January i, 1908.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



117 



RUBBER PLANTING COMPANIES. 



THE London Asiatic Rubber and Produce Co., registered in 

 London, October 26, with a capital stated of £140,- 

 000 [=$681,310], has for its purpose the acquisition, as a going 

 concern, of the Asiatic Rubber Produce Co., Limited, formed 

 in Ceylon in 1905, with an issue of capital to date of £76,666 13s. 

 4d. The estates acquired are in Malacca and Selangor, and em- 

 brace 4190 acres planted to rubber. The number of rubber trees 

 is reported at about 650,000; of which 14,600 will be tappable 

 this year, and an increasingly large number each year there- 

 after. The members of the board are also directors in other 

 important rubber planting enterprises. 



At the meeting to complete the organization of the Sumatra- 

 Deli Rubber Estates, Limited (London, November 12), it was 

 stated that the transfer of the property was complete and that 

 two shipments of rubber, amounting to about 4000 pounds, had 

 been received in London 



The Sambas Rubber and Gutta Percha Co., Limited, whose 

 estates are in Borneo, are reported to have ordered 300,000 

 Para rubber seeds and 15,000 18 month old plants. 



The average price obtained in London for Kepitigalla estates 

 rubber during the business year ended March 31 last was Si. 

 Sfirf. [=$1.3354] per pound. The directors think that the 

 greater yield per tree this year will offset the reduction that has 

 occurred in the price of rubber. 



The first report of Kuala Lumpur Rubber Co., Limited, covers 

 fifteen months, up to June 30, 1907. The rubber product sold— 

 mainly within the last twelve months of this period— amounted 

 to 31,902 pounds, from 14,501 trees, and realized 5J. 2 2-5rf. 

 [^1.30 2-3] per pound, after deducting sale charges. The profit 

 for fifteen months was £7612, of which £7503 was earned in the 

 last twelve. No dividend was expected, but the directors voted 

 to disburse 3 per cent. 



SAO PAULO (BRAZIL). 



The department of agriculture of the Brazilian state of Sao 

 Paulo during the first si.x months of 1907 distributed among 

 planters 124,000 seeds of the Bahia rubber tree known as 

 "Manitoba de Jequie." This important rubber species has been 

 referred to in The India Rubber World October i, 1907 (page 

 9), and November i, 1907 (page 55). It has been described as 

 Manihot caricccfolia, the "manigoba" of Ceara being known 

 botanically as Manihot Glasiovii. 



PROGRESS IN GUATEMALA. 



Me. Leo F. Nadeau, the Guatemalan consul at Providence, 

 Rhode Island, has been furnished with details of the formal 

 celebration of the Northern Railroad of Guatemala, to take place 

 in this month. The new railway from Puerto Barrios to 

 Guatemala city, the national capital, a distance of about 200 

 miles, will be of great commercial importance to the republic. 

 opening as it does for the first time a very large region to the 

 Atlantic seaboard. The project has been almost wholly financed 

 with American capital, backed by a government concession and 

 guarantee. President Cabrera, in connection with the opening, 

 has designated two weeks as a national holiday. Mr. Nadeau, 

 who is interested largely in rubber planting and grazing in 

 Guatemala, is extremely sanguine as to the future of the re- 

 public. 



■■RUBBER SHARE HANDBOOK.^' 



This is a compilation of details of companies owning rubber 

 properties in the Far East, South America, and Africa, issued 

 by The Financier and Bullionist, an important London financial 

 daily. It does not purport to be a complete list, but to deal with 

 a sufficient number of companies to enable the average investor 

 to form a just and accurate opinion of rubber shares as a 

 basis for investment. The information appears accurate in 

 every way, and is brought down to a later date than in any 



other reference book. There are several chapters of informing 

 comment by way of introduction. The price is I shilling. 



Gow, Wilson & Stanton, Limited, of London, under an 

 arrangement with The Financier, have brought out a special 

 edition of the "Rubber Share Handbook," with additional in- 

 troductory matter prepared by themselves. 



TWO NEW TAPPING TOOLS. 



THE "Universal" rubber tapping knife patented by George 

 W. Pask, of the Kepitigalla rubber estate, in Ceylon, has 

 resulted from the efforts of the inventor to devise one tool that 



will do all the work in tapping. 

 It is referred to as cutting all 

 styles of tapping — herring 

 bone, half herring bone, spiral, 

 or "V." It will make the first 

 channels vertically and after- 

 ward take off a fixed width or 

 depth of bark as required, cut- 

 ting either upward or down- 

 ward, or to the left or right, 

 and without clogging. It is 

 designed especially to prevent 

 cutting too wide or deep, or 

 injuring the cambium. The 

 larger of the illustrations 

 shows the knife complete, with 

 the handle. One of the smaller 

 pictures gives a view of the 

 cutter blade, which is square 

 shaped. "V" shaped cutters are 

 supplied, when preferred, as 

 shown in the other small pic- 

 ture. 



* * * 



The ".\lpha" rubber tapping 

 knife, shown in the next illus- 

 tration, has been tested more 

 thoroughly on planted Castilloa 

 trees, though designed for use 

 also on Hevea rubber. The 



[The small cuts are 'wo-thirds the ^ ^, , ^^^, j^ referred tO as 

 full size of the cutttr Dlaacs.J 



allowing the operator to keep 



the knife steady, thus making a straight cut. The curved blade 



cuts the groove and the straight, following blade skins off the 



Pask's "Universal" Rubber 

 Tapping Knife. 



The "Alph-V Tapping Knife. 



bottom side, exposing to the fullest the cells and allowing the 

 greatest amount of latex to flow into the channel. The blades 

 may be renewed when worn out. This tool has been introduced 

 by Mr. Leslie Radclyffe, 35, Queen Victoria street, E. C, London. 



