232 



THE INDIA RUBl^ER WORLD 



[April i, 1905. 



nut Estates Co., Limited (Colombo, February 1 1), the chairman 

 referred to a very successful year, the tea product having been 

 satisfactory, the operating expenses reasonable, and the price 

 realized all that was expected. The company have begun to 

 plant rubber, having now about 45.000 trees, varying in age 

 from a year upwards. Probably 25.000 plants will be put in 

 this year. Thev have 16,683 trees on So acres planted to rub- 

 ber alone, and the rest are planted among tea. Last year 

 they tapped some of the older rubber trees for the first time, 

 obtaining 521 pounds. The directors expect at least 1500 

 pounds this year, and a steady annual increase. 



The report of the Kalutara Co., Limited, read at the ninth 

 annual meeting (Colombo, February 1 1), was devoted largely 

 to rubber. A recent census shows 14 297 Para rubber trees 

 planted among tea, of which 1000 are now fit for tapping, and 

 33,149 trees in clearings. A nursery of about 200,000 plants 

 is doing well, and the directors recommended the issue of 

 treasury stock to provide lor a further planting of 150 acres 

 this year. A resolution to this effect was adopted. The first 

 rubber tapping occurred during the year and yielded 750 

 pounds. 



At the ninth annual meeting of the Knavesmire Estates Co., 

 Limited (Colombo, February 11), it was reported that 25 acres 

 had been planted to rubber during the year, in addition to 

 probably 50.000 plants already growing in the tea fields, of 

 which 12,000 should be ready to tap toward the end of 1905. 



The Southern Ceylon Tea and Rubber Co., Limited, held 

 their first annual meeting on February 8. One hundred acres 

 had been planted to rubber during the year, and 200 acres 

 cleared for planting this year. Last year's work also included 

 planting of rubber through 187 acres of tea. 



At the fifth annual meeting of the Neboda Tea Co. of Cey- 

 lon (Colombo, February 11), it was stated that the company 

 now own 35 acres in rubber, rising two years old, and 72 acres 

 planted April-May, 1904. beside many trees planted in ravines, 

 some of which are now old enough to tap. Clearing was in 

 progress for 150 acres to be planted in 1905. 



At the eighth annual meeting of the Pitakande Tea Co. of 

 Ceylon, Limited (Colombo, February 11), the chairman stated 

 that the 25 acres of rubber planted as an experiment was grow- 

 ing well and that it had been decided to increase the area to 

 over 100 acres during the present year. 



FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 



At the sixth annual meeting of the Malacca Rubber and Ta- 

 pico Co., Limited, held on December 12, it was reported that on 

 the company's Bukit Asahan estate of 4300 acres, 3300 acres 

 had been planted to rubber, there now being 638,000 trees of 

 ages varying from 6 monrths to 6yi years. The planting has 

 been most largely Htvea, though some Ficus has been planted. 

 Experimental tapping was begun in November, 1904, by the 

 herring bone method, with good results, and more than 12,000 

 Hevea trees have been marked and numbered for tapping in 

 1905. It is intended this year to reorganize the company by 

 inviting subscriptions from the public, in order to cancel loans 

 recently made from the bank and provide further working cap- 

 ital. A drying house has been erected which it is expected 

 will enable shipments of rubber to be made within a week after 

 collection of the latex. The managing director reported that 

 his study of accounts indicated that their rubber could be 

 placed on the London market at }i rupee [ = 24 cents, gold] per 

 pound. The chairman of this company privately owns the 

 neighboring Bukit Lintang estate, which already has exported 

 some rubber to London. 



Batu Caves Rubber Co.,Limited [mentioned in this Journal last 

 month] hold 1857 acres under freehold title from the Federated 



Malay States government, seven miles from Kuala Lumpur. 

 The primary production is to be Para rubber, but coffee will be 

 grown as a temporary crop until the rubber has overshadowed 

 it. There are now 264 acres in coffee, interplanted with rub- 

 ber one and two years old ; 100 acres are now being planted to 

 rubber; the remainder is virgin forest and grass lands. It is 

 proposed to have 1000 acres planted to rubber by the end of 

 1897. Tin has been discovered on the land, and is being worked 

 by Chinese miners on a royalty basis, giving promise of con- 

 siderable revenue. Of the 30,000 capital shares of £1 each, 

 18.000 have been issued. 



The Sungei Way (Selangor) Rubber Co., Limited — regis- 

 tered offices, 44. West George street, Glasgow, Scotland — to 

 adopt an agreement with the Selangor Rubber Co., Limited, 

 and carry on the business of growing India-rubber and other 

 products in the Straits Settlements and elsewhere. First di- 

 rectors : Si r Frank A. Swettenham, late governor of the Straits 

 Settlements; Thomas Johnston, public company manager 

 (Glasgow), Charles B. Paterson (Whitham), Thomas A. Gallie, 

 merchant (Glasgow), and T. N. Christie (Lhanbryde, Wales). 



RUBBER CULTIVATION IN SAMOA. 

 The first rubber plantation on an important scale in Samoa 

 is just making a beginning. The Malay Mail notes a recent 

 visit to the Federated Malay States of Herr A. Spemann, of 

 Sinsega, Samoa, who is plantation manager for the Samoa- 

 Cautschuk-Compagnie, G.m.b.H., whose mission was the study 

 of Hevea rubber under cultivation and arranging for supplies 

 of seed. He purchased 200.000 Pard seeds from the Sungei 

 Rengam estate, near Selangor. The planting company named, 

 now in its first year, has its headquarters in Berlin. Four 

 thousand acres have been taken up in Samoa, of which it is 

 proposed to plant 2500 during the next five years, with Pard 

 rubber and a small amount of Ficus. There are three other 

 important German planting enterprises in Samoa, the oldest 

 of which, the Deutsche Handels- und Plantagen Gesellschaft 

 der Sudsee-Inseln zu Hamburg, though dating only from 1878 

 as a company, has in charge a plantation formed in 1857. The 

 company has 6000 acres under cultivation, mostly in cocoanuts, 

 with a herd of 2000 cattle, and is reported to have been very 

 successful. 



RECEIVER FOR A PLANTATION COMPANY. 

 The directors of the Rochester-Mexican Plantation Co. 

 (Rochester, New York), having filed a petition for the volun- 

 tary dissolution of the company, on the ground that the com- 

 pany is insolvent, the supreme court at Rochester has appoint- 

 ed Charles H. Angel, of that city, temporary receiver of the 

 property of the corporation, and all persons interested are or- 

 dered to appear on April 20 to show cause why the corpora- 

 tion should not be dissolved. The India Rubber World has 

 previously referred to this company as follows [May i, 1903]: 



ROCHESTER MEXICAN PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantation " Las Loiuas." on the river Coalzacoalcos, stale of Vera Cruz, Mex- 

 ico. Office: Granite building;, Rochester, New Yorl<.] 



iNCORroRATF.D November 27, iqol, under New York laws; capital 

 $60,000. Purchased a plantation cleared and planted in iSgg, to 120,000 

 coffee trees and 8000 rubber trees ; 30,500 additional rubber trees were 

 planted in ig02. Officers ; Charles H. Angel, president ; A. S Pendry 

 (referred to as an expert tropical planter), vice president ; John B. 

 Snyder, secretary; John L. Zeeveld, treasurer. 



This being the first instance of the dissolution of a planting 

 company organized on the basis generally adopted by the 

 American companies formed to plant rubber in Mexico — the 

 capital being supplied in installments by a number of small in- 

 vestors — the outcome will be of interest as indicating what in- 

 vestors of this type may realize in cases of liquidation. 



