October i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER \VORL,D 



15 



PROGRESS IN RUBBER PLANTING. 



MALACCA RUBBER PLANTATIONS, LIMITED. 



THE formation of the company which is to acquire the 

 important Bukit Asahan rubber estate, in the Malay 

 peninsula, mentioned in this Journal last month (page 

 413 ), and in which American capital is to be interested^ 

 has been undertaken, according to The Times of Ceylon, by 

 Messrs. Jeremiah Lyon & Co., of 4, Lombard court, E. C, 

 London. It appears that the Messrs. Lyon have been con- 

 nected in the past with important flotations. News has reached 

 Colombo by wire of a delay in the flotation of the Malacca 

 Rubber Plantations, Limited, due entirely to some question of 

 title remaining to be settled. It was asserted that everything 

 was in order, and that only formalities had to be observed. 



Low Gek Seng, late manager of an important mercantile firm 

 at Bangkok, chief member of the Chinese syndicate which co- 

 operated with the representative of Alden, Symington iSt Co. 

 in securing an option on the rubber estate, and who accompa- 

 nied him to London, has supplied some details regarding the 

 estate and the proposed plan of capitalization, which appear in 

 The Straits Times. It appears that there are 3500 acres fully 

 planted (including sooacres to be planted with rubber this year) 

 there being all told about 648,000 rubber trees, the ages of 

 which are indicated by the following record of planting: 



Ykar. Para (//^7'(*rt). Fi<us elastica. 



1899 19.763 4.393 



1900.. 43,443 12,286 



I901 142,050 11.315 



1902 63.929 19,353 



1903 .. 106, I20 13,370 



1904 191,820 20,158 



Total 567,125 80,875 



The proposed new company to be registered in London — 

 Malacca Rubber Plantations, Limited — is to be capitalized at 

 ^400,000, in £\ shares, as follows : 



.^285,000 in ordinary shares. 



;f 115. 000 in 1)2. % cumulative preferred ordinary shares. 



Of the ordinary shares, ^200,000 will be issued as part pay- 

 ment to the vendors and ^85,000 issued for subscription, the 

 proceeds to be devoted solely to opening up in rubber an addi- 

 tional 6000 acres, which have been secured for the new com- 

 pany. On each of these 85,000 shares the first call will be for 

 one-eighth, with further calls for one-eighth at periods not less 

 than 6 months apart. Of the proceeds of the 1 1 5.000 preferred 

 shares, also to be offered for subscription, ;£ioo,ooo is to be 

 paid in cash to the vendors, and the remaining ;£i 5,000 used 

 for formation and working expenses, it being guaranteed that 

 the cost of formation shall not exceed a specified low figure. 



As already mentioned in these pages, the Bukit Asahan 

 estate has been developed by The Malacca Rubber and Tap- 

 ioca Co., Limited, with offices at 39 Heeran street, Malacca. 

 According to the "Singapore and Straits Directory " the di- 

 rectors are : Tan Chay Yan (chairman), Tan Tat Yan, and 

 Sect Lian Seek. The general manager of the company is 

 Tan Cheng Yan, his assistant Tan Tat Yan, and the estate 

 manager Tan Tiam Hock. Tan Chay Yan is a wealthy Chi- 

 naman, mentioned in the directory as manager of the estate 

 of Tan Tek Guan, at 39 Heeran street, and the other Tans 

 are relatives. Seet Lian Seek is in business at Singapore. 



The Bukit Asahan estate has been visited, reported on, and 

 valued by Mr. W. W. Bailey, who is recognized as one of the 

 best authorities on rubber planting in the Straits. His report^ 

 sent to London, has not been made public in the Far East. 



• 901 436 acres 



1902 667 " 



RUBBER PLANTING IN KALUTARA (CEYLON), 



[From ilic annual report for 1904 by Mr. B. Horsburgh, assistant KOvernment 

 aKent for the Kalutara district.] 



Hitherto rubber cultivation has been eniiiely in the hands 

 of European planters, but enterprising natives are now taking 

 up the product, though the ordinary cultivator still (.relets i<, 

 trust to the old and tried cocoanut tree. There are 6759 acres 

 of tea land planted with rubbei among the tea bushes. For 

 land exclusively planted with rubber the following figures give 

 the areas and show the progress made : 



1903 1,127 acres 



1904 3.301 '• 



One hundred and seventy-eight acres are entirely in native 



hands. The output figures are as follows ; 



■9°' ^^. tons 1903 15 tons 



1902 7!^ " is)04 23^ ■• 



— the approximate area in bearing during 1904 being 242 acres, 

 or 49,484 trees. So far there has been no appearance of dis- 

 ease, and planters are confident of the healthy state of the plan- 

 tations. 



ISTHMUS RUBBER CO. — REORGANIZATION. 

 Investor.s in the Isthmus Rubber Co. of Ubero— incorpo- 

 rated in 1901 with headquarters at No. 29 Broadway, New York, 

 to form a rubber plantation near Ubero, in the state of Oaxaca, 

 Mexico — have received circulars from the oflice of the company 

 outlining plans for the merger of the company named and the 

 Oaxaca Real Estate Development Co., with which later com- 

 pany a contract exists for the development of the lands sold by 

 it to the Isthmus company. These circulars set forth that the 

 failure recently of two rubber planting companies in Boston, 

 and an unwarranted attack made upon the Isthmus company 

 in connection with the aflfair, have worked a great detriment to 

 the Isthmus company, in that the sale of stock has fallen ofT 

 and many subscriptions for shares have been cancelled. The 

 resulting loss of income will prevent the company from com- 

 plying fully with its contract with the Oaxaca development 

 company, which default would justify the latter in cancelling 

 the contract and taking over from the trustees the land in 

 question and the developments to date. A meeting of share- 

 holders in the Oaxaca Real Estate Development Co. has been 

 called for October 9, at Jersey City, and a meeting of investors 

 in the Isthmus Rubber Co. for October 10, in New York, for the 

 purpose of voting on the plan of merger, which involves the 

 forming of a new corporation to succeed the two old compa- 

 nies, for which the name Oaxaca Rubber Co. has been sug- 

 gested. Under the new plan there will no longer be an " inside " 

 or development company, but all persons in interest will share 

 in the profits of planting and development work, whereas hith- 

 erto these profits have not been participated in by the investors 

 in the Isthmus company. 



LA TRINIDAD MEXICAN PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantation: ** La Trinidad '* and " Ixtal." near San Juan Evangelista, state of 

 Vera Cruz, Mexico. (Iffice : Monger block, Elkhart, Indiana. SeeTHKlNDlA 



RuBiiER World, May t, 1902 — page 253.] 



This company was incorporated July 20, 1905, under the 

 laws of Maine, with $300,000 capital, to take over the entire 

 assets of La Trinidad Mexican Plantation Association (Chi- 

 cago), organized March i, 1901. A new board of officers has 

 been elected ; Horace Hogendobler, Elkhart, Ind., president; 

 Louis M. Cahn, Chicago, vice president ; C. L. Andrews, 

 Augusta, Me., clerk; W. H. Hoffman, Goshen, Ind., secretary ; 



