124 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January 1, 1911. 



Rubber Planting in the East. 



FEDERATED MALAY STATES KUBBER CO. niciits of rubber Well prepared have brought good prices. There 



CONTINUED improvement in results is shown in the report are, however, only about 25,000 to 30,000 planted trees on the 

 of Federated Malay States Rubber Co., Limited, S. A. premises, and these are of the Ficus elashca species, which is 

 Beige, of Antwerp-the estates of which are in the Fed- now less favored for planting than the He-cea. At any rate, rub- 

 erated Malay States-for the fifth fiscal year, ended May 31, ber planting having now passed the expermiental stage, the 

 1910, and presented at the annual meeting on October 26. The government has decided not to devote further effort to the mat- 

 salient features of the companv's reports during the five years t". and the Charduar plantation is oflrered for sale or lease, 

 may be summarized as follows:' The government Hevea plantation at Mergu. Burma, formed 



,„,„ during the administration of Lord Curzon as Viceroy of India 



1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. ^ u .1 ^ ai r- .* „ii s 



Yield (pound's) .... 13,322 32,175 66.725 126,512 293,066 some ten vears ago, was sold recently to Mower, Lotterell & 



Dividcn°d**" ^*"""''' ^■'l" "^'f'l '^5% ^''"% ^''^Vo% Co. for 2,250,000 rupees [=$729,875]. The original decision was 



^, .' , , ' , ,,r^^ro ^ \ J • tt to plant 10,000 acres; liow much was actually planted has not 



The average yield per tree tapped (100,758 trees) during the , . . . ,, 



year was 2.9 pounds — without reference to their age or the 



number of times tapped— against 1.98 pounds, for a smaller num- comparative results. 



ber of trees, in the preceding year. In the year 1907-08 the Bukit Rajah Rubber Co., Limited — Federated Malay States. 



average was 2.6 pounds, but the number of trees in tliat year Business year ends March 31 : 



was still different. In 1909 the average from 17,148 trees was ^^^^ ^^^3 ^^^^ ^^^^ 



5.S pounds. "The oldest trees" are mentioned as having yielded Yield (pounds) 118,982 163,521 210,081 314,778 



. n,„ j.ir>in ■ ^ oT J- ^nnn Selling price, gross s/3.62c<. 3/8.87rf. 4/9.84d. 8/6.47<i. 



an average of 9.18 pounds in 1910, against 8.23 pounds in lyuv. Dividends 30% 30% 55% 150% 



As pointed out already [see The India Rubber World, Decern- ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 1^^^ ^,^^^_ ^^^^^ ^^^^^, ^^^^^^^^ ^.^^^ p^^ ^^^^^ 



ber 1, 1909-page 85], it would be most desirable if some such ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ standing, 290,000. Esti- 



company would isolate a certain number of mature trees and ^^^^^ y.^,^ ^^.^ ^^^^^ ^g^_^ p^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^„;^g p^i^^ 



inaugurate a record of yield and some system of arriving at ^^^1;^^^ gj^^ 3„ average of $5-19 per tree; the disbursement in 



the cost of production, to be maintained year by year. dividends about $1.50 for each pound of rubber collected. 



The report says: "A new method of tapping, successfully prac- Vallambrosa Rubber Co., Limited.-Federated Malay States, 



tised by other estates, has been adopted on our plantations. j. p^^jg^j j^/jan-h 31, 1910: 

 The trees are now tapped in half herring bone upon a quarter 



.... . -ijr / i-riii' 1907. 1008. 1909. 1910. 



of their circumference, instead ot, as lormerly, in lull herring yield (pounds) 156,922 225,302 281,183 371,316 



bone on half of their circumference. The cuts are made 16 Selling price, net ^/i-srf. 3/7d. 4/8d. ihid. 



. Dividends 559o 55% 80% 250% 



inches apart, but their number varies according to the size of 



the tree. Having convinced himself by experiments made upon The cost of tapping, coning, packing, and transportation is 



other plantations, that the tapping of trees 3V2 years old is in reported at an average of 8,63 pence [=about 17^2 cents] per 



no way harmful either to their growth or to their health, Mr. pound. 



Skinner has introduced this system in our estates." rubber planting in burma. 



During the year the capital of the company was increased Writing from Victoria Point, Lower Burma, Mr. A. B. Snow 

 from 2,000,000 francs to 2,100,000 francs [= $399,000, gold], advises The India Rubber World that nowhere else is rubber 

 with the aid of which they were enabled to acquire desirable rub- being planted so cheaply as in that country. He estimates that 

 ber properties from the Societe Financit-re des Caoutchoucs. the cost of planting say of 2,000 acres in Hevea and maintenance 

 Mr. E. B. Skinner, the former efficient manager of the Feder- for five years — at which age the trees should become productive 

 ated Malay States company, had resigned to become connected — need not exceed id [=$30] per acre. He mentions planted 

 with the Financiere des Caoutchoucs, but by reason of the new trees five years old and now 27 inches in girth, three feet above 

 arrangement the Federated company will continue to benefit by the ground, as producing Yi, pound per tree. Transportation fa- 

 Mr. Skinner's great experience. cilities are referred to as good and there are telegraph comrau- 



The Federated Malay States Rubber Co., Limited, in addition nications. Mr. Snow writes : "The climate is the best I have 



to its own production of rubber during the year ended May 31, ever seen." 



1910—293,066 pounds— handled 321,646 pounds from neighboring labor in the rubber fiei.d. 



estates in preparation for market, making a total of 614,712 .. ,1 , 1. .. i- • .• ■., i.l 



, , , , , .1 T- J ^ 1 Ti ■ Referring to the labor situation in connection with rubber 



pounds of rubber prepared by the Federated company. Ihis t,» c-^ ,. t t7 n r 1 tt ■. 1 c:^ , 



.... ,,.,,, J u,.! jj J » .u ' ct f culture, Mr. Stuart J. Fuller, for several years United States 



handling of outside rubber doubtless added to the year s profit ot ' , , • tt , j t_ i. j ^ \ c 



° , , , , . • ■ c ^- ,.!.■ vice consul general in Hongkong, and who has made a study of 



the company, though the report contains no information on this ^ . , , .t • . • j . 



Chinese conditions in general, when recently interviewed at 



Colombo by the Ceylov Observer, was of the opinion that the 



selling government rubber plantations. emigration of Chinese laborers to the English colonies would not 



Perhaps the most widely advertised rubber plantation ever be opposed by that government when supervised by the British 



formed has been that of the Indian government at Charduar, authorities at Hongkong. Mr. Fuller said: "Rubber plantations 



in the province of Eastern Bengual and Assam. This was need never fear for labor as long as they have the Chinese to fall 



started in 1873 by the conservator of forests, and the details pre- back on. They are very glad, indeed, to go, for they can make 



sented in the annual reports of that official found their way in more money than at home." Mr. Fuller has lately been ap- 



one shape or another into many thousands of newspaper publi- pointed United States consul at Gothenburg, Sweden. 



cations, often losing entirely their original form and meaning. 



It was made to appear often that the Indian government had 



become exceedingly large producers of rubber. The fact is that The Fiji Times hears that an English syndicate has been 



the plantation was not formed for commercial purposes, but formed for the cultivation of rubber extensively in the Fiji 



mainly for scientific study, though of recent years some ship- Islands. 



