THE NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES 239 



coffee crops will compensate for the damage such crop- 

 ping may do in the direction of exhausting the soil. 

 Approximately the area of these different groups is 



Acres. 

 No. i ......... ...... 47,ooo 



* 2 .................. 3,000 



3 .................. 100,000 



,, 4 .................. 20,000 



5 .................. 



Total ...... 237,000 



The immediate effect of the rubber boom of 1909-10 

 was to increase the area under cultivation by more 

 than 100 per cent. In 1909 the rubber estates covered 

 100,000 acres ; in 1912 the area planted was 227,000. 

 The total capital invested in the enterprise by public 

 companies and private individuals at the beginning of 

 1912 was 



1. British 5,068,000 



2. Dutch 3,552,000 



3. Belgian 35>ooo 



4. United States 800,000 



5. German 72,000 



6. Hong-Kong 40,000 



7. Shanghai 25,000 



8. Private enterprise 513,000 



Total 10,420,000 



This capital value must be divided into the amount 

 represented by estates established on conservative lines 

 and those created as the outcome of the boom. In the 

 former case the cost of bringing a plantation to the 

 bearing stage may be taken at 25 per acre, as will be 

 shown in detail later on. Under the latter circum- 

 stances the capitalization is out of all relation to the 



