Il rOBEB 1. l''14.| 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



21 



The Editor's Book Table. 



i in VALUATION 01 RUBBEB BY F. C. PECK, 



tor of the JU Limited, 1914. Singapore: 



Kelley \ Walsh, Limited. Effingham Wilson. [Cloth, 8vo, 



181 pp i ii. i | 



T growth "i the rubbei n industry and of thi i 



increasing ini lusivei iks on rubber topics are both 



shown by the title of this volume. 

 \t the time The India Rubbed World was started there was 

 practically no rubber literature, while a book "On the Valuation 

 of Rubber Estates," if written at that time, would have read 

 verj much like the celebrated chapter on the snakes of Iceland. 

 Yet with the passagt of a few years comes a time when it is 

 assumed that enough men are able t" purchase rubber i 

 an. I ilcsirniis ,,i s0 doing, t.. make profitable tlie issue of a 



moderate-priced 1 k dealing with the subject expressed by 



the title of the work undi deration; Mr. Peck says that 



the usual method of valuation i- to figure a certain assumed 

 i ti. in and price, then assume the annual expenditures, 

 deduct the latter, then decide from this income what the estate 

 is worth. It is a result easil) attained and. in the author's 

 opinion, it is like most things easily gained not worth much 

 after you have it. 



The assumptions made in the work are based upon Malayan 

 rience, hut. in tin opinii n of the author, are generally appli 

 cable tn plantations of the eastern world, one variation being 

 offset by another in a different direction. An interesting state- 

 ment of his elucidation of this point is that, owing to the direct 

 buying of Americans, the price realized by the planter is 

 usually better at Singapore than at London. 



Mr. Peck assumes that in any well-managed enterprise the 

 entire capital necessary to thi 'earing stage will be met by 

 annual calls, as needed, lie assumes that all the rubber now- 

 planted, together with that soon to be planted, will not he suffi- 

 cient to meet the world's demand for rubber at fair prices. He 

 considers ten per cent, as a reasonahle return for future years, 

 with twelve per cent, as the present normal basis. He thinks 

 that investors, who feel that their perfectly safe investments 

 should yield the twenty per cent, realized by the venturesome 

 pioneer, are not altogether reasonable in their expectations. 



Turning the author's pounds sterling into American dollar-. 

 at the inexact but convenient ratio of one to five, he places, a- 

 follows, the normal cost of bringing rubber into bearing: $35 

 an acre for the first year after planting, $25 for the second, $15 

 for the third, $15 for the fourth and $10 thereafter each year 

 until tapping has begun. This represents planting on cleared land. 

 The cost of clearing represents an expenditure of $25 to $50 an 

 acre. Other costs of planting he puts at about $15. The average 

 he places at about $45. making the total expenditures up to the 

 beginning of the fifth year an average of $145 an acre. The 

 capital required for tools, machinery, etc . after tapping has 

 begun, Mr. Peck figures at $15 an acre. 



In the fifth year the planter ought to get a hundred pounds 

 of rubber from each acre of healthy trees, and this ought to go 

 on increasing. There is a wide variety of estimates as to what 

 eventual yield may be expected, from a minimum of 300 to a 

 maximum of 800 pounds. The author thinks that 500 is a safe 

 estimate for the maximum yield in the ninth year and there 

 after. The cost of production and sale of mature rubber he 

 places at 9rf, or eighteen cents, a pound. Referring to the low 

 yields of young trees, he believes that at present prices tapping 

 will not pay, and that it would better lie deferred until a better 

 yield could be expected. 



\s to the future price of rubber, the author, writing in Jan- 

 uary. 1914, predicts a moderate rise with considerable fluctua- 



tions durii year, with a gradual di after, 



lie thinks that 1916 will see an output of plantation ru 

 alone which will cm l supply of . ription for 



1913, and [ieves thai reclaimed rubber and the inf< 



s of wild rubber will soon be practically out of the market, 

 lie believes that the average qualitj of plantation rubber will 



iter in succeeding years, owing to the larger proportion 

 which will he derived from mature trees. This brings before 

 us the prospect of a vast supply of uniformly high qt 

 rubber at a pun low in comparison with figures of the recent 

 a i 



Mr. Peck believes that the eventual normal price of ruhljcr in 

 iln Singapon markets will lie a shilling a pound, this allowing 

 foi lair wages, reasonable contingencies and a planter's profit 

 of ten per cent, on invested capital, lie thinks, however, that 

 : priced rubber will so stimulate consumption that this 

 normal price, otherwise due in 1921, will not actually be rea| 

 lor somi ..us later. The reasons for all his conclusions are 

 worked out with great clearness and detail and the work is of 

 interest throughout. 



NETHERLAND GUIANA, SOUTH AMERICA ITS DEVELOPMENT 

 and Possibilities By James I„ O'Connor, Paramaribo: 



(Cloth, 8vo, 60 pages with 13 illustrations.] 



IN this comprehensive handbook Mr. O'Connor has grouped a 

 quantity of interesting matter affecting Xcthcrl.mil Gt 

 The principal geographical features ,,f the Guianas are as 



ti illows : 



Area. Population. 



British 90,277 sq. miles 304' 



Netherland 57,900 " " 100,000 



French $0,500 " " 40.000 ' 



Netherland Guiana (also called Dutch Guiana or Surinam) 

 h«s between British and French Guiana, with an area about 

 that of the State of Mississippi. It is bounded on the south 

 I'.razil and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. 



For the information of the visitors to the recent London 

 exhibition, the booklet recalls the fact that on two 

 in its history Netherland Guiana was under English rule i 1799- 

 1802 and 1804-1815), having since the latter date been subject 

 to Holland. Paramaribo, the capital, is situated about 18 miles 

 from the mouth of the Surinam River. It has about 40.000 

 inhabitants, among whom nearly every nationality is repre- 

 sented. 



In the shade the temperature seldom falls lower than 11 I . 

 while it does not frequently rise above 88° F. The good health 

 enjoyed by the Europeans and Americans who have for years 

 made Netherland Guiana their home, bears witness to the sa- 

 lubrity of the climate. The average rainfall is 92 inches per 

 \ear. While there is rain on about two-thirds of the days in 

 the year, there is never a day mi which the sun does not put 

 in an appearance. 



Among the chief physical features of the country is the net- 

 work of waterways formed by some eight rivers, navigable for 

 a certain distance to ocean-going steamers. 



With luxuriant vegetation, indigenous trees and plants abound 

 in profusion in the vast forests — which are full of wild animals 

 and birds — while giant palms fringe the river banks. 



Previous to the disturbance caused by the war, regular steam- 

 ship communication was kept up by various companies with 

 Europe and America, and a fleet of government steamers navi- 

 gated the rivers of the country. The government railway, start- 

 ing at Paramaribo, traverses the center of the colon;. 

 120 miles, reaching half wav to the Brazilian frontier. 



