March 



i9°3] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



193 



KEPITIGALLA ESTATE AND ITS PRODUCT. 



The Kepitigalla estate is situated in the Central province of 

 Ceylon, in the valley of the Matale river, eight miles from Ma- 

 tale town. The India Rubber World of December i, 1902 

 (page So), contained some details regarding the extent of the 

 rubber tapping on this estate, to August, 1902, by the manager, 

 Mr. HoIIoway. It was stated at the time that the trees were 

 planted at the rate of 150 per acre, at a distance which fitted 

 them for shading cacao. His experience to that date pointed 

 to one hundredweight (112 pounds) as the average yield per 

 acre, based upon a result of tapping about 4,000 trees. He 

 gave then also an estimate of the cost of preparing rubber and 

 forwarding it to the seacoast, which equalled S17 per acre. At 

 3^. I \(i. per pound, the product of an acre would realize §10673. 

 which, after deducting freight to London and brokers' commis- 

 sions, should allow a very good profit. 



The India Rubber World's report of the London rubber 

 auction of November 14, 1902, contained this item : "Ceylon — 

 14 cases offered and retired, after 3.J. ii^rt'. had been bid for fine 

 (from Pard seed)." Amazon rubber at the same date brought 

 3^. 2'/id. to 31. 6d. — the latter being paid for fine old Bolivian. 

 From the Ceylon Observer of December 8, 1902, it is learned 

 that the Ceylon rubber referred to was produced by Mr. Hollo- 

 way, on the Kepitigalla estate; besides, the very good prices 



finally obtained for this rubber are given, as follows: 



4 cases valued at 3J. ii</ , sold at 4^. 

 8 cases valued at y. i\d., sold at 41. 

 I case scrap, valued at 2s. Sd , sold at 2s. lod. 



These cases contained 50 pounds each, except in the case of 

 the scrap, which weighed 42 pounds — the total being 642 

 pounds, and the proceeds ^125 \2s. [=.$6i 1.23.] 



Mr. H. G. Tippett, managing director of the Liverpool Rub- 

 ber Co., Limited, who has used some of the Ceylon rubber, 

 says in regard to it, in a letter to The India Rubber World : 



"The weight of the cases at present is irregular, roughly 

 about 100 to 130 pounds, but they will probably settle down as 

 the supply becomes regular to i cwt. (112 pounds) cases. The 

 rubber is excellent — made up in round pancakes (just like 

 buckwheat cakes), about ,'s inch thick, and 6 inches diameter ; 

 semi-translucent — absolutely clean and dry — loss about i per 

 cent. Quality equal to finest Bolivian Para." 



At the London rubber auction on January 23. sales included 

 19 packages, fine thin Ceylon biscuits (from Para seed), at 

 45. 2(/.@4J. ^d.; fair to good clean scrap, 3^. 2d @.y. ^%d. [ = 

 $i.oi>^@$i.o3>^ per pound for fine and TJ@ii% cents for 

 scrap]. Sales of Brazilian Pard on the same date were made 

 at 3.y. 9^.(513.5. 9.J^(^., spot. The source of this rubber is not 

 now known to The India Rubber World. 



AMERICAN RUBBER PLANTING COMPANIES. 



PAN-AMhRlCAN PLANTERS CO. 



[Plantation "Santa Isabel," state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Office : Nos. 133-135 La 

 Salle street, Chicago, Illinois,] 



INCORPORATED under Indiana laws; capital, $50,000, 

 paid in cash. Own 5000 acres in the state of Oaxaca, 

 between the Trinidad and Colorado rivers, just above 

 where their conjunction forms the river San Juan, which 

 empties into the gulf at Alvarado ; also near the Vera Cruz 

 and Pacific railway. Plantation certificates or bonds, two for 

 each acre, will be issued, at $150 each, payable in cash or 

 monthly installments; they are non- forfeitable after 40 per 

 cent, has been paid ; in case of death of a subscriber after 50 

 per cent, has been paid, the full number of certificates will be 

 delivered ; 6 per cent, annual dividends promised from the 

 beginning. Rubber will be the principal crop ultimately, but 

 other crops will be cultivated, to afford dividends during the 

 early years of development. Hon. Charles Foster, late governor 

 of Ohio and late United States treasurer, president; C. M. 

