656 
THE TKOiPICAL AGRICtJLTURISl'. [April 1, l90l 
In bright weather rubber prepared by the addition 
of acid can be dried in about a week or ten days, 
if placed on a lattan bench v/bere there is a free 
circulation of air— assuming; the cukes are not more 
than one-eighth of an inch iu thickness, but on no 
account should it be placed in the sun, or the surface 
will be rendered permanently sticky. The producer, 
however should render himsf It independent of atmos- 
pherical conditions, by erecting a special house for 
this purpose. Something in the nature of a tea- 
witheiing house would suit admirably ; or on those 
estates where rubber is supplanting coffee, a new use 
for the coffee-drier may be found Unless some 
such arrangement already exists on the estate there 
is no necessity to go to any great expense in this 
direction ; all that is required is a high temperature 
easily regulated, and a strong current of air with 
the object of driving out all the moisture as quickly 
as possible, thereby enabling the producer to realise 
on his rubber with the least possible delay. 
Moulds are very troublesome and in damp weather 
will sometimes appear in the course of 48 hours, but 
their growth would be hindered to a great extent and 
probably entirely prevented if the rubber was kept in 
a drier, with a strong current of dry air passing 
through, until ready for shipping. 
As Ct mpared with other tropical products, it will 
be seen that the preparation of commercial India- 
rubber presents very few difficulties, while the cost is 
comparatively small. Samples of rubber prepared by 
various methods are being sent home for valuation, 
and the result together with other remarks touching 
on this question will form the subject of a further 
report. 
COST OF OPENING AND MAINTAINING A PLANTATION UNTIL 
PKODUCTIVE. 
The following figures represent the cost of opening 
500 acres of land, and planting with rubber 20' x 20' 
apart being 108 trees per acre. 
Premium on 500 acres at $ 1 per acre, . . 500 
Quit-rent, first year, 50 cents . . , . 250 
Survey fees, 25 cents per acre . . . . 125 
Felling jungle, 8 7-50 „ .. 3,750 
Clearing up, after burning off, $3 per acre 1,500 
Draining, $ 10 per acre . . . . 5,000 
Eoads, $ 1 . . 500 
Lining !• 50 .. 750 
Holing (holes IJ' x IJ') and filling with surface 
soil, fl per acre .. .. 500 
Planting, with stumps from nurseries, 40 cents 
per acre . , . . 200 
Weeding, f 1 per acre, per mensem (9 months) 
.. 4.5oO 
seeds, lOO.OOOit $ 5 per iOOO .. .. 500 
Nurseries, sowing, weeding and watering . . 150 
Tools and implements ., ,, 500 
General transport , . . , , . 100 
Coolie lines, to house 200 coolies . . 750 
Conductor's bungalow .. ... 25o 
Manager's „ ... .. 750 
Conductor's salary, first year, $ 50 per mensem 600 
Manager's „ ,, „ $300 „ 3,600 
Contingencies ... ... ... ... 600 
Total cost firBt year ... 25,275 
Ihis represents an average of $50'55 per acre, 
although these figures are subject t o a slight modi- 
fication, varying with the nature of the jungle to be 
cleared and the land to be worked. The terms on 
which land may be acquired are dependent to a certain 
extent upon the situation and looality, and would not 
exceed the figures quoted above but, subject to certain 
conditions, may be had on more reasonable terms. 
The proximity or otherwise to a town, and the faci- 
lities for transport would necessarily affect the esti- 
mate iot transport charges. 
The upkeep for the second, third, fourth and fifth 
years would be as follows :— 
$ 
Quit- rent, 500 acres, at 60 cents per acre 
(4 years) ... ... i_ooo 
Weeding, second year, 600 acres, at 75 cents 
per acre per mensem 4,500 
„ third year 500 acres at 65 cents 
per acre per mensen . . 3,900 
„ fourth year 500 acres at 50 cents 
,, per acre per mensem .. 3,000 
Upkeep of drains, 75 cents per acre per annum 
(4 years) ... ... i^goO 
„ of roads 75 cents per acre per annum 1,500 
Supplying vacancies, second year, 50 cents 
per acre per annum . . 250 
„ vacancies third year 25 cents per 
acre per annum . . , , J25 
Insect pests 12 per acre per annum (4 years) 4,000 
Repairs to coolie lines, second, third and fifth 
years 125 per annum ... 75 
„ to coolie lines fourth year (re-ataping) 150 
„ bungalows (2) second, third and fifth 
„ years, $25 per annum ... ,, 150 
bungalows (2) fourth year (re-ataping) 150 
Tools and implement, $25 per annum (4 yeare) 100 
General transport $100 „ 4Q 
Manager's salary 3,6000 „ ^ 14 4Q0 
Conductor's „ $600 „ „ 2,400 
Contingencies, insecticides stationary etc. 
$500 per annum ' 2,000 
Upkeep until end of fifth year . . 39600 
Add first year's expenditure ... 25275 
Total expenditure ... 64.875 
The total expenditure for five years is therefore 
$64,875, being an average of 55.5 per acre for clearing 
and planting, and $39-80 per acre per annum for 
upkeep, including the manager's salary. Taking the 
late of exchange at Is" lOd.— the average for the last 
two years *— this is equivalent to ^5,946 17s 6d. 
sterling, or an average of .^eil 17s lO^d. per acre • 
to which must be added the interest on all money 
expended. Nothing has been estimated for weeding 
during the fifth year, as it is anticipated that the 
trees will give snflBcient shade to prevent the growth 
of any rank growing grasses : the weeds which appear 
during 'the fifth and subsequent years will be of a 
harmless nature and will die out naturally as the shade 
becomes more dense. If it is considered advisable to 
weed beyond the fourth year, an additional estimate of 
35 cents per acre per mensem should suffice to keep the 
estate perfectly clean. 
Return.— On a good estate it will probably be found 
that a number of trees will be worth tapping during 
the sixth year, though lack of data prevents me from 
arriving at a definite conclusion on this subject ; but 
I confidently anticipate a yield during the seventh year 
at least equal to that obtained from the seven year 
old trees previously referred to. 
Assuming that 50 per cent of the five year old trees 
give an average yield of 8 ounces of rubber per tree 
which cannot be considered an, unreasonable assump- 
tion, seeing that almost twice the amount was obtained 
from seven year old trees growing under very un- 
favourable conditions— albeit the tapping was some- 
what severe — the yield per acre in the sixth year 
woiild amount to 25 pounds of rubber. Taking the 
selling price in London at 2s 6i. per pound (which ia 
Is Id. per pound less than has recently been obtained 
for well cured samples from Ceylon) this would be 
worth £3 2s. 6<i. sterling; but as there is always a 
certain per-centage of "scrap " rubber, it will be safer 
to estimate on an average selling basis of 2s., so that 
the yield per acre during the sixth year may be 
* The rate of exchange for the present day ia Is 8^(2 
