

THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February 1, 1915. 



PLANTING NOTES. 



The rubbei planting companies in the Far I asl report a hi 



depletion oi their home official forces as a result of the war. A 



large percentage of the staff of the leading companies is either 



on active service at the front or otherwise engaged in affairs 



cted with :ii. wai Some of the offices of the leading 



hi., been thus almost completely demoralized. 



The directors ol the Straits Plantations, Limited, in their fif- 

 teenth annua] report submitted at their recent meeting, Have the 

 crop of rubber for the year 1913 14 as 50,485 pounds, compared 

 with 49,129 pounds for the preceding year. The cost was l.v. 

 7.7\d. per pound, f. o. b. Teluk Anson, against l.v. N. l_\i. pel 

 pound the previous year, and the average net price realized was 

 l.v 10.37rf. For the year 1914-15 a crop of 43,000 pounds is 

 estimab d 



At the fifth ordinary general meeting of the Good Hope 

 (Selangor) Rubber Co., a proposition was submitted to con- 

 vert the corporation into a London sterling company. A favor- 

 able report on the condition of the company's properties was 

 made by Mr. Kelway Randier, who had recently returned from 

 a visit to tlie estates, and the report and accounts were adopted 

 as presented. 



The Seaport Estate, according to a report presented by its 

 directors at the recent annual meeting held in London, harvested 

 last year a crop of 244,500 pounds of rubber, against 240,000 

 pounds, estimated, the previous year's yield having been 198,494 

 pounds. The total cost of production, including London ex- 

 penses and all charges, was Is. 5.12rf. per pound, compared with 

 l.v. 11.38</. per pound last year. The year's net profit amounted 

 to £11,662 14v. 4,/.. to which must be added £6..X73 14j. lOrf. carried 

 forward, making £18,536 9.V. 2d., from which the payment of a 

 dividend of per cent, was recommended, leaving £7,286 9s. 2d. 

 to carry to next year's account. For the year ending June 30, 

 1915, a rubber crop of 270,000 pounds is expected by the man- 

 ager. Several additions were made to the buildings on the 

 estate, including an assistants' bungalow, a smoke house, three 

 mi. of permanent coolie lines and an extension to the factory, 

 in which a second engine and a washing mill were installed. 



The Golden Hope Rubber Estate, Limited, announces the 

 declaration of a 5 per cent, dividend on the paid-up capital. 



\t the eighth annual general meeting of the Sungkai-Chu- 

 mur Estates, Limited, the chairman announced net profits of 

 £18,004 which, with £6,391 brought forward from last year, gave 

 them £24,396 to dispose of. From this it was proposed to pay 

 I dividend of 10 per cent., making with 2 interim dividends 

 30 per cent, for the year. After transferring £6,000 to develop- 

 ment account, making a total of £10,496 for working capital, the 

 sum of £5,396 would he left to carry forward. The total produc- 

 for the year was 347,621 pounds. 3,621 pounds more than 

 last year, at a cost of l.v. 3.71rf., compared with l.v. 9.76d. for last 

 year, a reduction of more than <></ per pound. The gross average 

 price realized was 2s. 3.25rf.. compared with 3.v. X.79d. the pre- 

 vious year. The averagi acreage tapped was 868 out of 1,469 

 planted, the yield per acre 388 pounds, against 340 pounds last 

 year, and the yield per tree 3.20 pounds, compared with 2.72 

 pounds last year. For the current year a production of 350.000 

 pi ntnds is estimati i 



The proposed shipment of latex from the plantations in the 

 to Lou. Ion, for conversion into rubber, in connection 

 with which English capitalists are rumored to have secured a 

 patent, is the subject of comment in "Times of Ceylon," which 

 claims to recognize in, the proposition a move in the direction oi 

 lardization which would he promoted by the collection of 

 ni I he material, from various sources, for treat- 

 central plant. We still fail to comprehend 

 intage would he gained by sending the latex to London. 

 when it could be just as well treated in Ceylon, and the rubber 

 would he a much safer and more convenient article to ship than 

 the latex. 



