PLANTATION RUBBER INDUSTRY OF THE EAST. 



483 



In 1899 a difficulty arose with regard to the supply of seed 

 from the Singapore Gardens, owing to the cancellation of 

 orders from planters in the Native States until such time as 

 Singapore demands had been satisfied. The seed crop of the 

 Botanic Gardens for that year was expected to be 150,000, 

 and one planter who had ordered 500,000 could be supphed 

 with 15,000 only.i 



The report of the Selangor Planters' Association for 1900 

 states that 1,146,870 seeds, imported and local, had been 

 planted that year, and the same authority gives the total area 

 under Hevea in 1901 as 7,487 acres. An account of rubber 

 planting in Malaya in 1902, in the " Tropical Agriculturist," 

 XXII., p. 178, puts the area as foDows : — 



Objection was taken to this estimate by Mr. Francis Pears, 

 who stated that the acreage in Johore was then 1,000.^ 



It is evident from the foregoing that the demand for Hevea 

 in Malaya first made itself felt in 1897, when it was evident 

 that coffee was on the dowTi grade. It is also clear that in 

 the earher years of the rush planters were dependent on 

 Ceylon for their seed, the local supply being quite inadequate. 

 Another interesting factor in the development of the industiy 

 is recorded in the report of the United Planters' Association 

 of Malaya for 1902, where it is stated that " from Ceylon 

 comes the most pronounced inchnation to invest in this 

 product." It was already known that Hevea would pay in 

 Ceylon, but' it was recognized that the growth of the tree was 

 better in Malaya, and WiUis, m his pamphlet on Castilloa of 

 1899, advised those who wished to plant rublier to go further 

 East. In accordance mth that advice, many Ceylon planters 

 embarked on rubber planting in the F. M. S. Indeed, as is 

 well known to the older generation of rubber planters, the 

 earher estates of Malaya were planted m great part by Ceylor 

 planters, with Ceylon seed and Ceylon capital. 



1 "Tropical Agriculturist," XIX., p. .301. 

 » "Tropical Agriculturist," XXII., p. 271. 



