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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



August 1. 1919. 



a place of 27,000 inhabitants. From the outset it had also 

 the advantage that much of it had already been cleared and 

 well drained for tobacco growing and that more than 175 

 miles of good roads had been built. 



THE BEGINNING OF PLANTINa 



Planting was begun in June, 1910, only a month after the 

 initial purchase, and the speed with which it was pushed may 

 be inferred from the fact that by the end of the year 15,000 

 acres had been planted with growing trees. By the end of 1913 

 about 34.000 acres, or over 53 square miles, had been planted 

 with He-ca hrasilicitsis. The trees were planted nineteen feet 

 apart each way, 121 trees to the acre, with the view of bring- 

 ing 100 trees per acre into bearing. 



The Factoev Offices Are Housed 



Modern Construction. 



The company also acquired two detached estates, one at 

 Langkat and the other at Si Pare Pare. These were handled 

 as separate estates. Their area is appro.ximately 7,000 acres, 

 about 5,000 acres of which are now bearing. 



The plantation managers assured the directors of the home 

 company that they would have rubber from their own planta- 

 tion in five years' time, but the growth was so rapid and healthy 

 that rubber was obtained from newly-planted trees in less than 

 four years. 



Notwithstanding its size, the plantation is one of the cleanest 

 and best kept in the East, the managers believing that the heavy 

 initial expense of pulling out stumps and roots and thoroughly 

 clearing up the ground, though large, is warranted Ijv the ulti- 



There .\re Sixtv-five Miles of Railro.\d on the Pl.\nt.\tion. 



mate result. About 20,000 coolies, representing a half-dozen 



contiguous nationalities, are employed on the plantations. 



EMPLOYES' WELFARE CONSIDERED. 



The company gives careful attention to the welfare of its 



employes. It finds its chief difficulty in work along welfare 



lines in the well-known hostility of the .\siatic to anything that 

 is new. But step by step the company is making progress in 

 this phase of its work. Especial efforts are made to give the 

 various nationalities represented the sort of diet and home sur- 

 roundings to which each is accustomed. 



If the coolies are so well taken care of, it may be realized 

 that the numerous European staff is excellently provided for 



These Buh-dings .''lre Part of the Factory Where the 

 Latex Is Converted into Crude Rubber. 



Indeed, the estate is dotted with the tastefully built and deco- 

 rated dwellings of directors, managers, assistants, chemists, and 

 botanists. Drainage is properly looked after and a filter supplier 

 the necessary pure water for drinking purposes. 



As the plantation is rather removed from centers of amuse- 

 ment, the tedium which would otherwise characterize the leisure 

 hours of the staff is relieved by ample means of diversion, there 

 being football fields and tennis courts, a club and a motion- 

 picture theatre. 



A MODERN HOSPITAL. 



One of the features of the plantation company's efforts on be- 

 half of its employes that has attracted wide attention all through 

 southern Asia is a large hospital which is regarded as the best 



These Five- Year-Old Trees H.\ve .'\lready Been Tapped and 

 Will Continue To Produce Increasing Quantities of Latex. 



in the Asiatic tropics. The Dutch Government has shown its 

 appreciation of this by conferring a medal on the company. 



The hospital is equipped to take care of 800 patients, and is 

 situated on the road from Kisaran to Tanah Radja on a site 

 giving good drainage. Adjoining the hospital twenty-two acres 

 have been reserved on which are situated the quarters of the 

 head doctor and the hospital staff, as well as a hospital for 

 Europeans. The buildings are of brick plastered with cement, 

 while the floors are of concrete, cleanliness and ventilation being 

 carefully provided for. The wards number thirteen, and every 

 room has sufficient space for fifty sleeping tables. Each table 



