104 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



[January i, 1902. 



in nurseries as a feature of the work. March, April, and May 

 constitute what is called the " dry season," during which trans- 

 planting is out of the question. Mr. Riddle reports a loss of 

 only I percent, of the seedlings transplanted sinee June last, 

 which is an exceptional record. The result from planting 

 seeds at stake was less satisfactory, owing to the location be- 

 ing on a hillside, so that some of the seed planted was washed 

 out by heavy rainfalls. Four hundred trees are planted to the 

 acre, 200 of which will be removed at the age of say five years, 

 and all the available rubber taken from stem, root, and branch ; 

 besides, there will be more room for the remaining trees. This 

 estate is the one referred to already in The India Rubber 

 World as being developed under contract by the Republic 

 Development Co. In addition to this, Mr. Riddle is engaging 

 in rubber cultivation on his private account. He has done 

 some planting in each of three seasons past, and now has a con- 

 siderable number of trees dating from the seed crop of June. 

 1899. 



THE VERA CRUZ DEVELOPMENT CO. 



["La Esmeralda" Plaatation, stale of Vera Cruz, Mexico. Office: Canton, 

 Ohio.j 



This company, composed of leading business men of Canton, 

 Ohio, have acquired 3000 acres of land near the Vera Cruz and 

 Pacific railway. It is also on the Tesechoacan river, which is 

 navigable, a regular line of steamers running direct to the Gulf 

 of Mexico by way of Avarado. It is intended to plant half the 

 estate in rubber, and the remainder in sugar cane and " short 

 crops." The company oflfer for sale plantation shares, entitling 

 purchasers to participate in the profits of the enterprise. The 

 plantation manager will be Professor L. M. Bloomfield, some 

 time connected with the Ohio State University and more re- 

 cently interested in tropical agriculture, particularly in Hon- 

 duras. The Vera Cruz company were incorporated under Ari- 

 zona laws, in July, 1901, with $1,000,000 capital. 



COLINA plantation CO. 

 LPIantation in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, Office: Independence, Iowa.] 



Incorporated October 7, 1901, under Iowa laws. The com- 

 pany own a small plantation of the " Dos Rios " group, which 

 was purchased five years ago by the gentlemen who are now 

 officers of the company. They have now 22,500 coflfee trees, 

 mostly five years old, and 4000 rubber trees of the same age. 

 They purpose planting 50 acres in rubber this year. The direc- 

 tors are : Vernon W. Peck, Pittsburgh, Pa. ; A. C. Smith, Storm 

 Lake, Iowa ; Owen E. Cole and Clark L. Cole, Independence, 

 Iowa; and George Montgomery, Alexandria, South Dakota. 



ILLINOIS RUBBER CO. 

 A COMPANY under the above name is being organized at 

 Bloomlngton, Illinois, to cultivate rubber in Mexico, on plans 

 suggested by John S. Spencer, a former resident of Blooming- 

 ton, but who for several years has been engaged in growing 

 coffee at Mmititlan, on the isthmus of Tehuantepec. 



STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 

 The annual colonial report for 1900 says: " Rubber cultiva- 

 tion is steadily increasing. - - - Rubber is attracting the 

 attention of Chinese estate owners, and is being largely planted 

 on the Bukit Asahan estate, owned by a Chinese syndicate, 

 and at Durian Tunggal. Both Pari rubber {Hevea Brasilieti- 

 sis) and India rubber {Ficus elasttca) thrive in the Settlement, 

 and the cultivation is only limited by the difficulty in obtain- 

 ing seeds and cuttings. The government plantations of both 

 these trees should in a few years be capable of supplying all 

 demands; - - - During the year plantations of Gutta-percha 

 producing trees were started in Singapore and Malacca. The 

 supply of young plants and seeds is limited, and it is difficult 



to obtain any large number at a time. Five hundred young 

 Gutta-taban {Dichopsis gutta) trees were, however, obtained 

 from Penang and planted in Malacca. Most of these are doing 

 well." 



