266 



However, one thing is now certain, viz : that the Elae'iK docs 

 grow well under congenial conditions in Malaya, and that it pro- 

 duces crops as liea^'}' as those rtnorded from West Africa; and, al- 

 though there is no room in Malaya for the vast stretches of Palm- 

 forests as seen in Africa, it is quite possible that fairly large tracts 

 of land c-ould be found, suitable for its cultivation. One expert 

 who knows the .Congo well, and who. is also Well acquainted ^ith 

 Malaya is empliatic in his opinion that certain parts of the Penin- 

 sula oifer ideal conditions, in point of soil and climate, for Elae'is. 



Nurseries. Once a suitable location is found for an estate, the 

 initial work of opening iip will not present any special difficulty' 

 to a practical planter: it entails the usual programme of felling, 

 clearing, draining, road tracing, &c., &c., but \yhen we come to the 

 estahlishment of nurseries, the difficult problem of an adequate 

 supply of seeds will have to be faced. Seeds could perhaps be ob- 

 tained from Sumatra, East Coast, where, according to the latest 

 information, 6,500 acres, planted with 290,000 Elae'is-iyalmii were 

 in full bearing on the 30th June, 1919, producing 700,000 kilos of 

 oil during the first half-year of 1919. If Elae'is has proved the 

 success which these pioneers hoped for, they may not ])e too eager 

 to part with their seeds, except at very high prices. Failing such 

 a source of supply, seeds woxild have to be procured from West 

 Africa — a proceeding not without risks, in view of the diversity of 

 races of Elae'is, and their varying oil-yielding qualities. Still, the 

 thing has been done before, with success in the case of these Atjeh 

 plantations, and it coidd, no doubt, be done again. 



It may be said, if all has gone well with the selection of the 

 land, and if the diificulty of the seed-supply has been overcome, 

 that the planter has four yeai"s of easy time ahead of him in which 

 to lay out his estate to the best advantage. He can safely leave his 

 seedlings in the nurseries for full twelve months, before trans- 

 planting. The writer has had occasion to transplant trees at least 

 t^vo and a half years old, most of which, after three months, had 

 resumed their normal rate of gTO\Ath. 



Catch Crops. Here then is an opening for the planter to put 

 down catch crops of food stuffs such as maize, eweet potatoes, 

 groundnut, to the extent of his labour facilities, or for putting down 

 a subsidiary crop of coffee or perhaps of cocoa, vliich is said to 

 succeed particularly ^-ell in West Africa with the oil-palm, owing 

 to the large amount of moisture which is stored in the latter's root- 

 pad, and in the felt coating round its trunk, and wlvich comes 

 in as a reserve in times of droiight. 



Moreover, it may be observed here that the Elae'is does not 

 form the same far-s])reading matted rooting which characterises 

 the coconut and renders it so uncongenial a neighbour to other 

 plants. 



At tlie base of the Elae'is a pad of earth and roots forms, 

 from which emerge successive generations of roots most of which 

 do not live long, but their dead remains subsist and go to swell the 



