PLANTATION RUBBER INDUSTRY OF THE EAST. 479 



In 1882 Singapore received 50 seeds from Perak, but 

 whether the number of trees at Singapore was increased 

 thereby has not been recorded.^ 



In 1884 Cantley, who was then Director of the Botanic 

 Garden, organized the Forest Department of the Straits 

 Settlements, the two Departments, Botanic Gardens and 

 Forests, being officially distinct, but under the same Director ; 

 and during the next few years the care of the foreign rubber 

 plants passed entirely into the hands of the Forest Department. 

 In the report of the Forest Department for 1885 it was recorded 

 that American, African, and native rubbers had been planted 

 in the Tanglin nursery, Singapore ; " rubber trees of sorts " in 

 the Bukit Bruang nursery, Malacca ; and Ceara and Hevea in 

 the Waterfall nursery, Penang. It is most probable that 

 these were in part the outcome of the 400 seeds which were 

 sent from Ceylon in a Wardian case in 1885, a consignment 

 which must have doubled the number of Hevea in the 

 Straits Settlements. The Economic Garden at Singapore was 

 transferred to the Forest Department in 1886, and thereby 

 all the Heveas in the Straits Settlements were placed under 

 that management. 



In 1886 the forest reserves of Singapore consisted of about 

 11,500 acres, only about one half of which was under timber : 

 in addition there were 22,000 acres in Malacca and 8,800 acres 

 in Penang, in approximately the same condition. There was 

 therefore a large area available for planting Hevea. But 

 although the Forest reports for 1885 and the following years 

 give details which reveal vigorous efforts in raising young 

 trees and replanting the waste lands of the forest reserves, 

 Hevea is not mentioned among the trees selected. As a 

 matter of fact Cantley had not formed a favourable opinion 

 of the new rubbers. In his report for 1885 he stated : " The 

 foreign rubber trees mentioned in previous reports continue 

 to grow well, but in a country where the best rubbers grow 

 wild it is somewhat superfluous to refer to foreign species, the 

 ultimate success of which may be doubtful. ^Vhat is more 

 required is the careful conservation and cultivation of native 



1 Straits Bulletin, II., p. 3. 



