370 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September i, 1907. 



RiBBEK Tapping ox Sikoxg Estate. British North Borneo. 



[Property of North Borneo TradinR Co.. Limited. See The India Rubber 

 World, November 1, 1905 — page 48.] 



labor support is reported ample, except that the Manchester 

 North Borneo Rubber Co. are recruiting labor from Java. 

 These companies have been formed for planting rubber alone, 

 except that some of them will plant tobacco or other catch crops 

 :jt the beginning. 



The above names do not complete the list of companies plant- 

 ing rubber within the territory of the British North Borneo Co. 

 One or more of the tobacco companies referred to above have 

 granted sub-concessions, so to speak, to companies formed 

 wliolly or in part to plant rubber, two of which are the British 

 North Borneo Plantations Co., Limited, and the Sapong Rubber 

 and Tobacco Estates, Limited, both registered in London in 

 .\pril, 1905. Considerable planting has been done by these com- 

 panies in the aggregate and tapping has been in progress for the 

 past two years. An accompanying illustration relates to tapping 

 rubber on Sikong estate, owned by the North Borneo Trading 

 Co., Limited. 



PLANTATION RUBBER IN MEXICO. 



"The steadily increasing amount of the cultivated rubber in 

 the market is making an impression. Karl G. Schweickhardt, 

 agent for Harburger & Stack, of New York, told me that when 

 he opened the office at San Juan Bautista six years ago he 

 bought during the first year but four tons of rubber, that during 

 the past year he bought 104 tons and that the increase was due 

 wholly to the increase of cultivated rubber. He gave me the 

 name of one Mexican planter from whom he received last year 

 12,000 pounds of rubber, and of several others from whom he 

 received as much as 7000 or 8000 pounds. He himself has pur- 

 chased land with the intention of planting lOO.oco trees." — 

 Report of J. E. McGiLVREY, on Montezuma Plantation. 



A PRACTICAL TAPPING TOOL. 



The U-shaped rubber tapper invented for use on CastiUoa 

 trees by Virgil S. Smith, the owner of a private rubber plantation 

 at Eccuintla, state of Chiapas, Mexico, appears from all accounts 

 to be doing good work. Its use inflicts little injury to the tree, 

 the wounds healing within a short time, whereas the cuts made 

 with the machete require months to heal, and leave the bark 

 scarred permanently. The tapper is easy to use, a peon being 

 able to make four cuts per tree on So to 100 trees in a day, finish- 

 ing before noon, to allow time for coagulation the same day. 

 Mr. Smith finds that more latex is obtained by the use of 

 this tool than with the machete. 



The principal feature of this tapper is a thin piece of inch 

 wide steel bent to a U shape, with slightly flaring edges, and at- 

 tached at right angles to a wooden handle 20 inches long, and 

 provided with a gage to regulate the depth of cut. Mr. Smith's 

 method is to make the cuts in pairs, terminating at the bottom in 

 a V point, at which a cup is placed to receive the latex. Four 

 such cuts are made to a tree, preferably not less than 20 inches 

 apart. The idea is shown in an accompanying illustration, to- 



gether with the manner of holding the tapper when in use. 

 This tool is patented in Mexico (No. 5120, November 30, 1905). 

 The metal parts are made in the United States and attached to 

 ihe handles on Mr. Smitli's plant;itinn. The tappers sell at $36 

 ( Mcx.) per dozen. 



Mr. Smith began planting in 1900 and is now tapping trees 

 five, six and seven years old. He has tapped some trees for the 

 third time within 18 months and reports the collection of 8 

 ounces of dry rubber at each tapping. 



THE MEXICAN RUBBER CO., LIMITED. 



The rubber estate "Hacienda La Esperanza," near Tierra 

 Blanca, Vera Cruz, Mexico, mentioned several times in The 

 1ni)i.\ Rubber World as having been formed by Mr. George 

 Cullen Pearson, is now owned by The Mexican Rubber Co., 

 Limited, of London. Mr. Pearson, who is now residing in Eng- 

 land, his native country, was at first managing director of the 

 company, but has been succeeded by Mr. Horace E. Lcvesley, 

 who has been associated with the management from the be- 

 ginning, 



MALAY RUBBER FIELDS. 



The Anglo-Malay Rubber Co., Limited, in the Malay States, 

 gathered 16,745 pounds of rubber in June this year, against 5717 

 pounds in the same month in 1906. Their total production la>t 

 year was 91.719 pounds. 



Bukit Rajah Rubber Co., Limited, in the Malay States, have 

 2012 acres under rubber, including 243,580 trees, in age from one 

 to ten years. There were tapped during the past year 88,341 

 trees, yielding an average of 1.35 pounds. Last year 31,457 trees 

 yielded an average of 1.02 pounds. The rubber yield for three 

 years has been: 681 1 pounds in 1904-05: 33.203 pounds in 

 1905-06; 118,982 pounds in 1906-07. The dividend for the year 

 ending March 31, 1907, was 30 per cent, on the issued share 

 capital of ^66,700. There was a sliglit income from coffee 

 (which is declining) and cocoanuts. 



Highlands and Lowlands Para Rubber Co., Limited, report the 

 harvesting of 91,555 pounds of rubber during the first half of 

 this year, against 40.571 pounds for the same period of 1906. 



Smith's U-Sh.\ped Rubber Tapper. 



(Six year old CastiUoa claslica on the plantation of V. S. Smith, liscuintla, 



Mexico.] 



