458 
(a.)  The  destruction  of  a large  part  of  the  first  planting  by 
rats  and  their  continued  depredations. 
(b).  Inability  to  get  good  Hevea  seeds  until  after  three  years’ 
effort,  postponing  to  last  year  the  establishment  of  Hevea  culture 
on  any  considerable  scale,  and  causing  the  expenditure  of'  a great 
deal  of  money  for  which  there  is  nothing  to  show. 
(c.)  The  revision  found  necessary  in  the  scheme  of  cultiva- 
tion has  raised  the  cost  of  cultivation  to  date  on  the  older  planta- 
tions above  the  original  estimates  for  the  entire  period  of  develop- 
ment. 
Lastly,  after  meeting  these  increased  expenditures,  and  result- 
ing from  the  difficulties  mentioned,  the  crop  from  the  Ceara  trees 
is  one  year  later  than  expected  and  from  the  Hevea  will  be  at  least 
three  years  later  on  all  the  pioneer  plantations. 
These  are  facts  which  we  cannot  get  away  from,  and  I believe 
we  shall  be  the  happier  for  meeting  them  face  to  face,  discussing 
them  frankly,  and  considering  what,  if  any,  conditions  have 
developed  to  offset  them. 
First  among  these  should  be  mentioned  the  general  rubber  mar- 
ket, and  the  chances  of  profit  when  we  do  get  a crop.  I have 
referred  to  the  estimates  made  at  the  beginning  which  have  not 
been  realized.  Let  us  go  further.  Rubber  was  to  be  obtained  at 
a collection  cost  of  30  cents  per  pound.  Reference  to  Dr.  Wil- 
cox’s report,  as  published  by  the  Maui  News  a year  ago,  gives 
exactly  this  estimate  as  the  result  of  experiments  conducted  by 
his  department  in  tapping  Ceara  trees.  To  quote : “Three  men 
should  be  able  to  obtain  rubber  from  mature  trees  at  the  rate  of 
about  one  pound  an  hour.”  This  means  one  pound  for  three 
hours’  labor.  Reckoning  labor  at  $1.00  for  ten  hours’  work,  which 
is  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent,  higher  than  at  present,  this  will  give  a 
cost  of  30  cents  per  pound,  the  same  as  estimated  five  years  ago. 
As  to  the  selling  price  of  rubber,  the  figures  referred  to,  given 
five  years  ago,  were  based  on  an  average  selling  price  of  $1.00 
per  pound.  A glance  at  the  graphic  representation  of  rubber 
prices  since  then  shows  that  at  only  one  time,  for  six  months,  in 
the  five  years,  has  the  price  been  below  $1.00,  while  all  the  rest 
of  the  time  it  has  been  above  it,  and  at  the  present  time  is  $2.20 
per  pound,  and  authorities  agree  that  it  is  likely  to  stay  or  near 
the  present  price  for  some  time,  witness  Zeller.  Vielinger  & 
Co.,  in  the  India  Rubber  World,  v0rr  November,  1909:  “We  do 
not  see  any  chance  to  expect  cheaper  price  for  the  next  two 
months;”  or  to  W.  Wright  & Co.:  “There  is  no  indication  of  a 
setback  in  values.” 
To  be  sure,  complete  cultivation  is  now  generally  conceived  to 
be  necessary  to  satisfactory  results,  yet  I believe  development  in 
the  future  will  be  less  expensive  than  heretofore,  for  it  has  been 
found  that  several  inter-crops  can  be  made  to  grow  between  the 
rubber  trees  with  sufficient  success  to  diminish  the  net  cost  of 
cultivation.  From  the  very  first  cacao  has  been  tried  because  it  is 
grown  successfully  for  this  purpose  in  Ceylon,  but  it  has  not 
