THE MALAY PENINSULA 187 



ciation of this essentially important factor in the situa- 

 tion. Assertions are made frequently that a shortage 

 of labour exists for the plantation industry, and that 

 consequently the output of rubber will be curtailed. 

 Speaking broadly, there is no foundation for any such 

 statements ; for with Canton and Shanghai only three 

 days distant, and the cost of passage 12 dollars per head 

 from those centres of population, it is absurd to regard 

 the labour problem as a serious difficulty, or one that 

 offers a grave menace to the Malay rubber industry. 



In opening an estate on forest land not less than 

 50 feet above sea-level, the estimated cost includes all 

 necessary charges up to the end of the fourth year, when 

 the yield should be sufficient to allow the capital account 

 to be closed. Felling and cleaning up after the burn- 

 ing of the timber is done by contract. Weeding may 

 be by contract or day labour, whichever the manager 

 considers the cheaper method. Prices vary slightly 

 according to the situation of the estate, and whether it 

 is close to or distant from the native labour employed 

 for felling and clearing. No allowance is made for the 

 removal of the stumps of trees or big logs, as the great 

 majority of practical planters do not consider the pos- 

 sible benefit compensates for the expense ; as a rule they 

 prefer to maintain a vigilant lookout for fomes, white 

 ants, and other pests, and to treat individual cases as 

 they occur. The distribution of costs is self-explanatory. 



The cost of opening up lalang (grass) land is more 

 or less the same as forest. There is no premium on 

 this land, but the expenditure for eradicating the lalang 

 is very heavy. On forest land the total for felling, clean- 

 ing, and weeding, for four years amounts to 66J dollars 



