236 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May I, 1907. 



RUBBER PLANTING INTERESTS. 



RUBBER IN SUMATRA. 



' I HE next "boom'' in rnbbt-r planting is cxpeelod to take- 

 place in Sumatra, where, it is stated, sonic 150,000 acres of 

 land have already been "allocated" for this purpose. The soil 

 and climate have already been demonstrated to be suited for 

 growing Hevea, and the large native population, under Dutch 

 rule, has been found most satisfactory for the purposes of large 

 planting estates. 



There has been formed in Holland a company — Vereenigde 

 Hevea Plantagen der Bila Landen — with 3,000,000 florins 

 [^$1,206,000] capital, to acquire a conccss^n of 4,250 hectares 

 [=10,502] acres in the Sultanate of Bila, in East Sum'atra, and 

 plant it with rubber. The president is Ernest Bunge, of an .\nt- 

 wcrp rubber firm, and Emilc Grisar, the .\ntwcrp rubber broker. 

 is a director. 



The important Congo trading company, Societe .•\nonyme 

 Beige pour le Commerce du Haut Congo, have under considera- 

 tion an investment of 100,000 florins [—$40,200] in the Dutch 

 company BrusscI Sumatra Caoutchouc Maatschappij. The Time:; 

 of Ceylon hears that King Leopold, under various interests, holds 

 in Sumatra already about 80,000 acres of land suited for rubber. 



The Sumatra Para Rubber Plantations, Limited, was registered 

 in London March 18 with iioo.ooo [=$486,650] capital, to 

 acquire the Pangkattan estate, in P.ila, Sumatra, already pro- 

 ducing cofTee and rubber. Purchase price, i6o,ooo. Registered 

 office : 30, Mincing lane, E. C, London. 



It will be remembered that rubber culture in Ceylon and the 

 Malay States was first introduced in connection with large tea 

 and cocoa estates, owned by British companies. .A. similar 

 system of company owned estates prevails in Sumatra, particu- 

 larly m respect of tobacco. The shares of scores of such estates 

 are traded in regularly on the .\msterdam boerse, showing that 

 Dutch investors regard such enterprises with favor. It is now 

 proposed to plant rubber and tobacco together. At the recent 

 Ceylon Rubber Exhibition Mr. M. Kelway Bamber delivered an 

 address rccommendmg tobacco as a "catch crop" for rubber. 



"BRITISH GROWN RUBBER." 



Under this heading the important London commission hou.^e 

 of Govv, Wilson & Stauton have issued a circular bearing upon 

 the notable development in rubber culture that is taking place 

 in Ceylon and the Federated Malay States. While the pro- 

 duction in those colonies is increasing rapidly, they say "it does 

 not appear likely that the production from South America. 

 .•\frica, and other parts will increase to any great extent in the 

 near future." In view of the continued increase in consumption, 

 not only is overproduction not imminent, but rubber planting 

 "should for a long time continue a profitable commercial under- 

 taking." In presenting statistics to support their argument, 

 Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stauton do The Indi.\ Rubber Wurlh 

 the honor to compile their figures from the columns of this 

 Journal, giving full credit for the same. 



AN IMPROVED TAPPING TOOL. 



The inventor of the "V. D. K." rubber tapping knife — Gus- 

 tave Van den Kerckhove, of Brussels — has modified it by the 

 addition of another hollow blade, increasing the number to 

 four. The purpose is to render the knife adaptable to every 

 species of rubber plant now yielding rubber, and this Mr. Van 

 den Kerchhove thinks he has attained. Most of the other tap- 

 ping knives now in use have been designed each for a particular 

 variety of rubber tree or vine, and are not adaptable for use 

 on any other. Besides, the inventor in this case offers a tool 

 with which a complete incision may be made, whereas in the 

 case of some other devices, two or more tools are required. The 

 "V. D. K." device was illustrated in The lNt)i.\ Rubber World 

 December i. Tgo6 (page 8cj). 



RUBBER PLANTING RESULTS. 



^'.\T.\DEKI.\ Tka Co,^ of Ceylon, Limited. — Rubber crop for 

 igo6, 8,025 pounds, from 5,947 trees, of which part were very 

 lightly tapped; average, 1.35 pounds per tree. This year, with 

 2,100 additional tappable trees, 11.000 pounds are expected. Yield 

 in 1904, 583 pounds; in 1905, 2.855 pounds. Present number of 

 trees, 132,135. 



Rayigam Co., Luiiited, in Ceylon, have 482 acres in rubber and 

 467 acres in tea. Tapping began last year, yielding 3,107 pounds 

 of rubber. This year it is expected to tap 5,500 trees, with an 

 estimated yield of 5,000 pounds. 



On the Seminyah estate of the .Asiatic Rubber and Profluce 

 Co. some ten-year-old trees {Ilcvea), it is reported, have been 

 yielding 4 pounds of rubber each. 



PLANTATION -RUBIO." 



The report of Mr. Arthur St. J. Whiting, the inspector chosen 

 by the shareholders of the Tehuantepec Rubber Culture Co. 

 (New York), to visit their plantation in Mexico, contains details 

 regarding the 2,500,000 CiistiUoa trees on the estate, showing a 

 continued satisfactory increase in size. The plan of close plant- 

 ing has been followed, with the idea of thinning out at the 

 proper time, which time Mr. Whiting does not think has arrived 

 in the case of the oldest planting (1902). It is expected that 

 considerable rubber will be obtained from the trees which are to 

 be removed. Manager A. B. Luther is conducting systematic 

 tapping experiments on some older planted trees rented on a 

 neighboring estate. .\ sample of the rubber obtained was re- 

 ported on by a rubber importing house as being "approximate in 

 value to Ceylon and Straits Settlements plantation sheet." 



A RUBBER BLOCK PRESS. 



The illustration relates to a press for preparing crude rubber 

 for market m the "block" furm. which attracted 50 much atten- 

 tion nt the Ceylon 

 Rubber Exliibi- 

 tion last year, and 

 which form lias 

 brought such 

 good prices at the 

 London a u c- 

 tions as to appeal 

 greatly to the in- 

 terest of the plant- 

 ers in the Far 

 East. It is stated 

 that with the use 

 of this press 

 s ni o o t h, clean 

 blocks of rubber — 

 already coagu- 

 lated, of course — 

 can be made and 

 finished in one 

 hour, two coolies 

 being able to ap- 

 ply the exact pres- 

 sure required in 

 from 5 to 10 min- 

 utes. This press 

 is adapted equally 

 for dry or wet 

 blocks, and, as now made, for turning out blocks 12 inches 

 square and of any thickness up to 12 inches or more. This 

 press has been supplied already to a number of estates in the 

 Federated Malay States, and also to the owners of a large 

 rubber plantation in Mexico. A patent has been applied for 

 on this press, and the sole makers are Brown & Davidson, 

 Limited. Colombo, Ceylon. 



Ri;eber Block Press. 



