232 THE RUBBER INDUSTRY 



scarcity on the estates, the demand will be increased 

 substantially as the existing young plantations reach 

 the tapping stage. Then, again, means of communica- 

 tion require additions and improvements before the 

 necessary foreign capital will be attracted for the exten- 

 sion of the industry to the forest lands of the interior. 

 It is more probable that expansion in the near future 

 will take place along the banks of navigable rivers, or 

 in the localities hitherto reserved for growing tobacco, 

 and it is in this latter direction that a rapid develop- 

 ment is possible. For many years Deli has been the 

 centre of the tobacco industry, and to the east and west 

 of that district an area of some 400,000 acres has been 

 devoted to the cultivation of that product. After 

 one or at most two crops have been gathered, the land 

 is allowed to lie fallow for seven years before replant- 

 ing, and therefore 400,000 acres in reality only means 

 some 60,000 acres of cultivation. It is easy to plant 

 rubber-trees after the tobacco crop is harvested, and 

 practically no further expense is involved, beyond keep- 

 ing the land clean, to allow the trees to come to 

 maturity. If any substantial drop in the value of 

 tobacco occurs, there is small doubt that a very con- 

 siderable portion of these tobacco lands will be con- 

 verted into rubber estates. 



Land is held in Sumatra under long leases from the 

 native Sultans, these concessions requiring the approval 

 of the Dutch Colonial Authorities. As a rule the 

 contracts are for not less than fifty, and not exceeding 

 one hundred, years. The rental varies, but is generally 

 at the rate of i guilder (20 pence sterling) for each bouw, 

 equal to if English acres. These land grants comprised 



