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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1911. 



Progress of Rubber Planting. 



THE GENERAL BUBBEB CO. IN SUMATRA. 



'X'ME General Rubber Company, New York, has completed its 

 negotiations for exceedingly large land holdings in Sumatra. 

 It has taken over the properties of the New Asahan Tobacco Co., 

 in which there are 70,000 acres of land, most of which is suitable 

 for Hezea culture. The ground is most of it already cleared, 

 and near the rivers thoroughly drained. There is plenty of 

 labor available, and it is planned to have 20,000 acres planted 

 to rubber before 1912. After that the area will be continuously 

 e.xtended year by year. Mr. Davis, Eastern representative, is 

 on the ground, and has for adviser Dr. W. J. Gallagher. Before 

 taking over the New Asahan estates the company secured two 

 concessions for the adjoining lands, one of 10,000 acres, the other 

 40.000 acres, making a total of 120.000 acres. 



The plantation is situated some 12 miles from the seacoast and 

 is not far from Medan. Tanjon balie is the port nearest to the 

 estates. The New Asahan Tobacco Co. produced nearly 5 per 

 cent, of the total tobacco crop of the island of Sumatra. In 

 clearing, draining, in establishing administration buildings, labor- 

 ers' houses and coolie lines, great sums were expended. There 

 are more than 100 miles of good roads, while the agricultural 

 drains cost more than $1,000,000. 



A\hilc the General Rubber Co. are at present the owners, it is 

 said that the planting will be conducted by a subsidiary corpora- 

 tion known as the Holland-American Rubber Planting Co. 



Speaking of the project, the Times, of Ceylon, says: "It is a 

 bold enterprise, and, though the opening of such an extensive 

 area may disturb present estate owners, what will strike most 

 people, no doubt, is its significance as an indication of confidence 

 in the future of plantation rubber, and more particularly of 

 confidence in the location of the great industry in the Middle 

 East. The ^American company took every care to inquire into 

 the possibilities of planting in Brazil before finally deciding that 

 the Middle East offered superior advantages in the matter of 

 labor supply and transport." 



That there is much rubber planting interest in Sumatra has 

 long been known. 



During the first six months of 1910 there were formed in 

 Sumatra companies interested in rubber culture: 11 Dutch, capi- 

 tal $4,940,000; 17 British, capital $10,224,000: 1 Belgian, capital 

 $700,000; 1 French, capital $240,000; 1 Franco-British, capital 

 $300,000. There are at present about 100 estates growing rubber 

 in the island. 



So little is known of Sumatra in industrial circles that a brief 

 story of the island that has attracted the attention of the officials 

 of the United States Rubber Co. should be apropos. 



Located south and west of the Malay Peninsula, between 

 5° 40' N. and 5° 59' S. and 95° 16' and 106° 3' E., Sumatra, next 

 to Borneo, is the largest of the great Sunda group of the East 

 India Islands. It is separated from the Malay Peninsula by the 

 Malacca Strait and from Java by the Sunda Strait, and has an 

 area with the adjacent islands, excepting Banka and Billiton, of 

 178,538 square miles. Of volcanic formation, the island is 

 traversed from end to end, on the south side, by a range of 

 mountains, which includes several recently active, and numerous 

 extinct volcanoes. 



The first aiithcntic record of the island was made by the 

 Portuguese, Siguiera, in 1599, although Marco Polo had pre- 

 viously visited it on his way to the East. In 1599 the Dutch 

 established themselves there, and in 1698 the English founded 

 a settlement at Bencoellen, which they exchanged in 1824 for 

 Dutch holdings in India. At present, about two-thirds of the 

 island is under Dutch government and is divided into seven 

 residencies: Padang, Kota Radja, Bencoellen, Telok Betong. 



Siboga and Medan. There are also a number of semi-independ- 

 ent states, including the kingdom of Acheon, the Battah country, 

 the kingdoms of Siak, Djanebra, Indragari and Kampan, which 

 are under Dutch control, with a few tributary principalities and 

 protectorates. The population of Sumatra, according to th« 

 latest computation, is about 5,500,000, including about 92,00(J 

 Chinese, a little over 5,000 Europeans, 2,478 Arabs and 7,133 

 foreigners, the remainder being natives. The most populous 

 settlements are on the west coast, where Padang, the capital of 

 this section, had a population of 35,158 inhabitants at the last 

 enumeration. 



Lying immediately under the equator, which crosses the island 

 diagonally at about its center, the range of temperature is high, 

 but the climate is fairly healthy; the rainfall, largely tropical 

 in character and varying with the' locality and altitude, ranges 

 from 139 to 78.7 inches per annum. 



Nine-tenths of the native population of Sumatra is engaged 

 in agricultural pursuits, the remainder being occupied in cattle 

 raising, fishing, navigation and in collecting the products of the 

 forests which cover the greater portion of the island, the heavy 

 timber extending down to the coast line. Included in the 

 indigenous growths is the Dichopsis giitla, which yields gutta 

 percha. 



Some rubber is included in the products exported from the 

 island, which include the much prized Sumatra tobacco, some 

 coffee, spices, gums and other forest products. The laborers 

 employed in agriculture and on the plantations consist almost 

 entirely of Chinese coolies, with a few Malays. 



TO PLANT RITBBER IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



The Ithaca Development Co. has been organized with a 

 total capital stock of $500,000 in 50,000 shares of $10 each, in 

 addition to $150,000 of 6 per cent, ten-year convertible bonds. 

 It plans the development of 300 acres a year of a rubber 

 plantation of 1,500 acres and a subsequent extension to 

 3,000 acres. The property is on the Essequibo River, about 

 five hours by steamer from Georgetown. There is included 

 in the property a granite quarry, directly on the water front 

 and now in operation; a quantity of valuable hardwood tim- 

 ber; the burning of Barbados lime, using the wood obtained 

 in clearing the land; and finally the interplanting of the 

 rubber trees with cassava. 



Of the $500,000 capital stock $50,000 is given for the prop- 

 erty and as part payment for the services of Mr. F. Harvey, 

 who is to remain with the company for five years, in charge 

 of the quarry and limestone business and as assistant super- 

 intendent of the plantation. For the property there will be 

 given the further sum of $50,000 in cash, which sum includes 

 expenses of organizing and incorporation both in the United 

 States and in Demerara. 



It is proposed to sell the $150,000 of convertible bonds at 

 par. 



According to the calculations presented the company expect 

 to pay 6 per cent, on the convertible bonds for the first five 

 years, and in addition 6 per cent, on the issued stock in the 

 second to fifth year, and in the sixth year pay a dividend of 

 20 per cent, on the entire $500,000 of stock, rising to 90 per 

 cent, in the fourteenth year. The purchaser of the bond 

 would therefore, it is estimated, get 6 per cent, on his money 

 for the first five years and then convert his bond into a stock 

 which will yield him an income increasing from 20 per cent, 

 to 90 per cent.- The calculations are based on the sale of the 

 rubber at 75 cents per pound and on a cost of 25 cents per 

 pound after the first year of tapping. 



