84 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



COSTS OF PRODUCTION ON ESTATES. 



Many plantation companies will soon be com- 

 piling the accounts for the year ending Decem- 

 ber 31st, 1911. The time is therefore opportuneto 

 express the wish that some serious efforts be made 

 to give detailed costs of production, per pound 

 of rubber, for the year. Already we have recei- 

 ved some excellent reports, notably those of the 

 Kuala Lumpur Rubber Company, and the F M 

 S Rubber Company, in which the costs of the 

 various items are enumerated. 1 



Though we make this request, knowing that 

 it will have a beneficial effect if acceded to, we 

 are fully aware of the variation which must be 

 anticipated in the total cost of production on 

 various estates in the East. The variation is 

 due to the great differences now existing on 

 estates, butthese will gradually disappear as the 

 trees grow older and labour conditions become 

 more uniform. 



INFLUENCE OF COST OF LABOUR. 



The average daily cost of cooly labour has a 

 great influence on the cost of production. There 

 are many estates in Ceylon and Malaya where 

 the daily average is 38 cents, but in the former 

 country that is equivalent to 6d. and in the 

 latter lOJd. Fraser (I. R. J., Aug. 22nd, 1910) 

 stated that tapping was being done at f rom 10 

 to 18 dollar cents by Tamils and 22 to 25 cents 

 by Chinese, but this, he thinks, will be improved 

 upon. A planter, met in the F M IS, felt certain 

 that with crops of 500 lb. per acre, the f. o. b. 

 cost of rubber might be brought down to 8d. or 

 9d. with Tamil tapping in F. M. S. ; Is to Is. Id. 

 with Chinese tapping in F. M. S.; 4£d. in Ceylon 

 without manuring ;bd. in Ceylon with manuring. 



Another point which influences cost is that 

 some managers charge the actual cost of labour 

 employed in tapping against that item, instead 

 of charging the average cooly cost over the 

 whole estate. A case in point was where the 

 tapping coolies were paid at the rate of 45 cents, 

 when the cooly average over the property 

 was 35 cents. On another property, where the 

 average rate of cooly pay was the same, the 

 cost per day for tapping coolies was below the 

 average, viz., 30 cents, on account of only 

 poclians (boys) and women being employed for 

 such work. Weeding and other work is just as 

 essential as work more directly concerned with 

 the collection and preparation of rubber and it 

 would appear to be better to charge the average 

 cooly cost for the estate rather than the cost of 

 individuals employed for the time being on this 

 particular work. 



OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING COST. 



It is obvious that the cost of production must 

 be largely determined by the ages of the trees 

 and methods of tapping employed. The yield 

 and therefore cost also varies according to the 

 distance between the trees, the percentage of 

 trees in the tapping round, the season, and the 

 percentage of crop grades. The large variation 

 m the cost of tapping-knives will even account 

 for considerable differences between the costs of 

 production on adjaoent estates. Land, river, 

 and sea transports, local agency charges, and 

 many other factors are also responsible for the 

 enormous variation in cost at the present time, 



DAILY TASKS IN COLLECTING. 



The weight of rubber brought in by each cooly 

 per day has been given in the annual reports of 

 various campanies. On Lauadron estate the 

 outturn in 19U8 (trees 5 to 9 years) was 3'67 lb.; 

 in 1909 (trees 6 to 10 years) 318 lb.; in 1910 it 

 was 2 - 63 lb. from trees 3 to 11 years. Led- 

 bury estate obtained 2*14 lb. per cooly per day 

 in 1909 (trees 7 to 10 years), and 2'97 lb. 

 in 1910 (trees 3 to 11 years). On Sione 

 estate 2 69 lb. were obtained in 1909 from 

 trees 4 to 12 years old, and T97 lb. in the 

 following year from trees 3 to 13 years old. The 

 Singapore and Johore Rubber Company report 

 a completed task of 2 - 32 lb. per cooly for 1910. 

 Jomentah estate report 1*21 lb. for the same 

 year, the trees on this property being 4 to 6 

 years old. On several estates an outturn of 5 lb. 

 of rubber per day per cooly is obtained from 

 ten-year-old trees, a fact which iudicates that 

 a considerable reduction in cost of collecting 

 rubber will be possible when Hevea trees reach 

 the age mentioned 



PROPORTIONATE COST ON ESTATE. 



If the accounts of estates in full bearing are 

 examined, it will invariably be found that the 

 main item of expense is that included under the 

 heading of tapping and manufacture. This 

 amounts generally to from 50 to 80 per cent of 

 the total cost of production, and includes cost of 

 tapping, utensils, washing, drying, packing, 

 transport, and shipping. Cost of cultivation, 

 which includes roads and drains, weeding, sup- 

 plying, pe&ts, forking, and tools, is usually next 

 in amount, and averages about 10 to 15 per cent 

 of the total cost. Buildings and repairs are 

 usually from 5 tj7 percent. General charges 

 also vary, including salaries, insurance, local 

 and visiting agency fees, rent, medical and con- 

 tingencies, etc., and on estates in view account 

 for from 10 to 16 per cent of the total costs of 

 production. To the above must be added London 

 costs, which include offices, directors' fees, and 

 commissions. — India-Rubber Journal, Dec. 9. 



THE CARDAMOM MARKET. 



In dealing with the cardamom situation in our 

 issue of Nov. 18th, 1910, we alluded to prognos- 

 tications of famine prices in the near future, 

 and although these have not eventuated quite as 

 early as anticipated the last sales' price of 3s lid 

 for good bold palish Ceylon-Mysore is at any 

 rate an approach to the realisation of the predic- 

 tions. In August, 1909, good bold palish to pale 

 was selling at Is. iOd. to 2s. per lb. They have 

 been lower in recent years, for instance in 1905, 

 and also in 1904 — years of heavy receipts — wheu 

 Is. 7d. to Is. 9d. was paid, and smalls got down 

 to 7d., and they have been higher, as in 1898, 

 when 4s. 3d. was paid. Last year prices were 

 lifted up by the heavy shipments of green pods 

 from Ceylon to India, where there was a short 

 crop ; consequently the opening price in 1910 for 

 good bold at 2s. 4d. to 2s. 6d. compared with 2s. 

 8d. to 2s. IOd. at the close of the 12 months. 

 This year at the drug auctions prices have been 

 mainly m the ascendant, particularly during the 

 last three months, when good bold palish and/or 

 pale have registered the following prices ;-. 



