May I, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



293 



COST OF PLANTATION RUBBER. 



THE cost of production of plantation rubber in the Far East 

 is estimated by Mr. Fritz Zorn, of London, at about is. 6d. 

 [=36.5 cents, gold] per pound on an average. The Ceylon 

 Observer expresses the opinion that in Ceylon, at least, before 

 many years this figure will be reduced one-half. The Observer 

 bases its prediction of reduced cost upon the experience of the 

 tea planters, whose crops to-day are so much more economically 

 produced than only a few years ago. The Yogan Tea Co. 

 of Ceylon, Limited, collected last year 28,246 pounds of rubber 

 from cultivated trees, at a cost which they figure out at 

 loV«d. [^21.28 cents] per pound, including cost of tapping 

 knives, upkeep, supervision, and so on, which figure they expect 

 to reduce considerably this year. They have sold their biscuit 

 and sheet rubber ahead at a price equivalent to $t per pound, of 

 which they calculate that 81. i cents will be profit. The Ceylon 

 Tea and Cocoanut Estates Co., Limited, are referred to as having 

 produced rubber at a still lower cost — g'Afl- [ = 18% cents]. 

 Higher costs are reported upon Malaya. Damansara (Selangor) 

 Rubber Co., Limited, report an average cost pound in 1908 of 

 producing their rubber crop to f. o. b. of is. 4d. [:=30.42 cents, 

 gold] ; adding freight, selling expenses and the like, the total cost 

 works out at i8.25</. [=:37 cents] per pound. 



Commenting on the promise of the Synthetic Rubber Co., 

 Limited, to produce a serviceable synthetic rubber at i.j. per 

 pound, the usually well-informed London Financier and BiiUionist 

 declares "that this year and in the years to follow the big pro- 

 ducing companies in the East [meaning planters] will be able 

 to market an infinitely superior product at considerably lower 

 cost" than a shilling per pound. 



The cost of wild rubber continues to be discussed, in com- 

 parison with the cost of ()roducing rubber on plantations. Mr. 

 Harrington Edwards writes to the Financier and Bullionist that 

 the Galvez Rubber Estates, Limited, operating in Peru, and of 

 which he is a director, during their first year's working, found 

 the cost cA production to arrival in the London market to be 

 is. 8d. [=401/3 cents] per pound. He doubts whether, on the 

 whole, plantation companies will be able to do better, whatever 

 certain ones may accomplish. 



The elements which must enter into any consideration of 

 rubber costs are many and varied, rendering comparisons difficult. 

 Up to date little systematic study of costs has been made except 

 On the Eastern plantations which have become large producers. 

 One of the factors in the high cost of crude rubber is the small 

 population of the Brazilian states which produce this material. 

 The most important source of "Para" rubber to-day is the 

 state of Amazonas, which, by the census of 1908, is found to 

 contain only 249,756 inhabitants, more than one-fourth of whom 

 live in the city of Manaos. The remainder are scattered over 

 90,928 square miles of territory, or nearly double the area of Ne\v 

 York state. Not all of these denizens of the forest are sufficiently 

 civilized even to gather rubber, and of course all the others are 

 not available for such work. Seeing how difficult it is to secure 

 rubber workers from the outside, owing to climatic and certain 

 other conditions, it will readily be understood that a chronic 

 scarcity of labor exists, which prevents any rapid increase in the 

 output of rubber, no matter how attractive may be the prices in 

 the consuming markets. 



THE CROWING PLANTATION RUBBER YIELDS. 



Det.mls of rubber plantation yields in Ceylon and Malaya 

 given in Zorn & Leigh-Hunt's "Manual of Rubber Planting Com- 

 panies" afford a basis for some interesting comparisons. These 

 details relate to 61 producing plantations, for 31 of which the 

 rubber yield is stated for two years past — 2,306,807 pounds in 

 1908, against 1.421,970 pounds in 1907. For 16 of the companies 

 the yield is reported, in pounds, for three calendar years, as 

 follows : 



1906. 1907. 1908. 

 Anglo-American Direct Tea Trad- 

 ing Co 22,375 23,994 29,600 



-Anglo-Malay Rubber Co 91,703 224,778 349,450 



Bukit Tiga (Selangor) Rubber Co.. 23,203 118,982 163,521 



Ceylon Tea Plantations Co 7,132 13,426 24,000 



Consolidated Malay Rubber Estates 32,693 63,615 111,585 



Federated Malay States Rubber Co. 13,332 32,175 66,725 



Golden Hope Rubber Estate 2,400 5,S9i 15,660 



Highlands and Lowlands Para Rub- 

 ber Co ■. 134.285 19.3,507 210,852 



Kepitigalla Rubber Estates 28,100 35.064 37.646 



Malacca Rublicr Plantations 17,000 7,619 46,584 



Pataling Rubber Estates Syndicate. 4.?.3io 58.064 80.922 



P. P. K. (Ceylon") Rubber Estates.. 8,305 14,800 29,000 



Roschaugh Tea and Rubber Co 89,500 I53..'?58 223,470 



Selangor Rubber Co 70.577 120.524 186.096 



Vallambrosa Rubber Co 39,113 156,922 225,302 



Vatiyantota Ceylon Tea Co 8,790 5,870 7,500 



Total 631,818 1,227,689 1,807,913 



The estimates of yields of rubber plantations, made in advance, 

 have come to be of interest, especially since, as a rule, such esti- 

 mates are generally exceeded by the actual output. The 

 "Manual" referred to gives the estimated yield in 1909 of 9 

 companies embraced in the preceding table, the figures com- 

 paring as follows with three years past : 



1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 



Pounds 458,616 974.158 1,410,113 1,750,000 



Inc. over former year 113% 45% 24% 



These, and many other equally authentic figures which might 

 be quoted here, indicated that the production of plantation rubber 

 is increasing rapidly, and would seem to justify even enthusiastic 

 predictions as to the further development of the planting interest. 



MECHANICAL COAGULATION OF RUBBER. 



THE latest application of machinery to the coagulation of 

 rubber latex by smoking is illustrated in the drawing here- 

 with of an apparatus patented by Enrique Molina, of Lima, 

 Peru. The apparatus consists of a rectangular smoke chamber, 

 within which is supported a revolving drum in which is con- 

 tained the latex to be heated, provided with mechanical means 



Molina's Rubber S.mokixg Appar.vtu.s. 



for revolving tlie drum. The whole is supported by a conical 

 base forming a fire chamber, in which the fuel used is placed, 

 and reference is made to means for purifying and cooling the 

 smoke passing from the base into the smoke chamber. The 

 United States patent covering this invention is No. 914.156, dated 

 March 2, 1909. 



The important Ncu Guinea Compagnie (Berlin), whose plan- 

 tations in New Guinea embrace over 2,700 acres in rubber, of 

 various species, report during the business year ending March 

 31, 1908, that tapping had begun, on a small scale. It is of 

 special interest to note that the product included 2,162 kilo- 

 grams [=5,486 pounds] of Castilloa elastica rubber, of which 

 species they have 667 acres under cultivation. 



