rubber in the hands of the purchaser at a cost to us 

 of gd. per lb. That is to say all we get over gd. per 

 lb is profit. 



MANAGERIAL It will be noted that I have only allowed 6 cts 



COSTS. per lb for management. I have done this as that 



was the figure given in my first paper and I have 

 kept to it to make my figures comparative. Those 

 considering this sum too small can add to it what 

 they consider correct. 



RUBBER At the time I read my labt paper rubber was 



PRICES. fetching 2 /ad. per lb in London. Since then price- 



have fluctuated, having risen to 4/- per lb. and 

 dropped again to a/sd. Unfortunately, owing to 

 delays in transit none of this year's rubber has 

 reached home, so I am unable to give prices obtained. 

 We, however, sold one consignment of 191 5 in 

 February last at 3/4/^d. per ft), the highest price 

 on that day in the market being 3/6d. This con- 

 signment was described by our Brokers as a very 

 nice sample of rubber. We may, I think, take it for 

 granted that the year's rubber, when sold, will realise 

 not far below the top of the market. 



PROFITS FROM We have now reached the stage when we may 



RUBBER. feel justified in working out what are the profits to 



be obtained from rubber in this country. For this 

 purpose we may, I think, safely capitalise an acre 

 of rubber at ;;(i20. This area sho.uld bear 108 trees. 

 We have then to take an average selling price for 

 the product, and I propose to take a fixed price of 

 2/ 2d. per ft). Agreeing to these figures we then 

 find that the three years' Kivuvu results gave profits 

 as follows: In 1914 of 16%; in 1915 of 25%; in 1916 

 of 54%. These figures are not estimates. They are 

 the results actually obtained by me and I can vouch 

 for their accuracy. They can be readily checked from 

 the following : The area tapped at Kivuvu was, Jn 

 1916, 120 acres. The amount of rubber obtained was 

 16,700 lbs. On each lb. of rubber we get a profit of 

 i/6d. 



REDUCED A glance at the table of costs will show that the 



WORKING reduction each year has taken place in the first two 



COSTS. items, which are labour items. A reduction in the 



cost of labour means a reduction in the number of 



62 



