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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, 1905. 



A SELANGOR RUBBER PLANTER. 



AN important influence in the development of the cultiva- 

 tion of India-rubber in the Far East has been exerted by 

 Mr. Edward Valentine Carey, whose portrait appears on this 

 page. Going out to Ceylon from England 23 years ago, Mr. 

 Carey addressed himself seriously to the study of tropical plant- 

 ing, with the idea of outlining for himself a career in this field, 

 and was successively interested in the planting of ccflee, cin- 

 chona, and tea, with the result that during 1 1 years he had ac- 

 quired an unusually extensive experience as a planter. Twelve 

 years ago he was attracted to Selangor, in the Federated Malay 

 States, where he has since resided. From the beginning he 

 was recognized there as having a sound knowledge of the best 

 methods of planting, and was warmly welcomed by his prede- 

 cessors in that colony, who were endeavoring to make planting 

 profitable there. 



Soon after Mr. Carey's removal to Malaya the resident plant- 

 ers choose a committee of three to look after the promotion of 

 their interests in common, consisting of Messrs. Carey, Stephen- 

 son, and Huttenbach. The result of their work was so satis- 

 factory as to demonstrate the advant- 

 ages of concerted efforts, and a plant- 

 ers' association was organized for the 

 state of Selangor, and later in each of 

 the other states, and eventually the 

 United Planters' Association for the 

 Federated Malay States. Mr. Carey 

 was the first chairman of the Selangor 

 Planters' Association, holding this po- 

 sition from 1892 to 1899. He was then 

 chosen chairman of the United Plant- 

 ers' Association in 1899, holding this 

 position for four years, when, in 1903, 

 he was succeeded by Mr. W. W. Bailey. 



Identified always with the most pro- 

 gressive features in planting, Mr. Bailey 

 was early among those in the Malay 

 States to see the advantages from 

 planting rubber, and in 1897 he be- 

 came actively interested in this new 

 branch of industry. He studiously de- 

 voted himself to the study of the best 

 practice, in whatever country, in the edward 



planting of rubber, with a view to adopting whatever was 

 especially fitted to his own locality, so that he has from the 

 beginning taken a front rank among rubber planters in his 

 colony, and he is now in charge as manager of a number of es- 

 tates in Selangor on which rubber planting is the sole or the 

 leading interest. It should be said here that the planting 

 interest both in Ceylon and the Federated Malay States is 

 largely conducted by incorporated companies, the shares of 

 which are held not only in the colonies but in Great Britain, 

 and it is high testimony to one man, that. he should have the 

 direction of a number of plantations. The more important es- 

 tates in Mr. Carey's charge to-day are the " Bukit Rajah," 

 " Sungei Binjai," and " Klanang," all near Klang, which is Mr. 

 Carey's place of residence in the state of Selangor. 



All told, there are now under Mr. Carey's charge some 500,- 

 000 rubber trees, on about 2000 acres of land. Part of this 

 rubber is planted alone, while the remainder is interplanted 

 with other crops, mainly coffee. Of course, in the latter case 

 the idea is that ultimately the rubber will take the place of all 

 the other growths, especially as coffee is no longer so profit- 

 able a crop in any country as when Mr. Carey first went to the 



Far East. The rubber under cultivation under Mr. Carey's di- 

 rection is mainly of the Hevea species, though he has done 

 considerable planting of Hevea in connection with Ficus elas- 

 lica, there being in his judgment certain advantages from the 

 interplanting of these species, in regaid to which The India 

 Rubber World hopes to be able a little later to present a re- 

 port by Mr. Carey. 



A very high compliment was paid to Mr. Carey by the plant- 

 ers of the Malay States, when, on the eve of his leaving the 

 colony for an extended vacation, on September 17 last, the 

 members of the United Planters' Association entertained him 

 at dinner and delivered to him an address setting forth their 

 great appreciation of his work in the advancement of the agri- 

 cultural interests of the colony. Mr. Carey in his response to 

 the address reviewed the history of planting in general in the 

 Malay States, after which he came to the question of rubber. 

 While overproduction of coffee had been experienced, he felt 

 that it would be a long time before anything of the kind could 

 be true of rubber. At present less than i per cent, of the 

 world's requirements in rubber was afforded by cultivation. 

 Referring to the recently obtained high prires for cultivated 

 rubber he said : " Even if this were 

 placed on the market at as low a price 

 as 2 shillings, they would still be able 

 to make a profit of 50 per cent. — a fact 

 which made the rubber industry one of 

 the most profitable ever known." 



While he did not fear any danger in 

 our time from overproduction, he cau- 

 tioned the planters to be on the look- 

 out for the possibility of disease creep- 

 ing in, and to do everything in their 

 power to guard against it by having 

 the best possible expert advice. In one 

 respect the planters of the Federated 

 Malay States were especially fortunate, 

 namely, in having the interested sup- 

 port of their government. In this con- 

 nection, by the way, the appointment 

 of an agricultural expert by the gov- 

 ernment — Mr. J. B. Carruthers, lately 

 of Ceylon, who has become director of 

 agriculture for the Federated Malay 

 ''*''^^ States at what is understood to be a 



liberal salary— bears out Mr. Carey's assertion respecting the 

 policy of encouragement by the government to the planting in- 

 dustry. 



Following the proceedings above reported, Mr. Carey went 

 to Java in the capacity of labor commissioner for the Straits 

 Settlements and the Federated Malay States, and succeeded in 

 arranging for the importation of Javanese on terms which 

 promise to render their employment as agricultural laborers 

 most desirable, in view of the limited supply of native labor in 

 various districts. Here, again, the government showed its lib- 

 eral disposition toward the planters by making a liberal grant 

 for the free transportation of the imported laborers. It must 

 be understood that in Malaya, where tin mining hitherto has 

 formed the most important field for the employment of labor, 

 planting on the new scale which has been adopted is obliged to 

 compete with the mining interest, and there must result at 

 times scarcity of labor for the plantations. 



Mr. Carey subsequently visited the United States, taking oc- 

 casion to see the World's Fair at St. Louis, and has since gone 

 to Europe, with a view to visiting his home before returning to 

 Selangor. 



