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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1905. 



good. It is under such business conditions — it is by the experi- 

 enced tea planters, as a rule — that the planting of rubber has 

 been begun. The planters who are now reporting a profit from 

 rubber are applying to it the business-like methods of account- 

 ing by which they have determined the rate of dividends to be 

 paid on the capital invested in tea planting. There is nothing 

 haphazard, therefore, in the beginnings of rubber in Ceylon, 

 though there doubtless may be mistakes while the planters are 

 gaining experience, just as mistakes occurred in the earlier days 

 of tea culture. 



With regard to the distribution of the rubber planting, a refer- 

 ence to the authentic "Ceylon Hand Book" shows that the 

 new culture has been undertaken on hundreds of established 

 plantations, many of which are now beginning to market rubber. 

 The extent of rubber planting promises to increase largely in 

 the near future, in many cases with a view to the ultimate giv- 

 ing up of tea. And there is a growing tendency to concentrate 

 several of the existing plantations under one management, 

 through the formation of new companies, of larger capital than 

 in the past. 



It may be of interest to some of our readers to see a census 

 of rubber planting in one of the 38 Ceylon districts in which 

 rubber has been planted. The district selected is Kalatura, in 

 which exists nearly one fourth of the rubber planting in the 

 colony. In compiling these figures from the " Hand Book " for 

 1905-06, only those plantations are noted on which rubber has 

 been planted ; the figures relate to the total acreage under cul- 

 tivation, the acreage in tea, and that in rubber alone, while in 

 the form of foot notes is indicated the additional planting of 

 rubber on the same estates. 



OAXACA RUBBER CO. 



[Plantation near Ubero, state of Oaxaca. Mexico. Office : No. 29 Broadway, New 

 York.] 



A CERTIFICATE was filed with the secretary of state of New 

 Jersey on October 24, 1905, changing the name of the Oaxaca 

 Real Estate Development Co. to Oaxaca Rubber Co., and in- 

 creasing the capital authorized from $350,000 to $1,250,000. 

 This company, incorporated in 1900, was under contract to de- 

 velop the plantation of the Isthmus Rubber Co. of Ubero, a 

 Delaware corporation. The two companies have now been 

 merged [See The India Rubber World, October i, 1905 — 

 page 15.] and the affairs of the Isthmus company are being 

 wound up. The idea is to no longer have an " inside " develop- 

 ment company, but to have all persons in interest in the plan- 

 tation share in any profits resulting from the development 

 work. As matters now stand the land is capitalized at $125 per 

 acre, instead of $350 as formerly. The present directors are : 

 George S. Delano. Medford, Mass. (president) ; Caleb B. Leach, 

 Middletown, Conn, (vice president); W. I. Overstreet, New 

 York (secretary and treasurer) : Edgar B. Bronson and Francis 

 H. Ross, New York: Joseph T. Elliott, Middletown, Conn. ; 

 A. H. Chase, Norwich, Conn.: George R. Bissell, Columbus, 

 Ohio; Jonathan R. Blackwell, Trenton, N. J. ^ ^ =The annual 

 meeting of shareholders of the Oaxaca Rubber Co. will be held 

 at the registered office in Jersey City on December 4. 



BADGER MEXICAN PLANTERS CO. 



[Plantation in the state of V^era Cruz, Mexico. Offices: 1444 Lenity building, 

 Chicago.] 



The capital of this company, organized in Wisconsin in 1903, 

 has been increased from §275,000 to $1,000,000, all common 

 stock. It has absorbed the affiliated Badger Mexican Planta- 

 tion Co. (incorporated in Maine), and is a plain stock company. 

 An important amount of the capital is now held by a number 

 of expert Louisiana sugar men. Theofficesof the company have 

 been removed from Racine, Wisconsin, to Chicago. The com- 



pany's properties embrace the plantation " La Florencia," near 

 Santa Lucrecia, state of Vera Cruz, Mexico, the rubber on which 

 has been referred to in The India Rubber World. The 

 company advise us : " We propose to devote most of our ener- 

 gies in the future to the production of sugar. What plantings 

 we have in rubber, amounting to 450 acres, will be kept up, but 

 nothing more will be done in this line probably for some years 

 to come." The officers now are: William W. Allis, president; 

 Frank K. Bull, vice president; Warren E. Fish, treasurer; and 

 J. H. Mahony, secretary. 



MEXICAN MUTUAL PLANTERS CO. 



[Plantation " La Junta"; Sanborn postoffice, state of Vera Cruz, Mexico Office: 



907 Journal building. Chicago ] 



A RECENT report of this company relates to the expiration of 

 the five year contract under which the original development 

 work was to be completed, and the prospective visit of a com- 

 mittee in behalf of the investors to report on the condition of 

 the property. It is stated that the work has been completed 

 in accordance with the company's prospectus, there now being 

 under cultivation 2746 acres in rubber, 460 in coffee, and 127 in 

 cacao, besides 1027 in pasture land and the " village tract " of 

 323 acres, comprising buildings, yards, gardens, and various 

 fruits. The estate comprises 5554 acres, of which the area not 

 above specified is to be reserved as forest land. This year 750 

 acres have been planted in rubber; 1000 acres were planted last 

 year, and during the previous three years practically 1000 acres 

 — all reported to be in excellent condition. The first planting 

 of coffee has already become productive. It is stated that the 

 company and its directors personally have put $125 000 (gold) 

 into the property, and have not yet taken out a cent in any 

 form. Besides, shareholders in the corporation have subscribed 

 for about 1000 of the 5000 bonds offered for public subscription. 

 The company indicate a hopeful feeling in regard to the ulti- 

 mate productiveness of the rubber, none of which is yet more 

 than 5 years old. The plantation manager, Mr. James C. Har- 

 vey, who is personally interested in the neighboring private 

 plantation " La Buena Ventura," is reported to have tapped 

 experimentally 3000 six year old trees in this plantation, not so 

 much for the purpose of determining the possible yield as to 

 gain experience in tapping and to ascertain the quality of 

 the product. The average yield of 1500 of the largest trees 

 was 3 ounces. On another neighboring plantation 40 trees 6% 

 years old, tapped once, yielded an average of 4 ounces of rub- 

 qer, and tapped again a month later yielded as much more. 

 The manager felt that with more vigorous tapping '/i pound 

 per tree might have been obtained at a single bleeding. 



YIELD OF PLANTED RUBBER IN MEXICO. 



To THE Editor of The India Rubber World: You may 

 be interested to know that in 1904 I took from 1000 rubber 

 trees, S'A years old, 84 pounds of dry rubber, which I sold for 

 75 cents per pound, and in 1905 I took from 500 of these same 

 trees 167 pounds which sold for 85 cents per pound. The total 

 cost of the first lot, including gathering, freight, brokerage, 

 commission, custom house charges, etc., was $19.20; cost of 

 the second lot, with same charges, was $32.73. These trees 

 could have been tapped more heavily, but I am going slowly in 

 this respect. Yours respectfully, .\ private planter. 



Vera Cruz. Mexico, October 7, 1905. 



» » « 



Palenque Plantation and Commercial Co. (San Francisco) 

 was incorporated September 22, 1905, under California laws, to 

 plant rubber and coffee in Mexico; capital authorized $1,000,- 

 000, in $100 shares. Directors : R. Herring, J. P. Prutzman, 

 J. W. Dayan, J. E. Polhemus, and James Watkins — all of San 

 Francisco. 



