i7i 



RUBBER IN PERAK. 



Klang, F. M. S. 



i/fth May, /go^. 



DEAR Sir, — At the annual meeting of the Selangor Planters' 

 Association held in Kuala Lumpur on 30th April, I was asked to 

 place on record, in the form of a short letter, my impressions of the 

 work now being done in connection with the cultivation, tapping, 

 and preparation for the market, of Para Rubber, bv Mr. F. A. 

 STEPHENS of Tebong Estate in' lVrak, and this 1 gladlv agreed to 

 do, inasmuch as 1 think that we arc under a debt to Mr. STEPHENS, 

 the magnitude of which will perhaps be realised bv those who care 

 to hear what I have to say about the part he is playing in the 

 development of this imporlant industry. 



Mr. STEPHENS commenced tapping in October last, and up to the 

 end of March he had collected 4,004 lbs. of wet rubber, equal at a 

 20% loss to 3,1203 dry. The cost in labour was ^929.49, with a 

 Check Roll average of 44.8032 cents. More than one small lot has 

 alreadv been shipped and sold, the price realised for the last con- 

 signment t>eing J r s. (V. On the seas at present, is another lot, this 

 time of no less an amount than 14 piculs, or 1,867 ^ DS -> an d m his 

 drying-shed, is a stock of sheets in various stages of preparation, 

 which in itself would provide food for thought for men over here, 

 could they only see it. The Ceylon export for 1903 is given at 

 41.684 lbs. so that Mr. STEPHENS has in six months collected on 

 his Estate, about T Cth of the whole Ceylon production for last 

 year. Mr. STEPHENS kindly let me see his books, and from them 

 it is clear that the collecting, (airing, packing, despatch to Europe, 

 payment of export duty and all other charges, have cost him 55 cents 

 per lb. of drv rubber. The account is made out as follows: — 



Tapping, Curing, and Packing on Estate per lb. ... 30 cts, 

 Account Sales. Including all Penang& home charges 23 ,, 

 Kxport dutv and freight to Penang ... .. 3 ,, 



Total... 56 



The big commission of 6% had been paid to Agents and Brokers, 

 and as Mr. Stephens pointed out, this made his account sale 

 charges very heavy. With a Check Roll average of 35^. therefore, 

 planters may, if they are as successful as Mr. STEPHENS has been, 

 calculate under 50^. per lb., as the cost of their rubber from the tree 

 to the buyer. There are obviously other items which have to be 

 taken into consideration, such as Management, Buildings, Weeding 

 and so forth, but as these differ with each Estate, 1 do not propose 

 to deal with them here. It is enough that Mr. Stephens has shown 

 us what the actual handling expenses of the rubber are. An ordi- 

 nary clothes mangle, a heavy ink bottle as a preliminary roller, some 

 kerosinc oil tins cut in half lengthways in which the latex is poured 

 to set, a fine mesh sieve, jam or milk tins to collect the milk, far- 

 riers' knives costing 75 cents each and boughl in any kedei, lines 



