148 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1908. 



One of the principal manufactures in which rubber plays a 

 part, to which the Japanese are devoting their energies, is the 

 manufacture of insulated wires. The copper ore from which the 

 wire core is drawn is plentiful in the country, and the demand 

 for insulated wires for all manner of electrical purposes is here, 

 as elsewhere, growing yearly. The imports of wire for elec- 

 trical purposes, during the years 1904 to 1906, were as follows : 



1904. 1905. 1906. 

 Submarine and underground telegraphic 



wires or cables $518,480 $1,284,587 $103,820 



Electric light wire 389,139 385. -11 416,677 



Total $907,619 $1,670,298 $520,497 



It will be noticed in the above statistics that the value of sub- 

 marine and underground telegraph lines and cables imported in 

 1905 is far in excess of the imports for either 1904 or 1906. This 

 is to a great extent explained by the war requirements, which 

 ■came forward in the fiscal year 1905. Ultimately Japan expects 

 ■to supply her entire requirements in this respect, as in many 

 ■ others. As stated earlier in this article, a large plant for the 

 construction of insulated wire is now being erected in Osaka. 

 The following is a list of the principal rubber factories now 

 in operation in Tokio and its vicinity : 



Value 

 Capital. Products. 



Japan Rubber Co.. Limited $90,000 $125,000 



■Oriental Rubber Co., Limited 125,000 60,000 



Mitatsuchi Rubber Co 40,000 250,000 



Fujikura Cable Works 50,000 400,000 



Meiji Rubber Co 3S,ooo 100,000 



Vokohama Cable Works 600,000 0500,000 



a Estimated 



A fair idea of the raw material consumed by the above fac- 

 tories will be arrived at by taking half the value of their out- 

 put. This will not give an entirely accurate idea, as in some 

 cases the material consumed is proportionately more, and in 

 others less valuable, but it will give an average idea of the 

 yearly consumption of all raw materials required by the fac- 

 tories. Shinpo. 



Osaka, January, 1908, 



* * * 



Editori.\l Note. — The list on a preceding page of Japanese 

 manufacturing concerns which use crude rubber is believed to 

 be the most complete and accurate yet compiled, and it comes 

 at a time to supplement fittingly the letter from our cor- 

 respondent "Shinpo" (a word meaning "progress"). A Japanese 

 manufactory as a rule requires long credits and is disposed to 

 cover all its requirements through a single native house with 

 which it sustains close relations. Such a supply house is ex- 

 pected to keep its customers accurately posted with regard to 

 market conditions, and when and where to buy. The rubber 

 manufacturers, for example, buy supplies extensively through 

 houses like Messrs. Dewette & Co., of Yokohama. 



Progress of Rubber Planting. 



RtTBBER PLANTING IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



AN increasing interest in rubber culture in the Philippines 

 is reported by the bureau of forestry at Manila, under date 

 of November 20, to The Ixdi.\ Rubber World. Rubber 

 has been planted in the district of Davao, in the island of Min- 

 damao, and also on the island of Basilan and along the east and 

 west coast of Zamboango peninsula. Reports from ten planta- 

 tions show standing about 9,000 Para rubber trees, 61,000 Ceara 

 trees and 1,000 Castilloa — total 71,000. It is estimated that the 

 acreage is about 366 and this represents probably two-thirds of 

 the total planting in the vicinity. The planting of Para seeds 

 at stake has not been a success, but nursery seedlings "stumped" 

 at planting have made a good growth in every case. Ceara seeds 

 are always planted at stake. Hemp, coffee, cacao, and cassava 

 have given good results as intercrops with rubber. The report 

 indicates that there are large numbers of seedlings in the nurseries 

 of tlie southern planters, which probably will be set out this 

 year at the beginning of the rainy season. Considerable orders 

 are being placed with dealers in the Far East for seeds of Hevea 

 and Castilloa. The local production of Ceara rubber seed is al- 

 ready large. 



There is a colony of some 60 Americans in southern Mindanao, 

 representing 40 or more companies formed for the taking up of 

 •government lands for tl.e purpose of growing hemp. Much fer- 

 tile land there is still unoccupied and can be acquired in lease- 

 iiold on very favorable terms. Recently the possibility of com- 

 bining rubber with hemp has become apparent and one of the 

 planters writes The India Rubber World that before long rub- 

 ber seems destined to become one of the principal crops there. 

 The Davao Planters' Association, established February i, 1905, 

 is composed mainly of hemp growers, but Secretary Ma.x L. 

 McCoUough writes that there is a constantly growing interest in 

 rubber. The association would like to see new interests rep- 

 resented in the district, and to facilitate in every way possible 

 the introduction. 



BUBBER PULNTING IN MEXICO. 



J. Herbert Foster, manager of The Mcriden Rubber Planting 

 Corporation, reports (January 2) that the tapping done last fall 

 on their plantation in Vera Cruz yielded more than 600 pounds 

 •of creamed rubber, from 4,800 trees, or a trifle more than 2 



ounces per tree. It was the second tapping, and some of the 

 trees yielded twice as much as last season. The cost is estimated 

 at less than 20 cents (gold) per pound produced, against 25 

 cents one year ago, owing to the freer flow of latex. The trees 

 were to be tapped again at once, and Mr. Foster expects to 

 pay tlie expenses of the plantation this year from the sale of 

 rubber. 



Horace E. Levesley, managing director of The Mexican Rub- 

 ber Co., Limited, owners of the plantation "La Esperanza," in 

 Vera Cruz, is taking a vacation in Europe, the first he has en- 

 joyed since he became associated with Mr. George CuUen Pear- 

 son several years ago in forming the plantation. Mr. Pearson 

 has been residing in London for some time. There are now about 

 220,000 well developed trees on the property, and tapping on a 

 commercial scale is expected to begin this year. 



The Land Company of Chiapas, Limited, of London, have es- 

 tablished a rubber plantation called ''Eldorado." in Chiapas, in the 

 neighborhood of the estate on which the late Seiior Don Matias 

 Romero did some rubber planting more than 30 years ago. The 

 new company planted some 300 acres to rubber last summer. 



Charles A. Lesher, for some years manager of "La Zacualpa" 

 rubber plantation, has been appointed assistant to O. H. Harrison, 

 at the head of La Zacualpa and the allied companies, with head- 

 quarters at Tapachula, Mexico. W. S. Fisher has been appointed 

 manager of the La Zacualpa properties. 



The 1907 annual report of the Continental Commercial Co. 

 (St. Louis) gives the number of rubber trees (Castilloa) on their 

 Mexican properties as follows: Jumiapa estate, 60,000; Oaxaca 

 Coffee Culture Co. estate, 464,173; Monte Verde, 63,000; Lolita, 

 183,000; Pittsburg, 50,000; total, 820,173. They are from two 

 years old upwards. 



The shareholders of The Ohio Rubber Culture Co. (Canton, 

 Ohio), have chosen as inspector of their plantation in Mexico 

 this year Charles Eddy, of Akron, Ohio, who has started al- 

 ready on his inspection tour. Mr. Eddy is traffic manager of The 

 B. F. Goodrich Co., with which firm he is reported to have 

 been connected for 27 years. 



Inspectors for most of the companies planting rubber in 

 Mexico are now on the ground. 



