October 1, 1919.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



55 



States, the Straits Settlements and Sumatra East Coast; for 

 these places depend for labor on emigration from Java, China 

 and British Indies, while Borneo has an abundance of local 

 laborers. The Dyaks are adapted for heavy work, such as felling 

 jungle; and the Malays for light work, such as weeding, tap- 

 ping and preparing the product; however, it is not to be under- 

 stood from this that labor conditions in Borneo are ideal. A 

 big increase in rubber cultivation there might make immigra- 

 tion necessary. But at present the estates owned by Euro- 

 peans are worked with help locally obtained. Japanese contract 

 labor, however, is sometimes cheaper. 



Transport facilities are not what they should be, but that is 

 met by locating estates near rivers by which very cheap trans- 

 portation to harbors becomes possible. In the developed rubber 

 regions such as Sumatra East Coast, thousands are spent yearly 

 for the building and upkeep of roads, and for bullock carts and 

 motor trucks to carry the rubber from the estates to the nearest 

 railroads or port. This is costly. In Borneo a lighter costing 

 100 guilders, about $40, does the work; there is communication 

 with Singapore three times a month 



Here are some figures that seem to demonstrate that West 

 Borneo deserves investigation by men who desire to invest in 

 rubber plantations and prefer to do it in a new country : 



.Average of 

 Sambas 26 Java 

 Estates. Estates. 



Average number of trees per bouw (1.7S-f acres) 203 300 



Age of trees 8 7 



Average in bearing 497 I/O 



Total output per year in pounds 328.730 101,884 



dumber ol trees in bearing 93,666 27,955 



Average yield per tree in pounds 3.45 3.65 



Average number of trees per tapper 304 300 



-\vci»ge yield per day per tapyier in puind., 2.95 1.41 



Percentage of first-grade rubber 79.9 80 



All-in-cost per pound, dry. in United States currency. 0.18 0.17 



It must be borne in mind that most of the estates are in the 

 hands of Malays and Chinese, who do not get anything like the 

 yield of rubber that they might if they knew scientific rubber 

 culture. What Borneo is capable of with the right kind of 

 rubber culture is certainly worth attention and investigation. 



RUBBER IN THE STATE OF VERA CRUZ, MEXICO. 



(Special Correspondence.) 

 IV Aany rubber pl.\ntations were located in Vera Cruz. The 

 ^'■'- state has suffered much during the last two years. It is 

 overridden with all kinds of bandits. Some claim to be political 

 chieftains, like Feli.x Diaz and Pelaez, but the rest are plain 

 bandits. Pelaez is controlling the oil zone below Tampico. 

 Rubber grows in that neighborhood, but no big plantations are 

 known to exist in the territory under Pelaez's control. 



Indians are tapping wild trees to a certain extent and they 

 are making nice "ponchos" or rubber coats. They buy from 

 merchants in the Huasteca Hidalguense ready-made garments 

 or "ponchos" made of plain cotton duck, and bring them to 

 their native villages. Then they tap the Castilloa and brush 

 the latex on the cotton garments. The latex is spread with an 

 ordinary paint-brush, and between each coating the garments 

 are exposed to the sun for drying. When finished, they have 

 an amber color. The coating is generally inade on both sides 

 of the cotton duck. After the goods have been coated several 

 times and are considered ready, they are returned to the mer- 

 chants in Tulancingo, and other towns of some importance. 

 Very often these Indians have a credit in those country stores, 

 or they are forced to trade there for other reasons. The pon- 

 chos made by these Indians are very good sellers, although they 

 do not look as well as imported waterproofs. Their main ad- 

 vantage consists in the fact that they do not stick. Merchants 

 are getting very good prices for these garments as they last 

 very long, and, considering the service they give, are not ex- 

 pensive. If necessary they can be repaired by coating with 

 fresh latex and curing in the sun. 



Felix Diaz has control over the soulhern part of the State of 

 Vera Cruz, and where he is shifting from place to place there 

 are several rubber estates, most of which have been abandoned. 

