573 



(b) The Total Acreage, compared with the Planted 



Acreage, will show the extent of the company's reserve 

 land. 



(c) The Details of the Cultivated Estate have been 



shown in acres. The rubber acre is a more satisfactory- 

 unit of value than the individual rubber-tree ; and the 

 more modern view appears to be that, within reasonable 

 limits, a closely-planted acre of rubber is worth no more 

 than, if as much as, a widely-planted acre. 



Every care has been taken to show as accurately as possible the 

 number of acres planted in each year, but, as the reports of some 

 companies still quote the number of trees instead of the number of 

 acres, some estimating has been unavoidable. The planting distance 

 has been taken into consideration, and inquiries of the companies' 

 officials have sometimes elicited the desired information. As the 

 particulars thus obtained have been adjusted to agree with the 

 published acreage totals, it is believed that any discrepancy which 

 may exist will not be of sufficient importance to vitiate the general 

 accurancy of the calculations. 



The average age of the rubber has been calculated to the middle 

 of the present year, and the average cost per acre of rubber has been 

 ascertained by taking the cost of the estate and development expendi- 

 ture as shown in the company's balance-sheet, after making a 

 moderate deduction for the unplanted land — usually £3 per acre. 



The result is shown under two headings : — 



(1) The cost as ascertained from the item in the company's 



balance-sheet, less the estimated value of the unplanted 

 land. 



(2) The cost after further deducting the reserve funds and any 



other undivided profits which the company could (if 

 the directors so desired) apply in reduction of the book 

 cost of the estate. 



Where the profits in hand are considerable the difference is 

 important. 



The price per acre the investor is paying for rubber is the 

 essential feature of the table. The balance-sheet of each company 

 has been dissected, and the results shown in the table have been 

 arrived at by calculating the price at which the company would have 

 to sell its estate if it desired to realise all its assets, discharge all its 

 liabilites and return to its shareholders (as on a winding-up) a sum 

 equal to the present market value of the shares. 