 Barnes, school books, and W. B. Stewart. M. D., vice presi- 

 dents ; Junius L. Burgess, railway auditor, secretary ; John A. 

 Wilferth, lately with Corn Exchange Bank, Chicago, treasurer. 

 James Brydon, with ten years' experience in Mexico, is planta- 

 tion manager. 



BUENA VISTA PLANTATION CO. 



t" Hacienda de Buena Vista." San Juan Evangelista. canton of Acayucan, Vera 

 Cruz, Mexico. Office •- Elkhart Indiana.] 



Incorpor.\tfd under Maine laws, November 15, 1902; capi- 

 • tal authorized, §2,000,000. Directors of the company own 5000 

 acres of land adjoining the well known Cockrell estate. Sugar, 

 rubber, yuca, and "quick crops "are to be planted, and some 

 land will be devoted to grazing. The Buena Vista Develop- 

 ment Co. will develop and operate the plantation for a term of 

 years, 90 per cent, of the net profits to go to shareholders in 

 the plantation company. Forty acres are covered with rubber 

 trees {Castilloa elastica) planted four years ago, and the prop- 

 erty includes a sugar mill, saw mill, shops, and buildings. The 

 company ofTers shares of stock — not acreage certificates — at 



$100, cash or in installments. Adolpk D. Stock, milling, Hills- 

 dale, Michigan, is president; B. F. Stewart, retired from flour 

 milling, Chicago, first vice president; Dr. W. S. CocireU, sec- 

 ond vice president and resident plantation director ; Frank A. 

 Sage, former banker, Elkhart, Indiana, treasurer; Eugene 

 Atkins, milling, Bristol, Indiana, secretary. The plantation 

 staff includes Gerald Mahoney, graduate of the Armour Insti- 

 tute of Technology and an expert electrical engineer, and Ed- 

 gar J. Hahn, a resident of Mexico for 12 years and an expert 

 sugar man. One of the directors, R. P. Probasco, of Chicago, 

 is mentioned as having been the organizer and an oflScer of six 

 plantation companies in Mexico, with a combined capitaliza- 

 tion of $6,000,000. 



SANTA BARBARA PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantations, Santa Barbara, Honduras. Offices : Hammond building, Detroit, 

 Michigan and Home Life building, Washington, D. C] •■ 



One of a series of enterprises which a Michigan syndicate 

 contemplates establishing in the valley of the San Pedro Sula, 

 in Honduras. This company is incorporated under Michigan 

 laws, with $300,000 capital. The plantation is located in the 

 stateof Santa Barbara, in northwestern Honduras, bordered by 

 navigable streams and intersected by the Honduras railroad, 

 which connects with Puerto Cortez. At the outset 200 acres 

 will be planted to rubber (300 trees to the acre) and 1200 acres 

 to bananas, with the idea later of increasing the proportion of 

 rubber. Quick growing crops may also be planted. The com- 

 pany offer for sale shares of $10 each. Orran G. Staples, pro- 

 prietor Riggs House, Washington, president; Edwin G. Mad- 

 den, third assistant postmaster-general, vice president ; Clay C. 

 Cooper (Detroit, Michigan) secretary and treasurer. 

 NUMBER OF TREES PER ACRE. 



To THE Editor OF The India Rubber World: In your 

 February issue, in speaking of a rubber planting company on 

 the Tulija river (Mexico), you mention that they purpose plant- 

 ing 600 trees per acre, to be reduced to 200 later. For a 

 number of years I have been in connection with one of the 



