Gums, Resins, 



6 



[July, 1912, 



Castilloa and Rambong. The loss in hard 

 cash and labour in connection with these 

 rubber trees in Java has been great, and 

 many Hevea estate managers to-day are 

 lacking in confidence. Many of them do 

 not really believe in the success of Hevea 

 rubber. 



Management in Java. 

 And some of them are apparently not 

 very keen on being taught how to make 

 Hevea a success. We are aware that 

 these aie somewhat strong remarks for 

 one who is connected with Java estates 

 to make. Judging estate affairs from 

 the British standpoint one cannot help 

 being struck by the lack of details in 

 accounts, and enthusiasm in general pro- 

 gress of Hevea cultivation on many 

 estates. Perhaps it is prejudice coming 

 to light in the form of stubbornness ! It 

 might well be that the Ceylon and 

 Malayan system of accounts and general 

 management are not always understood 

 in Java. Certainly the value of dis- 

 cipline does not appear to be appreciated 

 so highly in Java as even in the sister 

 colony — Sumatra. Without confidence in 

 Hevea, without a thorough grasp of 

 tapping methods and the preparation of 

 rubber, or in the absence of enthusiasm 

 and discipline among the staff, Hevea 

 cannot be made the success in Java 

 which it has been in adjacent colonies. 



Commission System in Java. 

 Probably one of the reasons why 

 Hevea yields have not been what they 

 ought to have been, in Java, is that the 

 commission basis, when applied to 

 Hevea ass against robusta coffee and 

 sugar, is not so attractive to the estate 

 manager and staff. There is a longer 

 wait for crops and the amount of commis- 

 sion received even when Hevea trees 

 commence yielding is not particularly 

 great. It is quite common for Java 

 managers to receive a commission of ten 

 per cent, of the profits from coffee, or 

 cash for every picul of coffee harvested. 

 Robusta coffee being such a heavy yield- 

 er and cropping so early is preferred to 

 Hevea, in areas where the latter requires 

 six years before tapping can be commen- 

 ced. As a result of this, instances are 



known where managers have deliber- 

 ately allowed the coffee to seriously 

 interfere with the Hevea trees to such 

 an extent that tapping has been delayed 

 for quite a couple of years, despite in- 

 structions from directors in Europe to 

 regard Hevea as the important and prin- 

 cipal crop. 



It may be suggested that one way out 

 of the difficulty would be to pay commis- 

 sions for Hevea trees of a given girth, as 

 is done by the Brazilian authorities to 

 encourage the permanent cultivation of 

 Hevea trees. The suggestion, though 

 flavouring of absurdity does, however, 

 indicate the necessity of radical changes 

 on Hevea estates. 



Visiting Agents in Java. 

 The difficulties experienced by most 

 English companies owning estates in Java 

 will probably be overcome by the intro- 

 duction of better supervision by visiting 

 agents drawn from Dutch planters who 

 have a thorough grasp of the methods 

 adopted in Malaya and Sumatra. The 

 majority of managers require all the 

 practical assistance possible and will, in 

 our opinion, soon realise that in Hevea 

 brasiliensis they have a tree which for 

 hardiness and yielding capacity cannot 

 be equalled by any other plant in the 

 tropical world. There is money to be 

 made with Hevea in Java for managers 

 as well as shareholders. There are thou- 

 sands of acres in that island which can 

 grow Hevea as well as, if not better, than 

 Klang, Lanerkat, or Kaiutara. There is 

 a labour force to draw upon which other 

 countries find useful, and it should not 

 be difficult to encourage the growth of 

 a resident tapping force by the payment 

 of premiums according to the length of 

 tapping service rendered. In our opi- 

 nion, English companies operating in 

 Java should have their shares at a much 

 higher value than they are to-day. 

 Instead of the few, such as Bandjasarie, 

 Java Rubber Plantations, Simo and Java 

 Amalgamated, standing at a premium, 

 there should be a score of companies 

 showing a considerable capital appreci- 

 ation at the present time. 



