BURNING 71 



the managers and their coolies, twenty acres of young rubber, 

 about nine months old, were burnt out. As the neighbouring 

 manager had given due notice, and taken every reasonable 

 precaution, no claim was made. It will, however, be readily 

 understood that, had he been neglectful, and had not given due 

 notice and taken proper precautions, the matter might have 

 had serious consequences for him. 



It is, unfortunately, a very common occurrence to see 



FIG. 1 6. Burning in Progress on a New Clearing. 



ground which is planted up with young rubber littered with the 

 decaying trunks of jungle trees. Where, as in Sumatra, many 

 of these jungle trees have been of enormous size, it is almost 

 impossible to remove the heavy trunks. These are often right 

 in the planting lines, and roots and stumps remaining in the 

 ground present serious obstacles to their being rolled out of the 

 way. Stacking such heavy timber is a most difficult task, 

 and yet, if stacking is not done, weeding expenses are much 

 higher, as coolies cannot easily chankol soil covered with, or 

 sheltered by, heavy timber. The importance of a good burn 



