INTERPLANTING 123 



into bearing rubber interplanted is, of course, 

 minimised by the amount of labour expended in the 

 plantation on behalf of the subsidiary crop, since 

 both plants receive, or should receive, coincidental 

 attention. That being the case, we shall find that 

 the returns from the tapioca will go a long way 

 towards balancing the account in this expenditure, 

 and may with ordinary luck, assisted if possible by a 

 leaf out of the book of the Chinese planter, give a 

 small balance to credit, and thus exhibit a rubber 

 plantation ready for tapping at the mere first-hand 

 cost of the land. I believe this actual result has been 

 secured in the case of a certain property in Malaya. 

 But it was only a small area, and the original owner 

 (a Chinaman) was famous as a skilful and excep- 

 tionally acute planter. 



Gambier is another favoured crop for inter- 

 planting. It is produced by an ugly scrub of 

 a bush, 2\ to 3 feet high. Its botanical name is 

 Uncaria gambir, and the commercial product is 

 obtained from the leaves. The plant is indigenous 

 to the Middle East. In the hands of an untutored 

 European planter it is a risky plant to touch. The 

 Chinese have no great love for it. They prefer 

 tapioca. The net profit yield per acre is about 

 6 105. at present prices. Gambier yields in two 

 years, and four crops may be gathered before the 

 growing rubber will interfere with it. 



Coffee has been practically exterminated in 

 Ceylon, but large areas are at present interplanted 

 with rubber in Malaya and the Dutch Indies. They 

 are mostly old trees that have survived the massacre 



