No\'EMBER I, 1907.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



43 



The Rubber Planting Interest. 



INCREASED ACREAGE IN CEYLON. 



THE proprietors of the Ceylon Observer, having tinished the 

 compilation of their "Handbook and Directory" for 1907- 

 08, give out a preliminary statement of the area planted 

 to rubber in this colony. Based upon reports made to them by 

 estates managers and, for the most part, verified, the statement 

 embraces 103,000 acres planted to rubber alone, 41,700 acres to 

 rubber planted in tea, and 10,707 to rubber in cacao. There are 

 also certain returns of "rubber trees," instead of acreage. Apply- 

 ing the customary rules of estimating, the whole is equal to 

 146,632 acres planted to rubber alone, in proprietary estates, 

 besides which the Messrs. Ferguson feel justified in adding 3400 

 acres in small native lots, making a round total for Ceylon in 

 August, 1907, of 150,000 acres under rubber. Last year's return 

 of rubber on estates was 103,766 acres. 



PLANTING IN DUTCH NORTH BORNEO. 



The Sambas Rubber and Gutta-Percha Co., Limited, registered 

 in London August 24, 1907, with £160,000 [=$778,640] capital, 

 was formed to acquire 131,325 acres in the sultanate of Sambas, 

 Dutch North Borneo, and to develop and extend plantations 

 of india-rubber and gutta-percha. Besides the extensive native 

 growths of rubber and gutta, there have been planted 14,501 

 Hevca rubber trees, 14,499 Ficus elastica, and 35,000 gutta- 

 percha, in the years 1903 to 1905. The purchase price of the con- 

 cessions, from the Cultuur en Handel Maatschappij Siloewas, of 

 Amsterdam, is £75,000, of which the vendors accept £60,000 in 

 shares of the new company. A favorable report on the properties 

 has been made by .Vshmore Russan, a rubber expert of London. 

 There were offered for public subscription on September 2 shares 

 amounting to £55,000. Registered offices : 3 and 4, Fenchurch 

 street, E. C, London. 



A NEW ENTERPRISE IN GUATEMALA. 



The West Co.ist Rubber Co., incorporated March 8, 1907, 

 under the laws of New York state with $250,000 capital, has 

 acquired the finca Pufiian de Arrivillaga, consisting of 22,000 

 acres of forest and pasture lands, in the department of Escuintla, 

 in Guatemala, not far from San Jose, the chief Guatemalan port 

 on the Pacific. The forest lands include a large number of 

 native rubber trees (CastiUoa elastica), in addition to which the 

 former owners, for some ten years, annually scattered rubber 

 seed broadcast, from which many thousands of young trees have 

 been produced. The West Coast company have begun the col- 

 lection of rubber and its regular shipment to New York, and in 

 June planted some 350 acres, putting in rubber seeds "at stake." 

 The officers, all of New York, are Frank E. Morse, president; 

 P. S. Jennings, vice president; and H. S. Stallknecht (No. 16 

 E.xchange place), secretary and treasurer. The Republic De- 

 velopment Co., who have nearly completed planting 42CO acres 

 in Mexico for the Obispo Rubber Plantation Co., have sub- 

 scribed for one-half the capital stock of the West Coast com- 

 pany and begun the development of Plantation Punian. Mr. 

 Jennings, named above, is president of the Republic Develop- 

 ment Co., and Maxville Riddle, manager of the Obispo planta- 

 tion, is a director in the West Coast company. 



HAWAIIANS PLANTING IN THE MALAY STATES. 



Mention was m.ade in this paper recently [February i, 1907 — 

 page 147] of a company formed in Hawaii to establish a plan- 

 tation of Hevca in the Malay peninsula. The promotors. The 

 Waterhouse Co. (Honolulu), have recently floated a second 

 company, Tanjong Olok Rubber Plantation, Limited, incor- 

 porated under the laws of British Columbia, with $140,000 capital 

 authorized, to plant in Johore, on land leased from the govern- 



ment of that state, which adjoins the Federated Malay States. 

 Tanjong plantation will be on the Muar river, below the noted 

 Lanadron estate of the Messrs. Pears. Dr. E. T. Waterhouse, of 

 Honolulu, is president of the new company; Paul R. Isenberg, 

 vice president; and Fred T. Waterhouse, secretary and treasurer. 

 The estate manager is Frank G. Wallace, some time with the 

 Sandycroft estate. At last accounts 300 acres had been planted 

 to rubber. 



PLANTING IN EAST SUMATRA. 



The latest edition of Hallerman's "Adresboek," published in 

 Sumatra, records 44 companies engaged in rubber culture on the 

 east coast of that island, distributed throughout the various dis- 

 tricts thus: Serdang, 17; Langkut, 7; Padang Bedagei, 6; Batoe 

 Bahra, 6; Laboean Batoe, 4; Asahan, 2; Siak, 2. Of these, 14 

 are planting rubber alone ; the remainder are planting other 

 crops with rubber as follows: Coffee, 19; tobacco, 4; coffee and 

 cocoanuts, 2 ; tapioca, 2 ; groundnuts, i ; coffee and tobacco, I ; 

 cocoanuts, i. 



planting in JAVA. 



The Belgisch-Nederlandsche Cultuur- Maatschappij, operat- 

 ing in Java, reported as having planted, at the end of 1906 (since 

 which time considerable more rubber has been put in), about 

 527 bouws [^1302 acres] in Hevea BrasUiensis, there being 

 531,422 trees recorded. On the company's estates at Tijrandji, 

 Passir Empoe, and Tjoeroeg the company are planting cocoa- 

 nuts and, as "catch crops," cacao and ground nuts. The com- 

 pany is capitalized at 700,000 florins [^4-8i.400]. 



good PROGRESS IN HAWAII. 



The Hawaiian rubber growers have formed an association for 

 the purpose of assisting each other by cooperation. The India 

 Rubber World is informed that the Nahiku Rubber Co., Lim- 

 ited, at Maui, T. H., expect to begin tapping within a year, and 

 by the fall of 1909 W'ill have 100,000 trees ready for tapping, if 

 the rate of growth thus far should continue. The trees under 

 cultivation are Manihot Glaziovii, of which species our cor- 

 respondent writes : "I do not think that there is any place in the 

 world where the 'Ceara' tree has made such a wonderful showing 

 as it is doing here." 



INTERESTS IN EUBBEH IN PAPUA. 



The commercial agent for Canada at Melbourne writes that 

 the director of agriculture of Papua, or British Guinea, now 

 under control of the Australian commonwealth, has recently 

 planted for e.xperimental purposes many thousands of Para 

 rubber stumps, from which successful results are predicted. Large 

 areas of land are being taken up by Australian investors in- 

 terested in rubber. A company registered in London August 26, 

 is the Papua Rubber and Gum Syndicate, Limited, with £2,500 

 capital. 



EVEN SIAM plants RUBBER. 



A PRiv.\TE syndicate in Bangkok, after running a rubber estate 

 for 18 months, has formed itself into a company registered at 

 Singapore as the Kombok Rubber Co. 



PLANTING IN THE FRENCH CONGO. 



The French colonial governrhent has issued a notice to conces- 

 sionaires in the French Congo engaged in exploiting rubber, 

 calling their attention to the neglect of existing regulations re- 

 quiring a certain amount of rubber planting, in proportion to 

 the exports of crude rubber, the regulations being similar in 

 character to those enforced in the Congo Free State. Not only 

 are the concessionaire companies required to plant rubber as 

 stated, but it is announced that the natives may discharge a por- 



