240 THE RUBBER INDUSTRY 



actual necessary expense for the establishment of 

 estates. The area of plantations existing on a conserva- 

 tive basis is approximately 100,000 acres, and that 

 affected by the " boom " about 120,000 acres. There- 

 fore the position may be summed up briefly as 



It is evident that the concerns capitalized under the 

 " boom " conditions at an average cost of 66 per acre 

 must suffer severely when increased supplies throughout 

 the world bring the value of rubber down to the actual 

 cost of production plus a fair profit, say 15 per cent., to 

 the producer. In any consideration of this subject, the 

 essential factors to remember always are that the 

 reserve of land available for rubber cultivation in 

 Sumatra and elsewhere is practically unlimited; that 

 new plantations begin to yield in the fourth year ; and 

 that the present condition of the labour-supply in the 

 East offers no serious obstacle to the extension of the 

 industry. 



The estimated cost of opening a rubber plantation of 

 1,000 acres on forest land situated at 50 feet above sea- 

 level includes all necessary charges up to the end of 

 the fourth year, when the yield should be sufficient to 

 allow the capital account to be closed. Allowance is 

 made for the cost of obtaining a grant of 1,000 bouws 

 of land (1,750 acres) in order to hold a reserve available 

 for future extensions. Felling and cleaning up after 



