468 The Supplement to the 



A MODEL RUBBER PLANTATION. 



On Lapac Island, Sulu, Philippines. 



The Lapac Rubber Plantation was started less 

 than one year ago by a corporation of Zam- 

 boanga capital. Mr Henry Hasemeyer is the 

 plantation manager and has obtained very pro- 

 mising results during the short life of the plan- 

 tation. The following extracts from a report 

 recently rendered by the plantation manager 

 will be of interest to those interested in the 

 cultivation of rubber in the southern, islands : — 



LOCATION. 



The plantation is located on the island of 

 Lapac, Sulu District, Moro Province, P.I., and 

 is in lat. 5 deg. 32 ft. N. and long. 120 deg. 47ft. 

 E. ; it covers nearly all of the southern half of 

 the island and contains 2,530 acres (the maxi- 

 mum allowed by law). The island itself is about 

 five miles long in a north-east and south-west 

 direction and three miles wide, having a small 

 mountain at either end about 1,000 feet high, 

 and a smooth rolling plain between the two hills 

 extending from shore to shore. 



Lapac is separated from the island of Siasi by 

 a narrow channel about one-half mile wide. On 

 this channel is situated the town of Siasi, where 

 the United States have a Constabulary Head- 

 quarters and a regular steamship and mail ser- 

 vice from Zamboanga and Manila. Siasi, up to 

 a few years ago an open port, is expected to be 

 re-opened in the near future, and being on the 

 direct route of all large steamers bound from 

 Borneo and Singapore will give us direct com- 

 munication with the foreign markets. 



SOIL. 



The soil is of a dark medium loam and very 

 fertile. It is covered with a growth of short 

 cogon grass with here and there small patches 

 of trees. 



RAINFALL. 



There is a more or less uniform rainfall the 

 year around, while the nights give forth an ex- 

 tremely heavy dew which is almost equal to a 

 shower of rain. 



STORMS. 



The island is outside of the typhoon belt and 

 consequently the heavy destructive winds which 

 are so common among the northern islands are 

 absent here. 



WATER SUPPLY. 



There are a number of small riverlets with one 

 good sized stream of good, pure running water 

 which originates in a large spring at the foot of 

 one of the small hills. 



RUBBER. 



We have three patches of Ceara and one of 

 Para planted as follows : 



™ Ceara, — Patch number one contains about 

 1,500 trees which were planted during the latter 

 part of 1909. These trees are now from 16 to 18 

 feet in height and are all in a good and healthy 

 condition. Patch number two contains two 

 thousands trees, planted during the months of 

 January and February, 1910. They average 

 about five feet in height and are all doing well. 

 Patch number three contains 4,000 trees which 



Tropical Agriculturist 

 i 



were planted during the latter part of April and 

 the first part of May, 1910. This makes a total 

 of 7,500 Ceara trees now planted and all growing. 



Para. — We have planted 3,200 Para rubber, 

 which were set out from stumps during the 

 months of April, May and June, 1910. These 

 trees are all alive and the majority have started 

 to throw out shoots and branches. In addi- 

 tion we have made arrangements with a Bor- 

 neo Estate to ship us monthly 1,000 two-year- 

 old Para rubber stumps which we expect 

 to set out in monthly lots of the above men* 

 tioned amount. 



We now have a large number of plow gangs 

 working and by Nov. 1st, 1910, expect to have 

 planted in rubber as follows : — 



12,000 Ceara, 7,000 Para, 1,000 Castilloa, giv- 

 ing us a total of 20,000 rubber trees on Nov. 1st, 

 1910. 



COCONUTS. 



We have 2,000 coconuts in the seed beds, the 

 majority of which have already sprouted, these 

 will be set out on the first day of September, 

 1910. As it is the intention of the Company to 

 make rubber the principal crop, we have not in- 

 tended planting more than from two to there 

 thousand yearly. 



PEANUTS. 



Peanuts are planted between the rubber as 

 soon as it shows a good growth ; they mature in 

 three months and the yield is from seven to nine 

 piculs per acre ; they are now being sold in the 

 local market at from seven to nine pesos per 

 picul. From two to three crops can be har- 

 vested annually. 



Planting peanuts between the rubber and 

 coconuts enriches the ground, keeps down the 

 grass and weeds aud brings in a certain amount 

 of revenue while the older crops are maturing. 



ROADS. 



We have laid out and improved about 15,500 

 feet of permanent roadways. The estate has 

 been laid out in square fields, each field contain- 

 ing approximately twenty-five acres. These 

 fields are divided from one another by roadways 

 24 feet wide, while the road bounding the plan- 

 tation is 30 feet in width. These roads are im- 

 proved as the fields adjourning them are planted 

 in permanent crops. 



LABOUR. 



We consider that we have more, better and 

 cheaper labour in this immediate vicinity than 

 can be obtained in any other part of the Philip- 

 pine Islands. So far we have been able to use 

 only a very small percentage of the labour actu- 

 ally available, all of which live on and in the im- 

 mediate vicinity of the estate. Up to date it 

 has been the policy of the Company to encour 

 age all surplus labour to cultivate their little 

 patch of ground around their houses, thereby 

 keeping them contented and in good spirits, in 

 order that if at any future date we may need 

 them on the estate they will be at hand. 



The established wage for labour on Lapac is 

 as follows : 



Daily Labour.— Men receive forty centavos. 

 Women and boys receive twenty centavos. [One 

 centavo=3 cents Ceylon. One peso= R3.— Ed., 

 C.O.] 



