valley to face a serious financial crisis, a very determined, intelligent and sporting fight is being put up to maintain the supremacy of Brazilian rubber. The Para of the Amazon forests has in itself a powerful fighting force; its quality has not yet been equalled, much less surpassed. And great efforts are being made to bring down the cost of production—for instance, the rubber is being more scientifically prepared and more carefully handled, with a view to increasing the proportion of finest grade in the total output; and large clearings in the forests are being planted up with food products, whereas all food-supplies have hitherto been imported from abroad, to be transported to the remote rubber regions at a cost which has made luxuries of the barest necessities of life.

People of all classes in the Amazon Valley had a very gay time during the Rubber Boom; indeed, truth to tell, many a fortune was squandered even more quickly than it was made. Now that the golden days of "Lightly come, lightly go," have been brought to an end, many of these same people have found a new and more stimulating enjoyment in getting to grips with misfortune. Poverty is bidding fair to be a great blessing. Not only has it led to progressive activities and carefully considered plans for giving a new lease of life to the rubber industry of the region, but it has awakened men's minds to the many and varied agricultural possibilities of the Amazon Valley. Cotton is being planted, the area under cocoa-nuts is being extended, the cocoa crop is being more scientifically prepared for market, and steps are being taken for developing an export trade in tobacco, which yields a bountiful harvest. Many kinds of cereals, such as maize, rice and beans, can be successfully grown, all kinds of tropical fruits will flourish, and there are excellent prairies for cattle-raising; the Amazon Valley could easily become self-supporting as regards food-supplies, and, as I have already told you, considerable progress has been made in pursuing this ideal. The wealth to be derived from the forests is incalculable; ambitious enterprises are on foot for turning to profitable account the abundance of timber, fibres, and medicinal plants. There is a steadily growing feeling that, whatever is to be the outcome of the struggle for supremacy between Brazilian rubber and Plantation rubber, the Amazon Valley States should never again risk their welfare by being dependent on one source of wealth. The popular cry of yesterday, "Rubber is gold, everything else dross," is giving place to the old maxim, "It's a mistake to put all your eggs into one basket."