May I, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^A^ORLD 



253 



RUBBER PLANTING AND CRUDE RUBBER INTERESTS. 



'' I "HE various plantation companies organized in the United 

 I States for operations in Mexico, with rubber as the 

 principal or an important feature, appear on the whole 

 to have made steady progress during the past year. 

 No company which has once made a definite beginning has 

 withdrawn from the field, while new companies are being or- 

 ganized all the while. Much preliminary development work 

 has been done, a considerable amount of rubber has been 

 planted, and a great number of rubber nurseries are in existence 

 or are being planned for the coming season. The managers of 

 the several companies appear to feel encouraged as the result 

 of their work thus far, and there has been developed nowhere 

 any reason for fear that, in the end, rubber cannot be cultivated 

 profitably under right conditions and right management, even 

 if some of the many enterprises under way should result in 

 failure. 



THE IMPERIAL PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantmtion in the stale of Vera Cruz, Mexico. Office : Society for Smving 

 building, Cleveland, Ohio.) 



Incorporated under Maine laws, with $3,000,000 capital. 

 The company own 3000 acres on the Cazones river, in northern 

 Vera Cruz. It is intended to plant 250,000 rubber trees this 

 year, with " short crops" on a portion of the ground, besides 

 which considerable space will be devoted to tobacco — these 

 crops being meant to afford dividends while the rubber is de- 

 veloping. The president of the company is William Vernon 

 Backus, of The William V. Backus Co., bankers, Cleveland, 

 Ohio, who is also president of the Mexican Investment and 

 Manufacturing Co., mentioned in The India Rubber World 

 February i, 1902 [page 142J. 



LAGUNA CHICA PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantation : Tezonapa, state of Vera Cruz, Mexico. Offices : Fullerton build 

 ing, St. Louis.] 



This company was organized and took charge of the Laguna 

 Chica plantation October i, 1901. There are now reported to 

 be in bearing 225,000 coffee trees (second crop) and 50,000 

 pineapples. There are also 500,000 banana plants in place, be- 

 sides lemons and oranges. The company have not attempted 

 as yet to anything with rubber, but are waiting until it shall 

 be demonstrated by actual results that the cultivation of rub- 

 ber in Mexico can be carried on successfully and profitably. 

 The company are capitalized at $300,000, of which $200,000 hat 

 been placed. The officers are : W. H. Verity, president ; Mor- 

 ton Jourdan, vice president ; Joseph H. Tumbach, secretary and 

 treasurer— all substantial business men of St. Louis. Santiago 

 Graham is plantation manager. 



LA TRINIDAD MEXICAN PLANTATION ASSOCIATION. 



[Plantations " La Trinidad " and " Ixlal," near San Juan Evangelista, state of 

 Vera Cruz, Mexico. Offices: No. 115 Dearborn street, Chicago.] 



The company own 1400 acres of land: " La Trinidad " es- 

 tate, 400 acres, and " Ixtal " (purchased lately from Dr. W. S. 

 Cockrell), 1000 acres. The total cost of land has been $16,200, 

 gold. The company reported lately rubber trees on the Ixtal 

 tract, and the outlay for same to date, apart from cost of land 

 and improvement work of a general character, as follows : 



12,000 trees, 5 years old, on about 23 acres $ g.ooo 



5,000 " 4 years old, " " 9 " 3,125 



10,000 " 3 to 4 years, " " 19 " 5,000 



5,000 " 2 to 3 years, " " g " 3.750 



8,000 " I year old, " " 15 " 2,000 



40.000 75 $22,875 



On the Ixtal tract, at the beginning of the year, were 30,000 

 rubber plants in nurseries, and on La Trinidad 70,000, since 

 which time 15,000 additional trees have been transplanted on 

 the Ixtal tract, mainly on land planted to corn and beans. It 

 is planned to begin tapping at the age of six years. According 

 to the above measurements the average number of trees is 533 

 per acre, but nothing is stated as to plans for thinning. The 

 company have 25,000 cofTee trees bearing and have planted 

 cacao and fruits. Frank H. Adams is plantation manager. 

 — =-A good income is anticipated from the sale of rubber 

 seed {Castilloa elastica) to other planters. The yield of seed 

 this year is estimated at 4000 pounds, part of which is under 

 contract for shipment to India at $1,135^ cents per pound. 



ISTHMUS PLANTATION ASSOCIATION OF MEXICO. 

 ["Hacienda del Corte." district of Juchitan, state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Oflfice : 

 Herman building, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.] 



At a recent annual meeting Edward S. Scolield, ex-governor 

 of Wisconsin, was elected president of this company, and has 

 removed from his home at Oconto to Milwaukee, to enter upon 

 the duties of his office. ==The company's Bulletin No. 13 con- 

 tains an inspection report by H. G. Denison, on behalf of the 

 stockholders, for the year ended February 28, 1902. He states 

 that clearing was begun in the natural forest in February, 1900, 

 since which time 1271 acres had been cleared. Coffee planting 

 began in August, 1900, and there are now 191,335 trees — some 

 with natural forest shade and some among rubber trees. From 

 the first rubber planting, in June, 1900, there are 4242 trees, 

 from 8 to 15 feet high. From the 1901 planting, there are 41,- 

 678 trees— a total of 45,920. The nurseries contain 315,000 

 coflfee and 40,000 rubber plants. About 1200 cacao plants have 

 been set out. The corn grown last year was sold for $7149, 

 Mexican, from which a dividend has been declared. Cecilio 

 Oest, the plantation manager, is a graduate from a horticul- 

 tural school in Denmark, who has had seven years of experi- 

 ence in Mexico. 



jUMIAPA PLANTATION CO. 



(Plantation at Jumiapa, st.ite of Oaxaca, Mexico. Offices : Fullerton build- 

 ing, St. Louis, Missouri] 



The first annual report states that 125 acres were cleared 

 last year for coflee and 60,000 plants set, and that 100 acres had 

 been cleared for planting coffee and rubber in 1902. The 

 nurseries contained, at the beginning of this year: Coffee 

 trees, 200,000; rubber, 50,000; cacao, 15,000; orange, 10,000. 

 New nurseries will be made this year. Buildings have been 

 erected, and roads and bridges made, at a satisfactory rate. 

 The plantation manager is B. J. Tunnell, an experienced coffee 

 planter. The estate is located on the Tehuantepec railway, at 

 Tolosa station, on the Jumiapa river. The company sustains 

 close relations with the Oaxaca Coffee Culture Co. (St. Louis), 

 who own one of the oldest and most successful planta- 

 tions on the isthmus of Tehuantepec. Officers: Bernard 

 G. Farrar, assistant United States treasurer, president ; 

 Charles H. Krause, interested in coal mining, vice president ; 

 W.A. Brandenbur^er.&n officer in a trust company, treasurer ; 

 Charles F. Haanel, of the Oaxaca Coffee Culture Co., secretary. 



TABASCO AGRICULTURAL CO. 



[Plantation in the department of Tacotalpa. state of Tabasco, Mexico. Office : 

 No. 208 Parrott building, San Francisco, California.] 



In our March issue [page 174] it was stated : "To provide 

 the necessary funds, 2(K>o ' plantation shares ' are offered for 



