FOLLOWING THE SUN

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 183, 1 May 1933, Page 8

FOLLOWING THE SUN

Wealthy Rubber-planter’s Stay in New Zealand

TO TROPICS FOR WINTER Dominion Special Service. Auckland, April 29. A well-known visitor to the Dominion. Mr. C. Alma Baker, C.8.E., of the Federated Malay States, left by the Wanganella for Sydney on his return to Singapore. For 20 years he has travelled about the world, visiting Great Britain, the Continent, India, America, Australia, and New Zealand, successfully “dodging winters” and enjoying perpetual summer. During the 20 years of his travels he has experienced 40 summers. Mr. Alma Baker is a New Zealander by birth and has farming interests at Port Waikato, but he is better known as one of the wealthiest rubber planters in the world. He owns the largest rubber plantations in the East. His estates at Batu Gajah, in the Federated Malay Stales, are producing enormous quantities of rubber and tin. His properties in New Zealand, known as Limestone Downs and Te Karaka, situated nine miles from Port Waikato on the West Coast, are model sheep and cattle stations. For 20 years Mr. Alma Baker has divided bis time between bis rubber plantations in Malaya and bis interests in New Zealand and other parts of the Empire. “I have not experienced winter in any part of the world since 1913.” he said prior to his departure for Sydney. “After practically a lifetime spent in the tropics the blood becomes unusually thin, and one feels severely even a comparatively mild winter such as you experience in the North Island of New Zealand. For that reason I prefer to dodge your winter months and to return to my home in the tropics, where we have perpetual summer.” Formerly a surveyor in New Zealand. he has always been a lover of out-of-doors. He is one of the most experienced big-game fishermen to visit (he Dominion and was responsible some years ago for inducing Mr. Zane Grey to sample the sport with the swordfish and mako shark off northern coasts. He is, in fact, one of the pioneers of deep-sea fishing in New Zealand, and has done as much as Mr. Grey to encourage the valuable tourist traffic to the Dominion. While admitting that the world prices for primary products were extremely discouraging. Mr. Alma Baker was optimistic about the future. “There is nothing in rubber to-day. and my New Zealand farms are nothing but expensive hobbies.” he said, “but the world parity of prices cannot continue for ever. At present the low level of wool and meat must improve sooner or later and rubber is one of the commodities for which there must be an increasing demand.”