 However, near San Andres Tuxtla, the large Hacienda de Mon- 

 tepio, owned by Senator Clark, did not suffer very much. The 

 manager had to run, but the estate was left under the care of 

 a Cuban foreman, and was not damaged badly; of course, im- 

 plements, horses and mules were taken, but that is now con- 

 sidered a trifle in these days of wholesale looting. 



Some plantations along the Isthmus line, running from Cor- 

 doba to Santa Lucrecia, have suffered so much that nearly all 

 of them have been abandoned by their legitimate owners. The 

 country there is overridden with bandits, and one of them, called 

 Panuncio Martinez, is the most dangerous and cruel of all of 

 thein. The Carranzistas have not been able to catch him. For 

 a long time his headquarters were at Hacienda del Palmar 

 Grande, near Tezonapa, Vera Cruz, a very beautiful estate which 

 had once been the property of the French firm of Lions Hermanos 

 y Cia. of Puebla, and which became afterwards the property of 

 a Scotch company. One of the brothers, Olsson-Seffer, was the 

 manager for some time. The place has been ruined by the revo- 

 lutionists, the same as the other neighboring plantations. A 

 big banana plantation on the Rio Tonto has been abandoned, 

 and the same can be said of the big sugar estate called La 

 Oaxaquena, near Santa Lucrecia. 



Panuncio Martinez has been terrifying the whole district and 

 from time to time, the Carranzistas attempt to chase him, making 

 things worse for all the unlucky neighbors, because all the places 

 near the headquarters of Panuncio Martinez are sacked and 

 burned in order that he may not use them as a base or a shelter. 

 This was the fate, about a year ago, of the plantation called La 

 l^nion, of Isidro Barrios y Cia. The place chances to be on 

 the road to El Palmar, yet the owners had no connection what- 

 ever with Panuncio Martinez and were begging for protection 

 The "expedition was a success," as the Carranzista ditty always, 

 states and "Panuncio was done." When retiring to Cordoba the 

 Carranzistas burned La Union, that Martinez might not use it 

 as a base or shelter. That is the method of pacifying the coun- 

 try used by the Carranzistas. Plantation owner? are thrown 

 from the frying-pan into the fire when they apply for protec- 

 tion. After such a raid of the Carranzistas, all the fowls, pigs, 

 etc., of the poorer people and the farm-hands, or peones, have 

 been taken along with every bit of foodstuff which had es- 

 caped from the greedy hands of Panuncio Martinez and other 

 patriots of his class. 



THE COST OF BUSINESS IN MEXICO. 



One of ihe principal reasons why so few .Americans have at- 

 tempted to conduct mercantile business in Mexico is shown by 

 the accompanying estimate of the annual expenses of such an 

 enterprise furnished by a business man of Guaymas. Sonora. 



State taxes on the business at 8 per cent annually $200.00 



60 per cent Federal tax on State tax 120.00 



State taxes of 2 per cent on retail sales, estimating that sales 



amount to $15,000 per year 300.00 



60 per cent Federal taxeson $300 180.00 



Stamp taxes on retail sales of $15,000 at 5 mills annually 75.00 



Municipal taxes, considering the business as fifth class 50.00 



60 per cent Federal tax on $50 30.00 



Water at $2.50 monthly, one year 30.00 



Electric lights 120.00 



One telephone 53.80 



Kent of building 900.00 



Interest on a capital of $25,000 at 12 per cent annually 3.000.00 



Salaries of office and store employees, including salary of manager 7.800.00 



Minor expenses, such as paper, stationery, office fixtures 142.20 



Total $1.3.000.00 



Taking 25 per cent as a basis of profit on the cost price of the 

 merchandise, it would require annual sales amounting to $75,000 

 to obtain a net income of $5,750, not counting the $3,000 which 

 the capital would earn at 12 per cent. 



In the estimate, taxes on wholesale transactions are not in- 

 cluded, it being presumed that they are paid by the purchaser. 