CEYLON PLANTERS' RUBBER SYNDICATE, LIMITED. 

 At the first general meeting of shareholders, at Colombo, 

 October 31, accounts were submitted to the end of August. The 

 syndicate's property embraces 884 acres, on 615 acres of which 

 the timber had been felled, on 480 acres further preparatory 

 work had been done, and 300 acres planted in rubber. The 

 manager expected to have 350 to 370 acres planted by Septem- 

 ber 30, and the remainder by the end of the year, the plants 

 not being large enough to be set out earlier. Most of the land 

 is given out to Chinese to weed, in return for being allowed to 

 plant vegetables among the rubber. These details are gleaned 

 from Planting Opinion of Madras, India, for November 9. 



PLANTING ENTERPRISE IN SELANGOR. 

 The Kajang Coffee and Rubber Co., Limited, have been 

 registered in London, with _£23,ooo capital, to acquire three 

 estates in Selangor, in the Malay peninsula, namely: The 

 West County estate, managed hitherto by Allen «StCo. ; the 

 Belmont estate, and the Weld's Hill estate. The business of 

 the new company will include growing and dealing in coffee, 

 tea, India-rubber, and fruit, and prospecting for minerals. The 

 first directors are: C. W. Prosser, A. A. Allen, E. Field, and 

 F. H. Hicks. 



RUBBER SEED AND PLANT CATALOGUE. 



The " Descriptive Price List of Tropical Seeds and Plants 

 and Commercial Products " issued by J. P. William & Brothers 

 (Heneratgoda, Ceylon), for 1901-02, like its predecessors, de- 

 votes no little attention to India-rubber yielding species. Over 

 thirty varieties of rubber and Gutta-percha, seeds or plants of 

 which this firm are prepared to supply, are described in their 

 pamphlet, and prices given. There are some additions to the 

 list this year, one of which is referred to as follows : 

 Euphorbia Tirucalli. 



(" Atnteidina^' Gum^ tr ^^ Potato " Rubber,) 



We understand from The India Rubber World that this gum 

 was first brought to notice about 1881 by Senhor Almeida. The 

 export in 1898 was valued ^^776 i8.f. 51/., and in 1899 more than 

 double the value, and early increasing. The plants do not bear 

 seeds, but are propagated by cuttings. Wardian cases of zoo plants 

 £10. Grow from the sea level up to 2000 feet and over. 



An interesting feature of this catalogue is the information 

 which, incidentally, it gives in regard to rubber planting under- 

 takings in various countries. For example, " a leading rubber 

 planter in Sumatra " is reported to have purchased 50,000 

 Para rubber seeds in 1899 and 100,000 seeds in 1900, and to 

 have been satisfied with the result. The shipment is men- 

 tioned of 2500 Para rubber plants to British New Guinea, 

 Ceara rubber seeds to Colombia (South America) and to Lagos 

 (West Africa), and so on. 



RUBBER PLANTING COMPANY PUBLICATIONS. 



The Vera Cruz Development Co., Canton, Ohio=La Esmeralda 

 Plantation [Prospectus]. 32 pp. -f- map. 



Mexican Mutual Planters' Co., Chicago= Thr La Junta Plant/r, No. 

 7. (November, 1901,) 24 pp. 



Chicago-Chiapas Rubber Plantation Co., Chicago [Branch of the 

 Chiapas Plantation and Investment Co., San Francisco. ] = The Tropics 

 Paying Tribute. 16 pp. 



The Oaxaca Association (Inc), Chicago=(i) Brief Facts and An- 

 swers to an Investor's Questions. 24 pp. (2) Bulletin No. 44 — March, 

 1900, 15 pp. (3) Bulletin No. 51 — October, 1900. 11 pp. (4) Bulletin 

 No. 54 — February, 1901. 16 pp. 



