518 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1915. 



PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE PLANTATION 

 PRODUCTION. 

 By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE export of plantation rubber from the Federated Malaj 

 Statts during the month of April, although in advance ol 

 the total exported in the corresponding month las) year, is sub- 

 stantially below the aggregate for March. The following is a 

 comparative table, showing the export for three years: 



1913. 1914. 1915. 



ary 2,542 .5.47.' 



uary 1.757 .1,411 



1,737 1,418 3,418 



April 1,626 2,151 J. 777 



rotal 7. 9.475 13,079 



April is always a light cropping month in Malaya because it 

 comes within the period when the trees shed their leases. This 

 year the wintering of the trees is said to be rather later than 

 usual. 



\s might be expected, in view of the shrinkage in the total 

 exports of plantation rubber from this part of the world, the 

 individual crops oi many of the old-established estates show a 

 like falling off. The following table of comparative yields for 

 the month of April illustrates this tendency towards reduced 

 crops From the older estates in the Malay Peninsula: 



Y:. 1.1 for April 



Company. I'M 4. 1915. 



Anglo-Malay 



B i.i t aves 44.700 42,000 



Bukit Rajah 44,200 40,500 



Damansara 44,900 41,400 



. onda 32,500 J I 



penden 33,600 24,200 



Highlands 83,100 60,250 



Para 49,000 24,000 



Kuala Lumpur 86,000 S3, 000 



Linggi 00 si, 200 



ing 46,200 41, 



Selangoi 51,800 44,;<>n 



Sungei Kapar 51,000 35.600 



Sungei Way .54.111 32,800 



Tremi lbye ' 45,000 33,500 



It must not be inferred from the foregoing that all the planta- 

 tions are reducing their outturn, for the statement only applies 

 to companies at or near maximum production. Practically all 

 plantations having coii-.idir.dile areas of young trees still show 

 substantial crop increases every month. The older estates are. 

 of course, suffering for past misdeeds. These include unskilled 

 tapping in the early days of the industry; excessive tapping at 

 a subsequent date, and, in all cases, too close planting. It is 

 now the order of the day to thin out existing areas, to moderate 

 tapping so as P. give a longer period for hark renewal, and in 

 some instances it has been found necessary to rest the trees en- 

 tirely. All these factors tend to reduce the output and render 

 some of the estimates made of the total production of rubber 

 this year far too sanguine. 



HIGHLANDS AND LOWLANDS. 

 The reduced output shown by Highlands is no doubt partly 

 due t>. the damage caused by a cyclone which recently visited 

 the property. In view of the standing which this company enjoys 

 in the rubber market, the following extract from the chairman's 

 speech at it, annual meeting, held a week ago, will he of in- 

 terest: "On the whole, you have no doubt gathered that every- 

 thing is satisfactory, and the prospects for the current year are 

 decidedly favorable, even though I have to tell you that we 

 have heard by cable of a violent wind storm, which has done 

 serious damage, and the latest information is that we have l"-t 

 8,000 trees on Highlands and 25.000 trees at Batu Unjor, in con- 

 sequence of which the estimated production for the current year, 

 which was placed at 1.240,-100 pounds, must he reduced by 122.000 

 pounds, which will make it 1.11K.000 pounds." 



THE SYNTHETIC BOGEY. 

 This is the season of plantation company reports, and in the 

 mass they provide some very instructive reading, not untinged 

 with humor. For example, the chairman of Kuala Selangor. a 



plantation company that has paid line dividends for a number 

 ..i years, let himself go on synthetic rubber to the following 

 effect: "By the way, there is one little matter that I might 

 i. fer to, viz., that old bogey, synthetic rubber — that peculiar com- 

 pound of artichokes and sea sp^ng. which was to oust our 

 plantation pi. "1111-1. 1 think that we may finally dismiss the 

 resilienl bogey from our minds. He appears to jump forward 

 at intervals, hut his resiliency seems to lie the only thing that 

 he has in common with our product." 



At the same meeting some interesting fact- were given con- 

 cerning yields and producing costs. The oldest trees on the 

 plantation are 8 years of age, and this section gave 500 pounds 

 of rubber per acre. Eventually it is expected that the estate 

 will give 600 pounds per acre all over, and that the .sis .i 

 production will not exceed 7(1. per pi unci all told. The costs 

 during the past season were at the rate of a trifle over 9c/. per 

 pound, and would have been less hut for the war. 



I ii I LOOK FOR RUBBER. 



\t another annual meeting Mr. McEwan, the late chairman 

 of the Rubber Growers' Association, dealt with the outlook for 

 rubber. During the first three months of 1915 the quantity im- 

 l i rud into the United Kingdom from Malaya and Ceylon 

 showed an increase over the same three months of 1914 of 

 7.940 tons, while the quantity from Brazil and all other places 

 showed a decrease of 3,718 tons. The net increase was 4,222 

 tons There are indications that within this year the aggregate 

 of importations will far exceed any previous total. The United 

 States Rubber Co. has in the island of Sumatra 42.725 acres of 

 planted rubber. Allowing only a yield of 400 pounds per acre, 

 this area can produce 7,600 tons per annum, and when a pur- 

 chasing power of that volume is removed from the sphere of 

 competition for what we produce, it is bound to have some 

 effect. "There will doubtless one day come a struggle," he con- 

 cluded, "and it is well that producers shrink! combine to place 

 all their energies on the development of new uses for rubber." 



STRAITS SETTLEMENTS RUBBER EXPORTS. 



A cablegram received by the Malay States Information Agency 

 from the Colonial Secretary, Singapore, states that the export 

 of plantation rubber during the month of March amounted to 

 2.477 tons as compared with 2,741 tons in February and 1,285 

 tons in the corresponding month last ye; 



The following table gives the comparison month by month 



for three years : 



I 1915. 



fanuary Inns 784 1,181 2.576 



Fehruary 745 .741 



March 898 1,285 2,477 



Total -,- 4,169 7,794 



These figures include transhipments of rubber from various 

 places in the neighborhood of the Straits Settlements, such as 

 Borneo, Java. Sumatra and the non-Federated Malay States, as 

 well as rubber actually exported from the colony, but do not in- 

 clude rubber exports from the Federated Malay States. 



COLD STORAGE FOR RUBBER. 



Refrigeration of rubber was strongly recommended at the 

 International Congress held in Vienna in 1910. and it appears that 

 Furopean rubber manufacturers have, to a certain extent fol- 

 ic iwcd the recommendations made there. But not so with pro- 

 ducers and dealers in crude rubber. The fact that the latter have 

 not taken up refrigeration and cold storage is perhaps due to 

 the uncertain character of the rubber market and the fear of in- 

 creasing the cost of production. However, it might be interest- 

 ing to subject crude rubber to refrigeration immediately on being 

 collected and to preserve it by cold until it is delivered to the 

 i... torv. 



