May 



'9°4 ] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



271 



VARIOUS RUBBER PLANTING COMPANIES. 



REPORT ON PLANTATION "RUBIO." 



THE report of the official inspector chosen by the sub- 

 scribers to the bonds of the Tehuantepec Rubber Cul- 

 ture Co. for the year ending December 31, 1903, Mr. 

 Grosvenor Calkins, an attorney of Boston, Massachu- 

 setts, covering his visit to the plantation made in January last, 

 and now appearing in pamphlet form, is the most definite and 

 comprehensive document of its kind that has yet been issued 

 by any rubber planting company operating in Mexico. It is a 

 thoroughly businesslike statement, composed of details capa- 

 ble of verification, and thus of interest and value as a record of 

 progress in this new industry. 



Mr. Calkins begins by saying : " No cultivated rubber has yet 

 been produced in quantities in tropical Mexico. On the other 

 hand, rubber trees have for some years been grown experiment- 

 ally. These tests have already established two important facts : 

 First, that conditions are favorable to the rapid growth of cul- 

 tivated rubber plants, and, second, that these rubber trees will 

 yield marketable rubber. The general conditions favorable to 

 the cultivation of rubber, namely, a well drained soil without 

 shade, have also been determined. The Rubio plantation con- 

 sists of two series of hills draining into rolling valleys from 

 which all shade has been removed." 



Other considerations bearing upon planting conditions are 

 then treated at length, after which the inspector summarizes 

 the estimates obtained from various American planters in 

 Mexico, of the lowest yields for cultivated rubber trees at dif- 

 ferent ages : 



Average 6 year tree will produce without injury 4 to 6 ounces of rub- 

 ber. 



Average 7 year tree bled to death will produce about 1 pound of rub- 

 ber. 



Average 8 to 10 year tree will produce without injury at least I pound 

 of rubber. 



The planting during the two years 1902 and 1903 is reported 

 on in detail, with a statement of the condition, good or other- 

 wise, of the several different tracts. The planting in 1902 

 amounted to 1499 acres, on which, allowing for failures, there 

 are now estimated to be 1,600,000 plants. It is noted that the 

 height of the trees grown from seeds — about 65 per cent, of 

 the whole — is greater than that of transplanted or replanted 

 trees. The planting in 1903 amounted to 520 acres, on which, 

 after again allowing for failures, there are 595.000 plants. The 

 number of plants, of course, is much greater than will be allow- 

 ed to stand permanently, but it has not yet been decided at 

 what age to begin thinning out. 



" In order to protect the young plant from being cut at the 

 first weeding, it is necessary in some way to indicate the loca- 

 tion of the plant. In the 1902 planting the usual practice of 

 marking the young plant with a stake was resorted to. In the 

 spring of 1903, Manager Luther devised the plan of planting 

 corn to mark the rubber. The corn developed more rapidly 

 than the rubber, saved the expense of staking, was easily and 

 economically harvested, and produced a yield which went far 

 to supply the whole plantation with this essential commissary 

 item. As the price of corn on the isthmus has been very high 

 this year, the saving effected by this device has been consider- 

 able." 



The harvesting of corn in 1903 from the spring planting was 

 about 8500 bushels. A still larger planting of corn was made 



in November and December. The average number of laborers 

 employed during the year was 327, exclusive of cooks, at a cost, 

 including commissary, of $135,468.93, Mexican, which was ex- 

 clusive of cost of superintendence, new construction, office 

 expenses, and general maintenance. 



Mr. Calkins concludes: "The opinion has been universally 

 expressed by every person qualified to express an opinion that 

 large returns are assured from rubber culture, provided that 

 there is sufficient capital and patience to wait ten years, if nec- 

 essary, for returns." 



THE TULIJA RIVER PLANTATION CO. 



[Plantation "Tulija," department of Palenque, state of Chiapas, Mexico. Office : 

 903-904 Old South building, Boston, Massachusetts.] 



Incorporated under the laws of Maine ; paid capital stated 

 at $100,000. Own 6177 acres on the river Tulija, in Chiapas, 

 Mexico, 50 miles from the town of Salto. They offer for sale, 

 at $300 each, payable in installments, 1000 certificates, represent- 

 ing 1000 acres, which the company undertake to clear and plant 

 to rubber, 200 trees to the acre, and care for the same for 10 

 years, after which the investor may take title to the land. 

 Meanwhile certificate holders will be entitled to one half of the 

 net profits during each year. Officers: Elisha H. Brewsttr, 

 lawyer, Springfield, Mass., president; Ethan H. Cutler, former 

 European selling agent United States Rubber Co., now of 

 Newton, Mass., vice president ; David Allen Reed, real estate, 

 Springfield, treasurer ; Alfred W. Faithfull, Boston, secretary 

 and general manager. 



MR. VERNON BACKUS ON MEXICAN PLANTING. 

 The Mexican Herald (February 29) contained an interview 

 with William Vernon Backus, a banker and former lawyer of 

 Cleveland, Ohio, and who is now an extensive investor in Mex- 

 ican development enterprises, in which it is intimated that sev- 

 eral projected rubber plantations in that country have been 

 abandoned. But no rubber plantation company has failed, 

 he says, through inability to raise rubber in Mexico. " Rubber 

 was first discovered in Mexico [in Columbus's time] and any- 

 thing that grows native to the soil without cultivation can be 

 grown and improved by cultivation." He intimates that some 

 companies have failed through the lack of intelligent manage- 

 ment of their business affairs — such as devoting their capital to 

 the making of improvements without paying the purchase 

 price when due, with the result that the land and improve- 

 ments would revert back to the former owner. Another mis- 

 take has been in filling the offices of some companies with men 

 o( wide acquaintance with possible investors, rather than men 

 especially qualified for the business to be done. Mr. Backus 

 said that his investments for the last eight years have all been 

 made in Mexico, and his future investments will be made there, 

 because of the good administration of the laws and the protec- 

 tion afforded to property there. Mr. Backus is now interested 

 in three Mexican plantations which include rubber. 



PLANTATION SUPPLIES FROM NEW ORLEANS. 



A New Orleans newspaper mentions the puchase in that 

 city of a considerable quantity of supplies in behalf of a rubber 

 planting company having an estate in Mexico, and a contract 

 for the shipment of further supplies during the year. The pur- 

 chases included groceries, all sorts of household furnishings, 

 and tools and agricultural implements. The same company 

 also made purchases of live stock for breeding purposes. 



