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Rubber in the Province and Penang is credited with the following 

 increasing acreage : — 



The estates of the island and in the Province together cover almost 

 the same area as those of Singapore island, and are almost of the 

 same age. A little later, comparisons will be interesting. But whereas 

 we found a very large amount of privately owned rubber in Singapore, 

 we find very little in Province Wellesley where 70 per cent, of the 

 total area in rubbsr make parts of 18 estates there. 



Only one of these estates is without coconuts : and some are 

 extending by planting the one crop, and some by planting the other, 

 in such a way that rubber has only a small preference over coconuts. 



In reserve the estates hold 41 per cent, of their area. If we allow- 

 to rubber and to coconuts an equal extension out of this 41 

 per cent., that is 20 per cent, for each, not much more than 22 

 per cent, of the whole province seems likely to go into rubber. 



The estates have been disappointed in the yield of Coconuts ; 

 one estate for instance with 33,000 trees almost all in bearing gave 



in 1910-II 1,000,316 nuts, 



in 1911-12 670,039 „ 



in 1912-13 713,658 „ 



when 900,000 were expected. 



The differences are the effect of the seasons, and it is to be 

 feared of conditions, probably chiefiy connected with the soil water 

 which we cannot easily control. These conditions make it very hard 

 to estimate accurately the crop in advance; and unfortunately the 

 good year of 1910, to which many of the current estimates date 

 caused expectations to be inflated. 



Estates beyond the borders of Province Wellesley have made 

 the same complaint, that the years which followed 1910, disappointed 

 them. 



Estates built up out of old Chinese holdings are in some cases 

 planted with different races of coconuts on no system. 