REVISED DUTY ON RUBBER EXPORTED FROM 

 THE MALAY STATES. 



r"i >l\ some time past the rubber growers ol thi federated 

 1 Mala} States have been seriousl) dissatisfied with the effects 



On their business, especially on the profit side, of the export duty 

 on rubber and the rentals paid on land occupied for plantation 

 purpi im's. 



\s a result of correspondence and negotiations between the 

 Council of the Rubber '.lowers' Association in London, the 

 llritish Colonial office and the government of the Federated 

 Malay States, the latter body, with the approval of the Secretary 

 of State for the colonies, has sanctioned a revised scale of duty 

 and certain modifications in rental. 



The revised scale of duty, recommended by the High Com- 

 missioner for the Malay States as the result of a meeting held 

 by him with the Acting Chief Secretary at Kuala Lumpur, at 

 which the unofficial members of the Federal Council residing 

 there and residents of Selangor and Negri Semhilan were pres- 

 ent, is as follows : 



No export duty shall be levied on rubber when the value of 

 hrst grade plantation rubber in London is less than Is. 6d. per 

 pound; when the value is Lv. 6d., and not more than 2s.. a sliding 

 scale is provided for the regulation of the duty, and when the 

 price rises to more than 2.V., the duty is to be 2 l /z per cent., as at 

 present ; the duty is to be calculated on the value of first-grade 

 rubber and no allowance is to be made for inferior grades. 



As regards rentals, at the Estates' option, the enhancement of 

 rent should he modified to be 50 cents from the seventh to the 

 tenth year, inclusive ; $1 from the eleventh to the fifteenth year, 

 $2 from the sixteenth to the twentieth, and $3 from the twenty- 

 first year. These modifications are accompanied by a more 

 stringent cultivation clause, calling for the cultivation of 5 per 

 cent, of the area annually for 5 years, a further 25 per cent, 

 from sixth to tenth year, inclusive, and from the eleventh to the 

 fifteenth year an additional 25 per cent. 



These recommendations having been approved by the British 

 ( olonial Secretary, the High Commissioner was so informed. 



I he Council of the Rubber Growers' Association does not 

 consider the modification either satisfactory or final, and on the 

 cessation of hostilities will again take up the question with the 

 Colonial Secretary and the government of the Federated Malay 

 States. 



RUBBER IN ZANZIBAR AND PEMBA. 



Zanzibar has an area of -400.000 acres, with a population of 

 114,069. and Pemba 245.000 acres, with about 85,000 inhabitants. 

 There are two rubber-producing plants indigenous to Zanzibar, 

 the Landolphia Kirkii and the Mascarenhasia elastica; the rub- 

 ber exported being almost entirely obtained from the former, 

 file exports of rubber from ]'J0 IJ to 1913 were as follows: 

 1909. 2.740 pounds; 1910, 4.124 pounds; 1911, 4.285 pounds; 

 1912, 3,588 pounds; 1913. 2.220 pounds. 



Ceara rubber trees were largely planted in 1907 in the north 

 of Pemba, hut owing to difficulties of labor and transportation 

 their cultivation was discontinued. 



INCREASED COCHIN CHINA YIELDS DURING DRY SEASON. 

 Reports from Cochin China state that the yield of rubber 

 during the dry season, instead of being less than in the rainy 

 period, as in many other countries, is as much as 50 per cent. 

 greater The \nnamite laborers are remarkably dexterous, the 

 average number of trees tapped daily being 600 for men and 

 450 for women. The method used gives a constant flow of 

 latex, with a minimum amount of hark removed. 



Should be on every rubber man's desk — Crude Rubber and 

 i ompounding Ingredient; Rubber Country of the Amazon; 

 Rubber Trade Directory of the World. 



