B08 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



the Directors who visited the "property in Janu- 

 ary states that the fields have a promising ap- 

 pearance. The Rubber Estates of Johore has 

 just begun its third year. In this case progress 

 in cultivation has been more rapid than was 

 looked for, and by the end of December it i» 

 hoped to have 3,000 acres under cultivation. 

 The Manager, however, is wisely anxious not to 

 bite off more than he can chew, and as the cost 

 of bringing the planted area into bearing is pro- 

 ving to be rather heavier than was expected this 

 also will probably restrict too vigorous an expan- 

 sion. The report of the Seafield Rubber Com- 

 pany for 1907 is the first issued, but as the estates 

 were,' partly developed when acquired, planting 

 is in a forward condition and a fair proportion of 

 the trees are not far off the yielding stage. It is 

 expected that by the end of the year some 2,080 

 acres will be cultivated. Recent expert advices 

 from the property point to a successful future. 

 The Tenom (Borneo) Rubber Company has made 

 swifter strides during its second than it did 

 during its first year, and it has now over 8 acres 

 cleared and 600 planted. Further land is to be 

 acquired, but the programme of the Directors is 

 not ambitious, and all they aim at at present is 

 to cultivate some 1,500 acres. The trees p.re ex- 



?ected to come into more or less full bearing by 

 912, and until that time the British North Bor- 

 neo Company pays 4 per cent, per annum on the 

 Ordinary capital. The remaining two concerns — 

 the Golden Hope Rubber Estate and the Patal- 

 mg Rubber Estates Syndicate — are in the yield- 

 ing state, with satisfactory results to the share- 

 holders. The financial showing for the past two 

 yeais is set forth in the table below: — 



Rubber Net Divi- Carry 



sales. profit. dend. i forward, 



ompany. — ^ —^^ , — ^ ^ -^-^ 



£ £ £ £ o/ a _-/ u £ £ 

 Goldon Hope 3,400 2,500 3,290 3,200 6 5 2,000 '1,200 

 Pataling ..11,800,13,000 7,200 8,600 35 40 900.7 



The Golden Hope has now practically finished 

 the planting of its property, and though it is 

 proposed to acquire additional land, this is 

 already cultivated. More rubber trees come 

 into bearing each year, but it is not till 1909 

 that a really large yield is to be looked for. 

 Thus the bulk of the revenue is still derived 

 from coffee, and it is the drop in income from 

 this source which explains the stationary net 

 profit, notwithstanding the increased sales of 

 rubber. Nothing was brought into 1906 from 

 19(15, whereas £1,200 was brought into 1907 

 from 19U6, and it is this which permits the 

 dividend to be raised from 5 to per cent, and a 

 bigger balance to be carried forward. The 

 capital of the Company has just been increased 

 from £40,000 to £50,' 00, and new shares to the 

 extent of £4,000 have been offered to the 

 existing proprietors. While this is the 

 second dividend distributed by the Golden 

 Hope, the payment made by the Pataling is the 

 third, and brings up the total to 95 per cent., 

 so that the shareholders have very soon got 

 their money back again. The Company was 

 formed as recently as 1903, and by the end of 

 this year the cultivation of the property so far 

 as is at present contemplated will have been 

 carried out. There was a considerable increase 

 in the yield of rubber last year, but a drop in 

 the price reduced profits, and accounts for the 

 smaller surplus available for distribution and 



for the reduction in the dividend. Experience 

 in working the estate has enabled certain econo- 

 mies to be effected, and the result of this will 

 probably be more apparent during the current 

 year. In this case also the Directors require 

 further capital, and the shareholders have re- 

 cently had the opportunity of taking up £2,500 

 new shares at a premium of 300 percent. In 

 addition to rubber undertakings pure and simple 

 a good many tea companies which grow rubber 

 have also issued their reports during the last 

 few weeks. These mostly belong to the Ceylon 

 group, and a steady extension of rubber interests 

 is observable in the original programme of these 

 plantation enterprises. At present rubber reve- 

 nue is relatively small, but the time must come 

 when it will closely press that now derived from 

 tea, coffee and other products. —Financial Times, 

 April 14. 



RUBBER GROWBNG IN QUEENSLAND. 



Optimistic Estimates : with White Labour. 



The cultivation of Para rubber is beginning 

 to assume some promise of advancement in the 

 North of Queensland. A number of settlers 

 are obtaining plants from the Kamerunga State 

 Nursery, near Cairns, and selecting land for 

 the purpose. Places abound all along to coast, 

 from Bowen northwards, where rubber planta- 

 tions would grow well and be a source of much 

 profit to their owners. A shipment cf plants 

 has just been received from Singapore, and 

 has been distributed by the Government to 

 intending cultivators. To utilise the northern 

 lands by such industries is one of the pro- 

 blems which the State has to solve. No greater 

 barrier probably to the inroads of the coloured 

 races from the East could be found than for 

 the white population to engage in these oper- 

 ations of the land, and to show that they 

 can be worked with abundant profit. There 

 is little question that substantial and perman- 

 ent profits can be made. A selected plot, for 

 instance, of 300 acres, planted about 100 trees 

 to the acre, brings in the course of a few 

 years a good reliable revenue. If, at the end 

 of the fifth or sixth year, each tree only pro- 

 duced 1 lb. of rubber, and this sold at the 

 common price of 5s. per lb. the income from 

 the plantation would reach £7,500. If one-third of 

 that sum had been spent in expenses, the returns 

 would be large. For years too that revenue might 

 be received without only special additional cost. 

 The annual consumption in the United States, 

 Germany and England is 49,583 tons, and the 

 average price received by those countries that 

 export it is £256 per ton. Queensland hopes to 

 capture some of this Moating cash in the world's 

 market. With its tropical lands, so adapted 

 for rubber-growing, the cultivation of it being 

 so simple and comparatively inexpensive ; and 

 the enormous demand for the product, it seems 

 incredible that so little hitherto has been done 

 in the way of rubber-growing; but the start has 

 now been made, and it may be hoped that 

 before many years the production of rubber will 

 be one of the important industries of the State. 

 Samples of Queensland-grown rubber may be 

 inspected at the Queensland City office, 73. 

 Basinghall Street, London. — Australian paper, 

 April 22nd. 



