120 THE WHOLE ART OF RUBBER-GROWING 



majority of the planters, concluding' that at least 

 eight years would be required to bring the rubber into 

 bearing, felt that they had no choice in the matter, 

 and interplanting accordingly became the recognised 

 rule. 



Curiously enough, the Chinese, who may without 

 question be regarded as among the most astute and 

 cleverest agriculturists in the world, had somew y hat 

 anticipated the new departure, and at the same time 

 pointed out the most likely crop for the purpose by 

 interplanting their tapioca fields with the new rubber 

 plant. This answered well, especially w 7 here the 

 fields were kept clean and the rubber was planted 

 thinly and on rising ground. But there is a material 

 difference between planting rubber among tapioca 

 and tapioca among rubber, particularly where the 

 crops are handled by a European, by European 

 methods, and unassociated in any way with the 

 admirable fertility of resource, the plodding perse- 

 verance, and the profound practical knowledge of 

 the Chinese planter. Hence the cultivation of 

 accessory crops among rubber was a disappointment 

 from the start. It is true that many of the estates 

 which to-day occupy a high and proud position in 

 the market owe their very existence to the catch crop 

 which enabled the original owners, never at any 

 time over-burdened with capital, to keep going 

 whilst the rubber was coming into bearing. On the 

 other hand, many less fortunate men found inter- 

 planting too costly and troublesome to maintain. 

 This was generally the case where the trees, stubborn 

 and slow of growth, interfered with the accessory 



