174 



THE INDIA RUBBER \VORLD 



[March i, 1902. 



THE RUBBER PLANTING INTEREST. 



PRIVATE RUBBER PLANTATIONS IN MEXICO. 



A VISITOR to Mexico last summer made some notes in 

 relation to private rubber planting which he has been 

 good enough to forward to The India Rubber World. 

 As an illustration of their nature, the facts which he 

 compiled in one "colony" in Vera Cruz are summarized here. 

 His list embraces eighteen planters who have planted more or 

 less rubber — some devoting their attention to rubber alone, 

 and others making it a subordinate interest. Three of these 

 planters have been established in Mexico since 1896, eleven 

 since 1897, and four since 1898 — making their average length 

 of residence four years, up to last summer. As a rule, each 

 has planted some rubber annually since the first year. The 

 total holdings of land by the the eighteen planters are given at 

 6907 acres — an average of 383.7 acres each. The total number 

 of rubber trees planted, not including what may have been set 

 out in the summer of 1901, was 372,000— an average of 20,666 

 trees per planter. The number of trees per acre varies, but 

 assuming an average of 300, gives an aggregate of 1240 acres, 

 or an average of 68.8 acres in rubber for each plantation. Addi- 

 tional planting was in prospect, for the 1901 season, of 32,500 

 trees. The various planters gave their former residences as 

 follows, some of them still retaining homes in the states 

 and cities named : 



Maine i Chicago i Louisiana i 



New Hampshire. 3 Maryland 1 Texas I 



Rhode Island. .. . i Missouri... . 2 Newfoundland., i 



New York 2 California 3 Not stated i 



Our informant prefers not to give, for publication, the names 

 of the several planters, with the extent of their work, for the 

 reason that his information was not, in every instance, de- 

 rived from first hands, ind he might in some cases have under- 

 estimated the amount of planting done. These estimates do 

 not embrace the planting done by any of the large companies 

 that have oflfered stock to the public. 



TABASCO AGRICULTURAL CO. 



[Plantation *' Tacotalpa," state of Tabasco, Mexico. Office: No. 208 Parrotl 

 building, San Francisco, California.] 



A NEW company, incorporated in California, to develop a 

 tract of about 15,000 acres, at Tacotalpa, in the district of the 

 same name, in Tabasco, Mexico. Capital stock, $100,000. Of- 

 ficers : General Ji. H. Warfield, proprietor California Hotel 

 (San Francisco), bank director, etc., president ; yo.fif//; Naph- 

 tally, lawyer and capitalist, vice-president; J. Dahell Brown, 

 manager of a trust company, treasurer; Co\one\ J. F. Burg in, 

 a railway official, secretary — all of San Francisco. Frederick 

 H. Colburn is assistant secretary and general manager at the 

 office above named, having been formerly in the lumber export 

 trade in Mexico. George B. Ingram, resident director on the 

 plantation, and James Carter, superintendent, have each spent 

 several years in Mexico, engaged in business which gave them 

 an opportunity to become acquainted with tropical planting. 

 For the first development work 2200 acres have been selected, 

 of which it is planned to plant 1600 acres in rubber — not less 

 than 300 trees to the acre ; 400 acres in cacao ; a few acres in 

 vanilla and the remainder in corn and other crops giving quick 

 returns. To provide the necessary funds, 2000 " plantation 

 shares " are oflered for sale, at $240 each, payable in instal- 

 ments within five years, these not being shares of stock, but 

 representing the right of the purchaser to share in the profits 



of the plantation to the extent represented by his holding of 

 certificates. Part of the Tacotalpa plantation had been dev- 

 eloped before being acquired by the new company, and embraces 

 5000 cultivated rubber trees 5 years old and 5000 younger ones, 

 with some bearing cacao trees, etc., from which sources and 

 from "short crops" it is expected to pay dividends before the 

 new planting of rubber will become productive. These details 

 are derived from the company's prospectus. The India Rub- 

 ber World has already quoted from a report by Mr. Colburn, 

 named above, on rubber planting in Mexico, before the forma- 

 tion of this company. 



MEXICAN PLANTATION CO. (PHILADELPHIA.) 



[Plantation " Philadelphia," department of Palenque, stale of Chiapas. Oftices : 

 No. 725 Drexel building, Philadelphia.] 



The second annual " inspection "of this plantation was made 

 by the Rev. Dr. Charles C. Lasby, a Brooklyn pastor, chosen 

 by the stockholders as their representative, and sent to Mexico 

 at the company's expense. His report has been printed in a 

 pamphlet of 39 pages, embellished with photographic views of 

 the plantation, but what he writes has to do more with " the 

 rapture of recollection in the traveler " than with practical in- 

 formation for the investors who remained at home. With regard 

 to rubber, Dr. Lasby states that 900 acres have been staked and 

 planted (in the open), at the rate of 315 trees per acre, which 

 will yield, at the end of seven years, an average of 3J3 pounds 

 of dry rubber, worth 40 cents a pound on the estate. This 

 yield will be " nearly doubled " at the end of " five or six years," 

 when "the market value is apt to be much higher." Without 

 knowing Dr. Lasby'squalifications as a prophet, it is difficult to 

 gage the value of his report. It would be interesting to know 

 whether he would have prophesied the same results, standing 

 on the Brooklyn bridge at midnight, that he foresaw while the 

 white heron and aigrets encircled him in their graceful flight 

 along the rio Michol. On some other points of present interest 

 Dr. Lasby is more definite. He reports that last year's tobacco 

 crop was sold for $4500; that the product of 700 acres of corn 

 is being sold as required by the labor on the plantation ; and 

 37 acres in pineapples are expected to come into bearing this 

 year — which " side crops " provide for dividends on the com- 

 pany's investment shares pending the development of the rub- 

 ber trees. All the company's shares are reported to have been 

 subscribed for and apparently much development work has been 

 done. 



BOSTON TROPICAL CO. 



[Plantation near the '* Dos Rios " properties, stale 01 Oaxaca, Mexico, Offices: 

 No. 161 Summer street, Boston, Massachusetts.] 



Incorporated September 30, 1901, under Rhode Island 

 laws; capital, $300,000. Have purchased 2500 acres from Harry 

 W. Barclay (a Newark, New Jersey, man), who owned the pro- 

 perty seven years and will be the manager in Mexico. Land 

 cost $50,000; coffee and rubber stock and improvements cost 

 $25,000; the company have $35,000 in cash. These assets and 

 whatever improvements may hereafter be made have been 

 deeded to the Manufacturers' Trust Co. (Providence, R. I.) to 

 secure an issue of 6 per cent, first mortgage improvement de- 

 velopment bonds, of $500 each, offered for sale and to be paid 

 for in yearly instalments of $60. One share of stock is issued 

 with each bond ; the bonds are to be retired as soon as the in- 

 come from the plantation will admit, after which the profits 

 will be divided among the shareholders. It is planned to 



