August i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



399 



Recent Rubber Planting Results. 



FOUR YEARS' RECORD OF CICELY ESTATE. oflfer of 6s. [=$1.46] per pound. - - - We have sold nothing 



OXE of tlie most informing contributions to the subject of under ss. 8Vsd. [=$1.38] since we had the offer of 5^. and recent 



rubber plantation results to date is the address of the sales have been at 6s. I'/id., 6s. iVid., 6s. ^'Ad., 6s. 7Hd; a"d 6s. 



chairman of the Cicely Rubber Estates Co., Limited, at the Sl4d. [^4l.62j^]." 



fourth annual meeting of the shareholders (London, July 9). The It will be seen from the table in this article that all the trees 



whole is too lengthy for repetition here, but broadly it may be tapped on the Cicely estate in 1908 averaged 6 pounds of rubber, 



summed up thus: The Cicely estate has been finished and the Nine thousand trees were tapped in that year, and 9,000 in 1907, 



shareholders have already had all their money returned, besides but they were not altogether the same trees ; in other words, 3,000 



which they own a very profitable estate. of those tapped in 1907 "rested" last year, and 3,000 others were 



The company was registered in London December 20, IQ04, with tapped which had not been cut in the preceding year. What effect 



£12,000 [$58,398] capital authorized, to acquire the "Cicely" estate, this may have had on yield is not stated. 



in Pc.-ak, Federated Malay States, on which 138 acres bad been At the annual meeting two years ago, when the average yield 



planted, with 15.000 Hczra trees. The capital was divided equally was less than 5 pounds, the chairman said that as much as 8 



between ordinary shares and 5 per cent, preference shares. The pounds of dry rubber had been obtained from one tree, in lOO 



preference shares rank equally with the ordinary in each year after tappings. Covering a period of two months, and "lots of other 



they have received their 5 per cent. The £6,000 in ordinary shares trees do the same." 

 were taken by the vendors in part payment for the property ; they 



received in addition £3.300 [= $16,059] in cash, from the proceeds cost or plantation rubber. 



of the £6,000 in preference shares offered to the public. In 1908 j^^ c^,^.,„„ ne^.^p^pers contain interviews with Mr. J. A. 



4,000 new ordniary shares were issued, at a premuun of £2 per Hunter, a former planter in Ceylon, who has become interested 



share, and all are now fully paid, amountmg to another £12,000 j,, j,,^, ^i^y^^. 5,^^^^ ^^d is now visiting in England. With re- 



[= $58,398]. The total investment to-day, therefore, stands at g^^d to the yield of Hez'ea in Malava, and tlie cost of productio.;, 



£24,000 1= $116,796]. of which £18,000 [= $87,597] has been in ^j^ Hunter is quoted: 



^^^"- "Mature trees are yielding 3 to 5 pounds of drv rubber per 

 The original acreage, with subsequent additions, amounts to 829 ^^ee [per year]. A fair day's work for each coolie is 3 pounds of 

 acres, distributed as follows : tjry rubber-that is his task— and he gets that by using the old- 

 Original clearings and foreclosures (planted 1898 to 1900) 159 fashioned ^-^-inch gouge. The best tapping I have seen has been 



Planted 1906 .'.'.'.".'.'.'.".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.".'.'.'.'!.'.'.'.'."!."!!!!!!!!!."!!! lit done by that instrument and not by the patent knives. 



Planted i'o8 ^is "^'^^ gouge does not do any damage and we get big yields. On 



some estates the yields I have mentioned have been secured now 



"" "' for two or three years. 



The results attained thus far have been from the larger trees "This year is an exceptionally good year for rubber. There 



on the 159 acres; this year the remainder of the trees on this tract has been a lot of rain, and no semblance of drought anywhere, and 



will be tapped, together with part of the 1905 planting ; next year everywhere I hear of the crops being well ahead of the estimates 



the larger trees of the 1906 planting will become tappable and and expectations." 



so on. With each coolie bringing in 3 pounds a day, at what do you 



The yield of rubber and the financial returns have been as P"t down the cost of production now?" 



follows : "I know one or two estates that are laying down their rubber 



,..,.,,, , , in London at a shilling. That includes the total cost of pro- 



\ield (pounds) 9.184 19,069 43.693 54.341 . , - . , , 1 ^, ,. ■ . . 



,\verage per tree 1.32 2.37 4.85 6 duction and freight to London. 1 he coolie who brings in 3 



Average price realized 5^. 6d. 4s. lid. 3s. 6rf. 4s. yd. , i • -j » ^ r ^1/ ^ ui 



a Cost of rubber per pound 2s. lod. is. gd. is. 2d. is. 2d. POunds per day is paid 50 rupee-cents [=l6Vi cents, gold] a 



Trees tapped 6,919 8,020 9,000 9,000 Jay \ put (Jo^n thg (.QSt of tapping only at 16 to 20 rupee- 

 Dividends, preference 10% 20% 42j^% 55% ii&j '^ i- 



Dividends, ordinary 5% 15% 37j^% 50% cents [=5.2 to 6.5 cents, gold] per pound of dry rubber. 



[a Collection and shipment, excluding London charges.] i(t„ *u -.*. .. ii u i«i t* .- r i Ji ■ j i- . 



In that case the old labor estimate of one and a third coolie to 



The company has returned to the shareholders, in the four years the acre was a good deal out ?" 



of operation, a total of 107^.^ per cent, on their ordinary shares "Yes. The coolie working full time brings in practically 1,000 



and 127'^ per cent, on the preference shares. pounds of dry rubber in the year. We calculate upon getting 



With relation to prices, the chairman said : "Of course we have 250 to 300 pounds per acre as a fair average yield, so that gives 



no control over the selling prices, and I am not at all sure whether one coolie to every three to four acres. Keeping absolutely 



it would be good policy to try to control them. We naturally wish on the safe side, I think it can very well be assumed that one 



to get as m"uch for the crop as we can, but hitherto we have ob- coolie can tap from three to four acres." 

 jected to forward sales. This is a speculative business which does 



^ 1 •» li- . A I I . I ii ^ 1- NEW RUBBER PLANTATION COMPANIES. 



not commend itself to us, and we have never adopted tliat policy. 



We have had several offers, but we do not think that we ought Among the important rubber-planting companies floated in 

 to sell our crop forward, so that shareholders will know that, London during the month were: (i) The Java United Plan- 

 whatever happens to be the price of rubber — whether it goes up or tations. Limited, with £200,000 [=$973,000] capital, to acquire 

 whether it goes down in the autumn — we shall be selling our and consolidate five estates in the district of Djember, Java, 

 rubber at that current price. We have got our rubber to sell, and already planted to an important extent to rubber, coffee and 

 we do not propose to sell our crop in advance for a year or for tobacco. There are on these properties about 95,000 Hcvca 

 years or anything of that sort. The average price last year was and 83,000 "rambong" (Ficus) trees. (2) Jong-Landor Rubber 

 4j. yd. [^$r.ir. gold] to March 31. - - - A few months ago Estates, Limited, with £65.000 [=$316,322.50] capital, to acquire 

 we had an offer to sell the whole of our crop for this year at 5J. two estates in Pcrak, Federated Malay States, on which there 

 [=: $1.2 1 ] per pound; at the last board meeting we had an offer have been planted respectively 383 and 694 acres of Hevea rubber, 

 of S.S. 8</. for the year's crop; and we have got to-day a further (3) Tangkah Rubber Estate, Limited, with £125,000 [=$608,312.50] 



