November 



1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



57 



PROGRESS OF RUBBER PLANTING. 



PROFITS FROM A RUBBER PLANTATION. 



THE India Rubber World is often in receipt of inquiries 

 regarding actual results attained in rubber culture, as a 

 basis for estimating possible profits. The answer that 

 must be made in all cases is that none of the extensive 

 plantations thus far formed on a commercial scale are yet old 

 enough to have become productive, but that the planters have 

 been induced to embark in the business by what has been ob- 

 served of the rate of growth and production of a few trees at a 

 place, in many localities, and under varying conditions. Men- 

 tion has been made more than once in The India Rubber 

 World of a rubber plantation in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, 

 from which shipments of rubber have actually been made. 

 About thirteen years ago a Mexican planter set out a number of 

 rubber trees (Casiilloa elasiica) as a shade for cacao, which grew 

 so rapidly that in time the cacao was practically starved out, and 

 of those trees some 5000 are now standing, in a vigorous condi- 

 tion. A few years ago Mr. O. H. Harrison, engaged in coffee 

 planting in Chiapas, bought this property, including adjacent 

 lands containing wild rubber trees, for $1 2,000, Mexican. Within 

 eight months he had sold in London enough rubber from 

 the wild and cultivated trees to pay the purchase price for the 

 property. This formed the basis for La Zacualpa rubber plan- 

 tation. A like amount of rubber has been sold from the prop- 

 erty each year since, and more land has been purchased, the 

 cost of the whole having been met by the proceeds of the 

 rubber sold. During this time there has been no outlay for 

 labor in caring for the cultivated trees, beyond the collec- 

 tion of rubber. The land having been paid for, the proceeds of 

 rubber sales will be devoted to dividends on La Zacualpa 

 shares. Mr. Harrison reports that these tiees yield an average 

 of at least 2 pounds of rubber a year — tapped once— and is con- 

 vinced that a good profit could be made with a yield of half as 

 much, which would give from 200 to 300 pounds of rubber per 

 acre, according to the number of trees. The new planting on La 

 Zacualpa plantation has been done with seeds from the pro- 

 ductive trees referred to, so that no doubt can exist as to the 

 variety that is being planted. 



PLANTING " CEARA RUBBER" IN NICARAGUA. 

 La Victoria Rubber Plantation has been formed at La 

 Paz, Nicaragua, for the cultivation on a considerable scale 

 of the Ceard rubber tree (Manihot Glaziovii). The location is 

 on the Pacific slope, where the rainfall is slight as compared 

 with that in eastern Nicaragua, and in other respects the con- 

 ditions resemble those of the Brazilian state of Ceara, the na- 

 tive habitat of this species of rubber. La Paz is on the rail- 

 way extending from Grenada, on Lake Nicaragua, through the 

 city of Managua to the Pacific coast, and is favorably situated 

 for trade and transportation. This is a private enterprise, 

 owned by George Adler, who for a number of years has given 

 close study to the different species of rubber. Mr. Adler is 

 now in Nicaragua. The plantation manager is Fredrico Wag- 

 ner. Alfred C. Adler, of Waltham, Massachusetts, is also in- 

 terested in the plantation. About 300 acres have been planted 

 to date, and with such results in the growth of the trees that 

 the work is to be extended. 



ILLINOIS COFFEE AND RUBBER CO. 

 IPlantation " La Flor del Istmo," state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Office; No. 135 

 Adams street, Chicago, Illinois.] 



Incorporated December 31, 1900, under Illinois laws ; cap- 



ital, $50,000, paid in cash. Organized to develop 5000 acres — part 

 of the " hacienda de Santa Maria Chimalapa," owned formerly 

 by Duplan Brothers — near the National Tehuantepec railway. 

 It is planned to cultivate coflfee, rubber, and other tropical pro- 

 ducts. For development purposes the estate has been deeded 

 to the Chicago Title and Trust Co., to secure the issue of 5000 

 profit sharing certificates, 1000 of which are held by the Illinois 

 Coffee and Rubber Co. and the others offered for sale on the 

 instalment payment plan. The trust period is 25 years, after 

 which the plantation may be sold for the benefit of the share- 

 holders, or continued if four-fifths of the latter should so de- 

 sire. Officers: Frederick H. Herhold, chair manufacturer, presi- 

 dent ; Edwin M. Kenyan, manufacturer wooden pulleys, vice 

 president ; William H. Heuer, a former bank teller, treasurer ; 

 Seth Riford, real estate, secretary — all of Chicago. 



LA LUISA PLANTATION ASSOCIATION. 



[Plantation "La Luisa," Tezonapa. state of Vera Cruz, Mexico. Office : No. 504 

 Great Northern building, Chicago, Illinois.] 



Incorporated February, 1902, under Illinois laws, to plant 

 coffee, rubber, and other tropical crops. The plantation com- 

 prises 3250 acres, and 3000 development certificates have been 

 offered for sale on the instalment payment plan. The officers 

 are: A. L. Everit, president; William C. Heinemann, vice 

 president and treasurer; T. M. Kimball, secretary — all of Chi- 

 cago. The plantation manager is E. O. Darley. The trustee 

 and registrar company is the United States and Mexican 

 Trust Co., with $2,500,000 capital and offices in the United 

 States, Mexico, and London. 



RUBBER PLANTING IN THE FAR EAST. 



Some very definite details of the extent of rubber planting in 

 Negri Sembilan, one of the Federated Malay States, appear in 

 the annual report for 1901 of the Planters' Association of that 

 state. Of Pard rubber the report says : '• This appears likely 

 to be the salvation of the coffee planter. On most estates it 

 will be found planted through the coffee, to which it appears 

 to do very liitle damage." Members of the association are also 

 planting more " rambong " rubber (Ficus elasiica) than form- 

 erly, but with what results no one cares to prophesy. " At 

 present so far as is known the rubber is of a superior quality, 

 but tapping appears difficult in the case of young trees." Re- 

 turns from twenty-one estates represented in the Negri Sembi- 

 lan Planters' Association are presented, from which is derived 

 the following summary : 



Acres. 



Planted to coffee only 650 



Coffee, planted through with Para rubber 2,852 



Coffee, with Ficus elasiica 410 



Coffee, with Para rubber and cocoanuts 25° 



Coffee, with cocoanuts 190 



Pard rubber alone 445 



Ficus elastica alone 147 



Cocoanuts alone 437 



Total 5>38i 



Total on which rubber is planted 4.294 



Of the laborers employed on these estates, 1663 are Tamils, 



189 Malays, and 154 Chinese and others. The new planting 



during the year 1901 amounted to 134 acres, devoted to rubber 



alone.=^=The Selangor Planters' Association, mentioned from 



time to time in The India Rubber World on account of the 



interest taken by its members in rubber planting, has been 



amalgamated with the United Planters' Association of the 



Federated Malay States. 



