August 1, 1919.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



611 



The Sumatra Plantation of the United States Rubber 

 Plantations, Inc. 



This Is a General View of the Hospital at the Sumaira i'l 



Where Employes Receive the Best of Medical Attention. 



Plantations, 



AN examination of the statistics of the rubber industry re- 

 veals the singular fact that while America is the largest 

 consumer of rubber in the world and has invested millions 

 in the manufacture of rubber goods, the amount invested in 

 the actual production of crude rubber is comparatively negli- 

 gible. The vast rubber manufacturing industry of the United 

 States is almost entirely dependent on supplies from foreign 

 producers. That this state of affairs will not long continue is 

 shown by an increasing interest in planting, and certain repre- 

 sentative rubber men have not been slow to seize the exceptional 

 opportunities granted by Sumatra for their capital and energy. 



Few great American enterprises in foreign lands have so 

 much interest fnr Amrricnn rilizen? as the h\^ rnhhrr plantatinii 



EARLY DEVELOPMENTS. 



The Sumatra plantations of the United States Rubber Planta- 

 tions, Inc., first came into existence in 1910 under the name of 

 the Holland-American Plantation Co., a subsidiary of the Gen- 

 eral Rubber Co. of New York, which is also a subsidiary of the 

 United States Rubber Co. 



After a thorough investigation by well-known plantation ex- 

 perts of the possibilities of successfully growing rubber in the 

 Far East, it was decided that the northeastern shore of Sumatra, 

 a Dutch island, offered by far the most favorable conditions. 



In May, 1910, the Soengei Sikassin estate was bought and 

 subsequently ten other contiguous estates were acquired until 

 the company owned in onr pierr of •rro'r:il.Tr shape a tract 



The Native Patients Are Provided With Every Comfort 



AND Expert Medical Attention, Heretofore 



Unknown in Oriental Hospitals. 



This Is One of Many Weeding Gangs, Composed of Men and 



Women Employed on the Plantations, for 



Weeding Young Trees. 



of the United States Rubber Plantations, inc., in Sumatra. Far 

 away on the other side of the world, in the midst of Oriental 

 conditions, lies this great rubber-growing tract, a project de- 

 veloped by Yankee genius and Yankee capital. 



comprising 81.000 acres, or some 133 square miles, measuring 

 30 miles across its greatest length and 20 miles across its great- 

 cit width. This tract is only 17 miles inland from the port of 

 Tandjong Balei Bale and lOS miles south of the city of Medan^ 



