368 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1906. 



RUBBER PLANTING INTERESTS. 



THR TOLOSA RUBBER CO 



THIS company lias been formed unik-r the laws of Massa- 

 chusetts to succeed to the assets of the Ubeio Planta- 

 tion Co. of Boston. The treasurer, Mr. W. L. Wadki-jh 

 (No. 176 Federal street, Boston), recently returned from a 

 visit to Mexico, and a report has been issued to the share- 

 holders, indicatinji that the best asset of the company is the 

 four year old planting of Caslilloa rubber, nunibcrinji about 

 120,000 trees, on 253 acres. The two year old planting has 

 suffered from lack of attention, but 16,600 trees, on 173 

 acres, are considered as worth further care. The question of 

 taking final title to 1000 acres from the Old Colony Trust 

 Co. is now being considered. There have been issued 20,- 

 646 shares of stock, of the par value of $10. 



PROGRESS OF THE BUKIT RAJAH COMPANY. 

 ThK seconil annual report of the Bukit Rajali Rubber Co., 

 Limited, with plantations in Selangor, Federated Malay 

 States, shows that 34,457 six and seven year old rubber trees 

 (mostly He'vta) were tapped during the business year, yield- 

 ing 33,203 pounds, which sold in London at an average of 

 55. 5(/., the total being equivalent to $43,748.27, gold. The 

 yield the year before was 671 1 pounds, and the estimate for 

 the second year 25,000 pounds, which, it will be seen, was 

 largely exceeded. There was some income from coffee and 

 cocoanuts, and /662 \Gs. -d. from rubber seeds. A dividend 

 of 6 per cent, was declared, the share capital issued standing 

 at /6i,ooo [=$296,856.50]. 



YIELD OF THE PATALING ESTATE. 

 At the third annual meeting of the Pataling Rubber Es- 

 tates Syndicate, Limited (London, May 17), the report 

 stated that during the business year 25,700 pounds of rub- 

 ber had been gained from about 25,000 trees, many of them 

 tapped for the first time. These trees will now be tapped 

 continuously. Tp to the first quarter of the current year 

 some 8000 pounds of rubber had been gathered, as against 

 3000 pounds in the first quarter last year. The dividends 

 for the year amount to 20 per cent. The estate is located in 

 Selangor. 



GOVERNMENT PLANTATION IN BURMA. 

 E.KPERIMENT.\L rubber tapping in the Mergui experi- 

 mental gardens, in Burma, was begun in the official year 

 1903-04, for the purpose of studying the best practice in 

 dealing with Hevea rubber under cultivation. Several hun- 

 dreds of pounds of rubber collected was sold in London at 

 good prices. In 1904-05 Uke experiments were conducted, 

 and 1460 pounds of dry rubber realized, which also was des- 

 patched to London. The planting of additional Hevea rub- 

 ber last vear was interfered with by the destruction of the 

 seed by the canker fungus. There were added 2969 Castilloa 

 eiaslica plants and 296 funttimia elastiea, from seeds ob- 

 tained in Trinidad. 



RUBBER PLANTrNG INTEREST IN NICARAGUA. 

 The Indi.\ Rihber World has seen a business letter 

 from Nicaragua to the writer's New York correspondents. 

 but not meant for publication, which is of interest as show- 

 ing the serious attention which rubber culture is receiving 

 in the vicinity of Bluefields. It mentions the result of 

 tapping (though in a small way, as yet) on two plantations : 

 the reported proceeds of sales, in the United States, of the 

 product, on a larger scale, of another estate ; and negotia- 



tions for the sale of two rubber properties, not included in 

 the above, at prices which would indicate that a rubber 

 plantation, even not yet in full tapping, is regarded as an 

 asset of value in that community, where the development of 

 the trees has been a matter of common knowledge from the 

 date of the first planting. Evidently rubber culture is 

 getting upon a business basis there. ^^Mention may be 

 made here of a method of coagulation described in the let- 

 ter : "A strong lye is made from whit, called mosquito 

 whit, I pint to 3 gallons of which will coagulate in less than 

 one minute; then press into a sheet until all the black 

 water is extracted ; also soaking in water will make the 

 rubber clearer and a dark amber color." 



HIGH VALUATIONS OF RUBBER TREES. 



A writi;k in The Financial Xeivs (London) has devoted no 

 little care to an analysis of the published data regarding 

 three of the best known rubber plantation companies operat- 

 ing in the Far East — companies " of the highest respecta- 

 bility and well established on the market." One result is a 

 computation of the average value per acre planted to rubber, 

 based upon the market valuation of the company shares of 

 capital issued, as follows : Per Acre. 



.\nglo-Matay Rubber Co. ------ ^230 [—$1018 90' 



Bukit Rajah Rubber Co. - - - - - 117 [= 569-38' 



Consolidated Malay Rubber Estates - - - 142 |^ 68112; 



There is not taken into consideration an\' assets which 

 the estates maj- embrace, in lands or otherwise, apart from 

 the reported acreage of planted rubber. A second table, 

 based upon a comparison of the reported number of trees of 

 different ages, and involving more mathematics than there 

 is space for here, gives the present market price, so to speak, 

 of a cultivated Hevea tree which has reached the age of 6 

 years, and is therefore capable of producing a comparatively 

 substantial amount of rubber. The assumption is that 200 

 trees have been planted to the acre : per Tree. 



.^n-ilo-Malav Rubber Co. £i 10s. [=|i7 03] 



Bukit Rajah Rubber Co. 2 ^s.bd. [=11.06] 



Consolidated Malay Rubber Estates - • - 2 17s. dd. {— 13 98) 



The conclusion of this writer is that it would "appear a 

 great question whether shares and prices have not now- 

 reached a level higher than is justified, and higher than is 

 likely to be maintained." 



NO DANGER OF OVERPRODUCTION. 



Fro.m data collected by the Chronique Coloniale (Brussels) 

 that paper is disposed to regard as without foundation any 

 fear that overproduction of rubber is imminent. Without 

 dealing with all its figures, it will beenough to quote : " Let 

 us further suppose that the yield from natural sources re- 

 mains about the same as at the present time, that is to-day 

 60,000 tons per annum (this is purely a gratuitous supposi- 

 tion, however, since experience proves that the production 

 from the forests is continually' diminishing everywhere) it is 

 absolutely certain, having regard to the persistent increase 

 in demand — an increase which is accentuated year by year to 

 a point where the market actually suffers from want of sup- 

 plies — that before 1912, the consumption will absorb a min- 

 imum of 80,000 to 100,000 tons. The assertion is therefore 

 warranted that for manj' years to come, the entire produc- 

 tion of rubber, no matter what pretensions it may assume, 

 will be widely absorbed ; and if the present industrial expan- 

 sion continues, it is safe to assume that future supplies will 

 not be able to satisfy the increased demand which must in- 

 evitablv follow." 



