THE SCIENCE OF CATCHCROPS 77 



subsidiary crops as will yield an immediate revenue. 

 Formerly they were resorted to because planters 

 considered it imprudent to trust entirely to one 

 product, whose market value might, under disas- 

 trous conditions, fall to such an extent that its 

 cultivation would be rendered unprofitable. This 

 actually occurred some years ago with coffee in 

 Ceylon. 



It is doubtful whether many people realise to-day 

 that rubber was at one time merely a catchcrop, 

 whose interplanting with permanent crops such as 

 coconuts, tapioca, gambia and pepper was en- 

 forced by law. This was in Malaya, where on 

 many estates Chinese squatters are even now 

 allowed to plant catchcrops rent free as a return 

 for keeping the land clear of weeds. 



For the checking of disease and the eradication 

 of the noxious lalang these subsidiary crops are 

 invaluable ; in their absence it would be impossible 

 to prevent that weed from overrunning the estate. 

 Catchcrop cultivation necessitates deep digging, 

 the constant tilling and weeding of the soil, which 

 ventilates it and materially improves its condition. 



In certain districts, notably in Malaya, the 

 coconut itself has been known to fill the role of 

 catchcrop, but experts quickly discovered that it 

 was far too valuable an asset to treat in that way, 

 seeing that it was sufficiently productive to con- 

 stitute a principal crop, even before its indispensa- 



