THE BOOM IN RUBBER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 784, 6 April 1910, Page 4

THE BOOM IN RUBBER.

PLANTINC IN MALAY. NEW ZEALANDER'S EXPERIENCE, Rubber was the principal topic of conversation between Mr. John I. Philips, from the Malay States, and a representative of The Dominion. Mr. Philips is a New Zealander, and was for many years an officer in the Survey Department in Auckland, where his father was Mayor.. < Mr. M A. Philips, the Wellington representative of Messrs. Peabody and Co., is his brother.

During his first four or five years in-the Federated Malay States, Mr. Philips interested himself in tin, of which metal those States produce nearly one-third of the world's supply. After that he began planting rubber for himself, and with very satisfactory results. The Federated Malay States, he explained to the reporter, aro one of the few countries which are causing the present boom in rubber. Tha First Planters. Ten years ago, one or two men ob"tained seeds, and started the first rubber plantations in the States, on areas of one to two hundred acres. Mr. Philips admitted that the idea of making a fortune out of rubber was at that V time pooh-poohed by those who were in tin, himself included. Yet today those early planters were drawing £15,000 per annum net profit from a hundred acres of rubber. Mr. Philips began planting rubber about six years ago, and he planted two estates. One, to .which ho gave the Maori name "Ratanni," has now 400 acres in bearing. He called the other the Auckland Rubber Estates, but subsequently, when it was taken over by a private limited liability company, the native name of "Klabang" was substituted. This estate comprises 500 acres, now approaching the tapping' stage.

Production and the Market. Land -for rubber-growing in the Federated Malay States is acquired from the Government on 99-year leases at moderate rentals. On good land rubber becomes productive at about four years and a half after planting, the weight of rubber from each tree the first year of productiveness!being about lilb., and the quality increases ■ with the age of the tree, until in the tenth year the product, is about 61b. Land titles are secure, as the deeds ,aro signed by the British Resident, who acts nominally for the local Sultan. Two years ago the. price of rubber dropped from ss. per lb. to 2s. Bd. Most of tho planters, Mr. Philips included, had a bad time,-as the British banks refused to make advances against rubber estates, and the public would not come in. Tho Government, however, came to the rescrte of the bona-fido planters by lending money at 6 pcryi cent, on the security of tho estates. Tho high prices that have since been obtained have enabled.tho planters to pay off all these Joans years ago, and those who held on are .-now wealthy men. To give an idea, of the profits' of rubber-growing, Mr. Philips mentioned that the total. cost of harvesting and treatment; and delivering in London,' duty and freight paid, did not exceed Is; '3d. per lb., and the present price was lis. 6d. per lb. ; .»

The Outlook. *, The planters, he stated, anticipated that the' price would drop to 3s.' to 45., ,per' lb; A tremendous area, had been 'planted in rubber "in the Federated Malay States, and a fairly considerable area in' Ceylon and Java' within the last three or four years, and. as a consequence a very large tonnage would bo suddenly thrown on tho market, about three years hence, and prices were bound to drop: Those who owned rubber plantations, and those who, like' himself, had formed their estates into low-capitalised private companies, ■ had no fear of tho future, and did not see any sound reason for selling out on the present booming market. South America, which was now producing 90 per cent, of tho world's rubber, could not place it on, the London market under 3s. per lb.,' and consequently as soon as the price dropped below that ficufe, there could be no competition from' South America,'and up would go tho price again. .. In reply to a question, Mr. Philips said the Malay.-' States ha<l not attracted many colonials, The tropical climate, and the malaria—which was now much less common—probably-:kept them away. There were practically no Americans either trading or planting there, and very few Australians or .New Zealawlprs. ; Labour a Shilling a Day. Suitable climate, soil, and cheap labour are the three essential factors of successful rubber-planting, and [ all these. appear to be possessed, in a high degree, by tho Federated Malay. States. "It rains nearly, every day or night," said ,Mr. Philips, "and as the sun is' very hot, the whole place is _ like an outdoor conservatory. The soil is exceptionally rich, and wo have, had, so far, no labour troubles. There are. 20 million Javaneso in Java and Sumatra, and we get them as indentured labourers at Is. a day. They : live very well ou that, and saV© money. A\e house them,, but they board themselves."

A Liquid Harvest. I The harvesting and piepnration qf the rubber, as described by Mr. Philips, are very simple processes. V-shaped cuts are mado in the bark of the trees, aud the latex, or milk,.as it flows out, is caught in little cups. It is then, poured out into larger vessels, and taken to the factory. The bleeding of .the trees continues, with a respite of about a month, throughout the whole year. In the factory, the latex is poured into shallow square tins, and allowed to stand at a depth .of .1J inches. Water, with a little salt or acetic-acid, is poured oydr-it to hasten the process of coagulation, and it remains thus all night. , In the morning, the process used to be simply to pass the sheet through a mangle, but more elaborate l machinery used, and the sheet is hung up to dry. 'When dry, it is ready for tho market. Longer and thinner sheets formed with the aid of a difforent machine are called crepe. Smoked rubber now commands higher prices, and special machinery is being introduced for smoking it.

Mr. Philips-added that the bulk of the land near tho roads and railways had been taken up. There was still plenty of land left that was naturally, suitable for rubber, and owing to tho boom it would, no doubt, be taken up, but thoso who wont back there would liave to face a certain amount of hardship. Anyone who bought shares in a rubber company that was not overcapitalised should have a very successful investment, although thero would bo no profit until tho sixth year, and the price of rubber might thou have reached a medium figure, say,, 3s. per lb. Thoso who speculated in overcapitalised property, and based their calculations on present prices, were likely to "fall in."