156 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1913. 



RUBBER PLANTING IN THE DUTCH EAST INDIES. 



By Our Correspondent in Japan. 



JAPAN is taking a lively interest as to rubber planting in the 

 East generally, as a guide regarding Japanese investments 

 in other parts of the Orient, and in view of the possible devel- 

 opment of that industry in Japanese territory. 



An instance of this is afforded by the report sent tu his 

 government by the Imperial Japanese Consul at Batavia, in 

 anticipation of the Batavia Exhibition of 1914. The report con- 

 tains the following interesting statistics: 



ST.\TISTICS OF DUTCH TXD1.\ (J,\NU.\RY. 1913). 

 Java. 

 Plantations in Java. Bouvvs.* Trees. 



Private 332 124,400 .SOO.OOO 



Official ... 11,610 



Grade of trees, private plantations : 



Para 106.460 213.000 



India Rubber (unclassified) 9.500 51.000 



Caslilloa 3.140 186,000 



Manihot 5,300 50,000 



124,400 500.000 

 (*1 bouw = 1.75 acre.) 



srM.\TR.\. 

 Official reports of the rubber planting industry in the State 

 of Ringat and the other centers showed, in the beginning of 1906, 

 6,140 acres; 1911. 160.000 acres; 1912. 220,000 acres, and in 1913, 

 280,000 acres. For comparison, the figures of the Malay Penin- 

 sula are quoted : 1906, 100,000 acres ; 1913, 452,000 acres. 



DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY. 



The area available for rubber plantations is ample, but oper- 

 ations are impeded by shortness of labor and lack of commu- 

 nications. A tendency is being manifested to convert tobacco 

 fields into rubber plantations, owing to the low price of the 

 former article and the financial strain of holding that staple. 



Plantations were tried at various elevations up to 1,000 feet 

 above sea level; the growth being very fast, as the soil is fertile 

 and temperature and rainfall adapted for rubber planting. Dis- 

 eases arising from worms are unknown in this district. \\'ith 

 the exception of damage from hurricanes to the trunks of rub- 

 ber trees, it is exempt from weather troubles. 



INVESTMENTS. 



Present investments in Sumatra rubber plantations represent 

 about .52 millions of dollars, three-fourths of which amount was 

 invested after 1910. The estimated cost of planting equals about 

 $525 per acre. The cultivation of 1,750 acres, including planting 

 and trimming trees up to the beginning of the tapping period 

 (4 years), is estimated to represent about $120,000. Rubber 

 planting is said to be more profitable than in the British Malay 

 States, owing to exemption from export duty and to exporters 

 being more favorably situated as to currency. 



In the Dutch Indies there are said to be 548 plantations, of 

 which 332 are in Java and 216 in other Netherlands possessions. 



PLANTING AND LABOR. 



Para rubber is planted one tree in a space of 20 feet square, or 

 about 108 trees to the acre. The methods of cultivation and 

 coagulation are the same as in Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula. 

 Workers are chiefly recruited from Java, their usual term of 

 employment being three years. The Javanese workers receive 

 per day the equivalent to 12 to 14 cents .American. 



The yield from 37,000 six and one-half year Para trees in 

 Ringat was 3.42 poimds of crude rubber per tree for eight 

 months, 800 trees of eleven years' growth giving for eight 

 months seven pounds of rubber each. The crude rubber product 

 of Sumatra was estimated in 1911 as 1,700 tons and by 1919 is 

 expected to reach 44,000 tons. 



THE CENTRAL SELLING AGENCY. 



According to the English financial press, the scheme for the 

 establishment of a central rubber selling agency has received ad- 

 ditional support from the invitation extended by the Malacca 

 Plantations, Limited, to other rubber plantation companies to 

 co-operate in the movement for a general selling agency. The 

 Malacca company is shown by statistical returns to be the largest 

 of the plantation corporations, having a total area of 24,717 acres, 

 of which 15,000 are planted. Its output ranks first among those 

 of the producing companies, the figures for twelve months, in 

 pounds, having been: 1907, 7,000: 1908. 46,890; 1909, 236,969; 1910. 

 387,695; 1911, 1.074,906; 1912, 2.180.000. 



That this leading company should have taken such a part in 

 the new proposal augurs well for its success. Several firms of 

 prominent rubber brokers have promised their support and will, 

 it is expected, influence their principals in the same direction. 



.\ctual and tentative promises of support have been received 

 by the Malacca company from the representatives of 100 com- 

 lianies, with a combined capital of $50,(XX),00(), cjr between one- 

 fifth and one-sixth of that invested in the sterling companies. 



Mr. L. T. Boustead, in the course of a recent speech, remarked 

 that as one of many remedies for present conditions, the Central 

 -Selling .\gency, combined with the suggested standardization of 

 plantation rubber, should be a power for good, if properly con- 

 trolled, sufficiently supported, adequately financed and run pro 

 bono publico rather than for the benefit of any one or more 

 groups. In fact he looked on the standardization proposal as 

 being nearly as important as the central agency. In either form, 

 the plan would steady the market, but a central agency cannot 

 alter the laws of supply and demand. It might control the supply, 

 but how about the demand? What is wanted is to increase it in 

 proportion to the increasing supply. In conclusion he remarked: 

 "What we need is a rubber trust, not for plantations, but for 

 financing the manufacture of our products." 



IS PLANTATION RUBBER OVER-PREPARED! 



Mr. G. H. L. Wharton, in a recent letter to the "Financial 

 News," of London, questions the advantage of subjecting planta- 

 tion rubber to the many processes of preparation. The manu- 

 facturer buys Fine Hard Para and the admittedly inferior Ceara 

 and Caslilloa in a rough-and-ready condition and is asked why 

 he must have plantation rubber in a highly prepared state. Mr. 

 Wharton suggests that if the rubber was simply cured and left 

 an adequate time to dry. it would have a much better chance 

 against its rival from Brazil. 



INCREASED STOCKS OF INFERIOR WILD RUBBER. 



A comparison of tlie stocks of inferior grades of wild rubber 

 for three years shows a considerable increase, thus indicating that 

 demand is falling off: 



LIVERPOOL STOCKS. 1911 1912 1913 



Tons. Tons. Tons. 



Peruvian 459 315 560 



Manitoba, Ceara, etc 216 206 388 



African 332 184 352 



Total Liverpool 1007 70S 1250 



.XNTWERP STOCKS 418 405 951 



Total 1425 1110 2201 



The market has evidently little use for these classes of rubbers 

 while the best grades are obtainable at existing prices. 



"The Financier'" remarks that this accumulation of lower grade 

 wild rubber can hardly be viewed with indifference, but unless 

 absorbed or destroyed will act as a serious drag on prices. The 

 withdrawal of the Kasai Company from the Congo rubber trade 

 is understood to have been caused by the poor prices obtained. 

 The anticipation has been expressed that the withdrawal of the 

 company will have a favorable effect upon the market. 



