September i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



157 



JOTTRNALISTIC ENTERPEIZE. 



Some years ago the enterprize of the Ceylon Observer 

 attracted general attentiou from the fact of its l>av- 

 iag Special Correspomleuta at the same time lis.tirg 

 and reporting ou tea in Assam aud the rujiiioii be- 

 tween British aud Chinese Territory on the North- 

 East of India; ou Liberian coffee in its luibitat on 

 the West coast of Africa; aud on the cifl'ce-plaut- 

 ing enterprize in Brazil. 



Our projjamme for the rest of the present year or 

 rather ior the next twelve mouths is perhaps equally 

 interesting, euterprizing and extensive. Mr. T. C. 

 Oiveu, an experienced Ceylou planter, is seeding us 

 Special Ij^tters on the Tea and Cinchona Districts of 

 Northern India which he is now visiting. Mr. A. Scott- 

 BlacUlaw is to write on the present aspect of the 

 C 'ffee-plauting Enterprize in Brazil, to which country 

 ho his jnat ri^turned ; and another practical phanter 

 ])i'omi3es special information in I'e.spect of a tiip 

 through the .States of C ntral America. Mr. II. Cottam 

 is descriljiug t'le hard work of pioneering in the 

 Mdayau Peniusula ; Mr. A. J. .Stephens keeps us 

 specially posted in respect of phmliug affairs and 

 progress in Fiji; Mr. H. Poett does the .s.anie serv- 

 ice for lis in the Northern Territory of Australia ; 

 Mr. von Donop's Repotts will give the most reliablo 

 and pr.\ctical information fur North Borneo (or JS'ew 

 Ceylon) ; while a few months hence we expect to I'ave 

 a series of Special Letters on C!iiua, Japan and CUi- 

 foruia, as far rs possible bearing on the agricultural 

 enterprize — tea, vine and fruct culture — in those 

 regions. From a Ceylon planter who lately left our 

 shores, as well as from the graphic pen of " G, 

 P. T.," we expect, erelong, to learn the latest and 

 most correct news in regard to the presi^nt position 

 oi^ the .Java Cinchona as well as Coffee and Tea enter- 

 prize ; to that with Mr. D. Morris's promise to keep 

 his old freinds in the East abreast of planting pro- 

 gri'Ss in the West Indies aud adjacnt trojjical belt: — 

 our progiam'n'^ in respect of imformation on sub-tropIc:(l 

 Agriculture must be confessetl to be as extensive is it is 

 unii[ue, .and we trust the result will prove intructive 

 and prohtable to our readers. Wu may add that we 

 have already in hand a very interesting report on New 

 Zealand as a lield for Ceylon planters by one of our 

 shrewdest, cleverest writers who promises to follow it 

 up by a similar communication on the Western States 

 of America which he visited on the way home. In ex- 

 change for the 'J'riipkal AijricaUurist we now receive the 

 reports of uearly ever.v Director of Botanic Gardens in 

 the world, as also all tropical planting journals anil 

 the leading British and American Agricultural papers 

 and periodicals — so that there is little chauee of iiny- 

 thing of importance affecting their interests being 

 misBed by the readers of the Tropical AijricuUurisl and 

 Cet/hn Obsrnvr. Our readers will excuse this, perhaps, 

 rather egotis;ical statement, but it is well th.at they 

 should be brought into oui' confidence sometimes in 

 regard to arrangements made for their benefit. 



NOI'KS ON THE STRAITS SE t'TLEMENTS :- 

 BY H. COTTAM. 



Letter, No. 7. 



AI.I. ABOUT INDIAUUBBEK — GUTTA PEECHA GUTTA SUNDKK, 

 A.ND GUTTA TAB.IN — CEARAECBBEK (jIANIHOT GLAZIOVIl) — 

 PAEA, OK UEVEA EEA/.ILIEXSIS — INDIGENOUS KUEUEll TUBES 

 IN PEKAK — CAOUTCnOUC PLANTS ANT) CAOUTCHOUC COLLKCP- 

 ING — EICUS OF VAEIETIES— SPEOUrENS EEQUIEED I'Ol! THE 

 CALCUTl'A INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION TO TAKE PLACE IN 

 llEi'lvr' r.!-:E NEXT. 



Perak, 27th June 18S,3. 

 'J I.e -Malay I'cniu.snia having been as celebrated for its 

 rubhcr a.s its tin mines it is matter for surprise that the 

 21 



trees have not been better cared for and the cultivation ex- 

 tended. It is even difficult to gather information with regard 

 to the varieties of gutta trees, the only per.son except the 

 Hesiilent who pretends to know any about the subject is a Mr. 

