November 



1 901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER V/ORLD 



45 



RUBBER PLANTING IN MANY LANDS. 



PLANTATIONS LACOURT (CONGO FREE STATE.) 



AMONG the Belgian enterprises exploiting rubber in the 

 Congo Free State is the Socicte Anonyme Plantations 

 Lacourt, founded in 1899 with a capital of 800,000 

 francs. The report of the company for the fiscal year 

 ended March 31, 1901, devotes considerable space to their plan- 

 tation of rubber creepers — one of the Landolpkia species from 

 which the Congo rubber is obtained. The rubber plantation 

 embraces 355 hectares (=877 acres), on which 800,000 creepers 

 have been set out. In cases where the first planting failed to 

 give good results, new plants have been substituted. Some of 

 the plants have reached a height of 3 meters within the first 

 year, and all are now reported in good condition. The com- 

 pany's report quotes M. de Smet de Naeyer, president of the 

 ministerial council of Belgium, as saying in the senate, on April 

 2 last, in regard to plantations in the Congo Free State: 



" The steps taken for the replanting of Caoutchouc have 

 caused the putting into nurseries or into permanent position 

 of more than 3,000,000 rubber creepers, representing a value of 

 1,600,000 francs [ = $308,800]. The replanting of these creepers 

 proceeds at the same rate as the exploitation of rubber,* which 

 will have the effect of maintaining perpetually the ample na- 

 tive supply of rubber, notwithstanding its exploitation." 



At the above rate of valuation the Lacourt plantation of 

 800,000 creepers would be worth 400,000 francs (=$77,200), 

 though in the judgment of the company this figure is much too 

 low. The report of the company last year contained the fol- 

 lowing statement by their administrator-delegate : 



"We know that the forests [in the Congo] most rich in 

 Caoutchouc creepers do not on the average contain more than 

 5 plants per hectare [about 2 per acre]. We also know that 

 under proper cultivation may be secured 2000 creepers per hec- 

 tare [or 800 per acre.] Moreover, these creepers will produce, 

 at the end of six or eight years, a minimum of 50 grams [about 

 \}i ounces]. Allowing 20 per cent, deduction, for missing or 

 sickly plants, the yield of one hectare would be 80 kilograms 

 the first year [about 71 pounds per acre], and this would in- 

 crease with the further growth of the plants." 



These remarks are quoted in the current report, with the as- 

 sertion that the rate of yield referred to can be looked for at 

 the end of five years — or six, at the latest. Hence they should 

 be able to gather, from their 355 hectares, in the sixth year, 32 

 tons of rubber of better quality, because better prepared, than 

 the rubber now obtained from the natives, while continuing to 

 trade in rubber with the natives. 



The company have made experimental plantations of Pard 

 and Ceard rubber, but their first effort with the Castillca elastica 

 was not successful, owing to the failure of the seed to germi- 

 nate. They have planted also 148 acres of coflfee, and smaller 

 areas in cacao, vanilla, etc., besides food crops. 



LOS ANDES RUBBER, LUMBER, AND FRUIT CO. 



[Plantation : MotaRua valley, Guatemala. Offices : London and Liverpool and 

 Globe buildincr. New Orleans, Louisiana.] 



Incorporated under Louisiana laws; capital, $100,000; to 

 exploit 12,500 acres, on the railway between Morales and Los 

 Andes, Guatemala. The cultivation of rubber is to be the 

 main object, but, pending the development of the rubber, bana- 



•The law requires the planting of rubber to a certain extent for every ton of 

 rubber exported from the Congo Free State.— The Editor. 



nas and other crops will be planted, and the lumber on the es- 

 tate is to be marketed. There is also wild rubber on the prop- 

 erty. Some rubber has been planted in this region, and the 

 Los Andes company have contracted for young trees for next 

 season's planting. It is expected, ultimately, to set out 450,000 

 rubber trees. The stockholders of the company are substantial 

 business men of New Orleans. Charles Dickson is president, 

 William J. Kearney vice president ; Charles A. Schrieber treas- 

 urer, and George Montgomery, secretary. The general mana- 

 ger is H. J. Earle, of New Orleans, who of late has devoted 

 much interest to Guatemalan interests. On October 17, the 

 organization of the company and its plans having been com- 

 pleted, Mr. Earle started for Guatemala to take charge of the 

 plantation. He had arranged to take 50 men from British 

 Honduras, all additional laborers needed to be drawn from the 

 vicinity of the estate. 



MONARCH RUBBER PLANTATION CO. 



Mention was made in the September India Rubber 

 World [page 371] of the interest of President Harry E. 

 Wagoner, of the Monarch Rubber Co. (St. Louis) and his asso- 

 ciates in the company, in the prospects for rubber planting in 

 Honduras. On September 26 they filed articles of incorpora- 

 tion, under Missouri laws, of a company with the name stated 

 above. The declared purpose is the acquiring and cultivation 

 of lands for the production of rubber, and for the purchase and 

 control of vessels for the conveyance of products and supplies. 

 The capital is $150,000, divided into 200 shares of 7 per cent, 

 preferred stock and 1300 shares of common stock. Each of 

 the following holds 40 shares of preferred and 260 shares of 

 common stock : Harry E. Wagoner, Edward H. Gorse, George 

 H. Augustine, Roger Hayne, and Morris G. Levinson. The 

 location of the plantation will be near the mouth of the Black 

 river, on the northeastern Honduras coast. 

 BOSTON TROPICAL CO. 



Articles of incorporation were filed September 30, under 

 Rhode Island laws, for the above company, with $300,000 cap- 

 ital. The purpose is the growing of India-rubber, coffee, 

 oranges, pineapples, and other tropical products, and the build- 

 ing and acquiring of boats needed in the company's business. 

 The incorporators are William H. Chase and Alfred N. Litch, 

 of Leominster, Massachusetts ; Harry W. Barclay, of Newark^ 

 New Jersey; and Charles A. Deveraux, of Boston. The com- 

 pany will have an office at No. 17 Blagden street, Boston, and 

 one at Providence, Rhode Island. A tract of 2500 acres has 

 been secured on the isthmus of Tehuanlepec, along the Solo- 

 suchie river, which leads to the port of Coatzacoalcos. It is 

 planned to devote 1000 acres to rubber and as much more to 

 coffee. 



A PASTOR AS A RUBBER PLANTER. 



Some dissatisfaction is reported in the congregation of the 

 Free Baptist Church, at Melrose, Massachusetts, regarding the 

 alleged conduct of the pastor, the Rev. G. M. Howard. The 

 church was organized eight years ago, through Mr. Howard's 

 efforts, and an edifice erected on which there is still a debt. 

 Rather than appeal to his congregation for more money, the 

 pastor is said to have decided to go into some outside business, 

 as a means of raising funds, and he chose rubber planting in 

 Guatemala. According to the Boston Post, the estate selected 

 is " La Gomora," 70 miles from Guatemala city, where many 



