Juu I, 1903.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



337 



NOTES ON RUBBER EXPLOITATION. 



SALE OF A STRAITS SETTLEMENTS RUBBEK ESTATE. 



THE Pataling Rubber Estates Syndicate, Limited, with 

 ^30,000 capital has been registered in London to acquire 

 the Pataling estate, of about 2000 acres, on Klang river, 

 near Kwala Lumpor, in Selangor, Malay states, to cul- 

 tivate India-rubber, coffee, and other products. The vendor 

 is Miss Florence May Bennett, of Berkshire, England. From 

 Indian Planting and Gardening (Calcutta) it appears that the 

 Pataling estate embraces 2000 acres, held under a lease from 

 the government for 999 years from 1S95, at a quit rent of $200, 

 silver, per year. Part of the land was planted at first in coffee, 

 but in view of declining prices of this commodity, the planting 

 of rubber between the coffee rows was begun in 1S97. The rub- 

 ber trees (presumably Heved) planted in that year are vigorous, 

 averaging 26 inches in circumference 3 feet (torn the ground. 

 There are now 347 acres planted to rubber, besides 50 acres in 

 rubber and cocoanuts. It is proposed now to plant the whole re- 

 maining area in rubber, at the rate of 200 acres a year. The estate 

 is now practically self-supporting, the yield of coffee last year 

 having been about 133 000 pounds. The purchase price is ^20,- 

 000, of which /5000 is payable in cash, .£5000 in a first mort- 

 gage at 5 per cent., and ,£10,000 in shares. H. C. Rendle is su- 

 perintendent of the estate. 



HARTFORD SUGAR AND RUBBER CO. 



[Plantation in [lie state of Tabasco, Mexico, Office: No 49 Pearl street, Hart- 

 ford, Connecticut ] 



The charter, under Maine laws, issued April 22, 1902. has 

 been amended, to omit from the title of the company the words 

 "of Mexico "; to increase the capital from $600,000 to $i,oco,- 

 000; and to decrease the par value of shares from $25 to $10. 

 The company advise The India Rubber World: "The 

 company now has 150 acres of strong, rich sugar cane and ex- 

 pects to plant 1000 acres and erect a sugar mill with a grinding 

 capacity of 350 tons of cane daily. It also intends to plant 

 1000 acres of rubber and is now clearing 200 acres of forest land 

 for this year's setting. The strong vigorous rubber trees on 

 the lands of our neighbors, the Tobasco Commercial Co." — 

 Plantation " El Zapote," under practically the same manage- 

 ment — " leads us to expect a very large return from this indus- 

 try." When a former notice was made in this |ournal (July 1, 

 1902), the company were not planning any early attention to 

 rubber. 



ISTHMUS PLANTATION ASSOCIATION OF MEXICO. 



[" Hacienda del Corte," Palomares, district of Jucbitan, state of Oaxaca, Mex- 

 ico. Office : Hermann building, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.] 



The annual inspection last spring was made by Geoige fames 

 Davies, a Chicago business man chosen by the other sharehold- 

 ers for the purpose. He reported the acreage improved, to the 

 end of 1902, at 2105, with 1035 acres fully planted. The num- 

 ber of trees and plants placed during three years has been : 



1900. 1901. iqoj. i 



Kubber 4.332 41,678 48,130 94.140 



Coffee 117,774 73. 562 4<,, 90S 238,244 



Cacao 1,208 .... 1,268 



Bananas 7337 



Pineapples .... 15.000 15.000 



Castor beans .... ... 69,000 69. COO 



Cocoanuts .... .... 24 24 



Oranges .... .... So So 



Almonds .... ... 40 40 



The road making had progressed to 51,413 meters [ = nea:l\ 

 32 miles]. The average number of men at work during 1902 

 was 223. A list of 30 plantation buildings is given, including 



18 for laborers. The sale of crops produced during the year is 

 reported as follows (in Mexican silver) : 



Corn $13,485.16 Beans ^3 00 



Kice 2,925 00 Bananas. . . 4505 



Rubber seeds 94350 Castor beans 2168 



Coffee plants 335-oo 



Coffee seeds 84.00 Total 517,90246 



The yield, after deducting cost of harvesting, amounted to 

 $'5 47773- This table does not include 3000 pounds of coffee 

 ready for shipment. The proceeds were devoted to the payment 

 of dividends. 



Mr. Davies reports that the rubber trees 2^ years old meas- 

 ured from 15 to 26^ inches in girth, and 12 to 18 feet high. 

 They are planted 18 feet apart, each way, allowing 160 to the 

 acre. The management planned to plant 85,000 or 90.000 rub- 

 ber trees this year. A large clearing was being made for sugar 

 cane. Vanila is also to be planted. This plantation has been 

 mentioned previously in The India Rubber World for June, 



1901, and May, 1902. 



THE CENTRAL CAUCHO CO. OF CUBA. 

 [See Thk Inma Rubdbr World, January I, 1903 — page 116.] 



The capitalization of this company is now given at $2,500,- 

 000 instead of $100,000 as at first. The officers now are Ed- 

 win Liebfreed, president; A. J. Millikin, vice president ; N. P. 

 West, secretary and treasurer — all interested largely in real es- 

 tate, and Mr. Millikin also in Cuban affairs. The principal of- 

 fice is in Philadelphia. Titles and options have been obtained 

 on a large tract near Trinidad, Santa Clara province, in south 

 central Cuba, and 500,000 rubber trees from Para seed are re- 

 ported in the nurseries, ready for planting. Plans are making 

 for large plantations of rubber and pineapples. The company 

 offer shares at $5, bearing interest at 5 per cent., guaranteed by 

 bonds secured by city real estate mortgages through the Pacific 

 Underwriting and Trust Co. of San Francisco. 



CEYLON PLANTERS' RUBBER SYNDICATE, LIMITED. 



[See The Inoia R' BBER World, May 1. lyo.-, page 255.] 



At the third annual meeting, at Ceylon, in March, the report 

 for the year 1902 showed that of the authorized capital of 2,- 

 50,000 rupees, 1,40,000 rupees [ = $45,411 .33] had been called in. 

 The number of acres planted in rubber had increased from 350 

 to 433. The growth was reported to have been favorable. 

 Sixty acres had been planted also with Libenan coffee, between 

 the rubber rows, and it was planned to plant 140 acres more in 

 coffee, in the same way, during April. The expenditure during 

 the year equalled $9,208.28, United States money, bringing the 

 total up to date to $40,921 77. The estate is expected to be- 

 come self sustaining within three years. 



GUTTA-PERCHA FROM LEAVES AT SINGAPORE. 

 The director of the Nederlandsche Gutta Percha Maatschap- 

 pij — J. W. Schiff — in reporting on this company's business for 



1902, says that the factory was brought into regular working 

 order on April 22. Subsequently it was closed for 16 days on 

 account of holidays and 60 days for the lack of Gutta-percha 

 leaves, so that the operation was confined to 187 days. There 

 were received at the factory during the year 10,475.21 pikuls 

 [ = 1,382,728 pounds] of leaves, of which 10.205.33 pikuls were 

 worked. A more liberal supply of leaves is desirable, but there 

 is a promise that this will be secured. The yield of Gutta- 

 percha varied greatly. Some lots yielded as high as 2.66 per 

 cent, in weight, while other lots yielded less than 1 per cent. 