 AVr.ay, and he after iromising to give me .any information 

 lie iiiiffJit yxj.wess refused to do so, ne.vt morning, ou (he ground 

 that "he also iiiii/ht at some futui-e time wish to nuake a 

 report for himself. However, without even a CW'ray) of light 

 ou rubbers the writer's powers of observation are suiEcieutly 

 elastic to stretch to the length of a short article on so useful 

 a product. And .should Mr. ^Yray give to the world the 

 benefit of his valuable discoveries at some future time, there 

 is no doubt they will he all the more appreciated by having 

 been bottled up tor a quarter of a century. 



'Within three days of my arrival in Perak, when 

 visiting Kwala Kangsa for the purpose of reporting 

 my arrival to Her Majesty's ll<-sideut, I knew that 

 rubbers had been introduced, had gro\vn to per- 

 fection, and seed had been gatheicd from beiring trees and 

 ftir^varded to Dr. Trimen of I'cradeiiiya, i.'i'ylon, and I 

 sec by the last report made by Dr. Tiimirii that the first, lot 

 of seed did uot germinate, aud that the second lot of seed 

 did germinate and produced heallhy seeillings. 



Last Christma-i 1 was ordered into KwiUa Kaug.sa to 

 collect plants and pack two boxes for Madras; these 

 were Para or JJ<'V a Brduiietisis one box of about two 

 dozen, and Gutta Sundek the other, the latlar a hardy 

 iiuligenons variety. On this oci'asion, the day before 

 Christmas day of last year, .Sir Hugh Low took me round 

 his private experimental gardens at the hack of the 

 Jlesidency aud pointed out to me several kinds of valuable 

 rubbers and guttas including the famous Hevea in bearing.. 

 One tiling is very certain — that both Tard or Hevea and 

 the (!eara or Munihot Olarjoni rttiuire hot moist situations 

 for <luring my stay on the mountain garden at tJapis, we 

 found both hang "fire at an elevation of 3,.'J0O feet above 

 se.a level and Ceara would grow better at Cecilia estate, 

 our middle garden, than on the ridges, but did best 

 of all at Cathoriue garden near the resthouse on Lady 

 Weld's road; here we had trees of Ce.ara 12 and 11 feet high 

 and bearing seed ; the Resident tapped one of them and 

 found the milk Mow very feely but being in a hurry we did 

 not wait to sec what quantity could be taken from one 

 tree. Mr. Wray with all his vainglory of a secret know- 

 ledge of Gutta luad not a single healthy specimen to show 

 on the Larut garden near Thaipeng: not that I think they 

 would grow there if planted, for the soil is miserably bad aud 

 tliegardeu on Maxwell's hill po.ssesses a western .aspect, old 

 Sol turns up about y o'clock, over the ridge at the back of 

 the clearing, and before we have time to .say " good morn- 

 ing ; "TabbaiTuan, how are jou, old fellow:'"' down comes 

 the rain three inches at a plunge: the result is ye natives 

 take a mean adviintage of the anger of the elements, 

 sneak off to their respective shanties, and next daj come 

 crawling to work an hour after time — except contractors, 

 whose time is their own, and they please themselves as to 

 the number of hours to work. However, Chinese, Malays 

 and Tamils are all alike in making a clean holt to their 

 lines when the rain comes. There is still a large quantity of 

 (iuttato he toimd all over the Malay peninsula; and in I'erak, 

 1 have noticed very large trees that had been bled and 

 roots ot gutta trees cut through in roaJinakiug with their 

 milk trickling down the cutting or embankment, but being 

 very large trees it is difficult to obtain the leaves, flowers, 

 or seeds fo send to experts for particulars, and as men- 

 tioned before, the Kesideut is the only jjerson likely to know 

 what they are. Dr. Trimen in speaking of " Qutidi talmn 

 putih " says; — "Mr. Low has siuce expressed some doubt as 

 to this source. They arc, however, clearly from a species 

 of Dichopsis (or Bassia^''). To judge from the leaf-speci- 

 meus of Guttah taban putih afterwards sent by Mr. Low, 

 this can scarcely be separable from D. Gutta; the leaves 

 are somewhat broader, and their primary veins more i>i'o- 

 minent than in that species. Mr. Low writes with them : 

 'This is the most common of the species of Gutta Percha, 

 but I have never been able to find it in flower ; it is a 

 very large tree." There still remains the le-it .sort 

 " Gutta taban merah ' of these gutta trees to be collected 

 and Jlr. Low is energetically endeavoui-iug to sccm'c the 

 seed of this also. Gutta Merah in Malay ineans red gum 

 or red rubber our Gutta Sundek you \vi 1 see by Dr. 

 Trimeu's report are flourishing at llenaratgoda giirdens 

 and iJ feet U inches high. 



