94 RUBBER GROWING IN PERAK. 



as by now they would be valuable, not only as rubber but as 

 seed producers. 



The tree has also been planted at Parit Buntar, where it 

 grows well. It is in the garden of the District Magistrate, 

 and close to the river. The land is occasionally flooded by the 

 river, and in the ordinary way at high tide the river is only a 

 foot or two below the level of the surface of the ground. The 

 river is quite salt enough for the nipah palm to grow well on 

 its banks. 



It has been planted at Setiawan, also on low land near the 

 sea ; at Tapah, Batu Gajah, in Kinta, and other places in the 

 State, and in all it has grown well. 



It may, therefore, be stated that it will thrive in any 

 locality, from the bakau swamps to the foot-hills, and on any 

 soil from rich alluvium to old mine heaps. 



So far I have not noticed that it has any enemies which do 

 it serious injury. When large areas come to be planted up 

 there may arise trouble with some pest, but at j^resent there 

 does not appear to be any indication of such a contingency. 



Hitherto the trees have l)een planted singly and, as might 

 be expected, they have grown with short trunks and bushy tops. 

 To be a success, that is to yield large quantities of rubber, the 

 tree must be planted so that it will run up and form a tall, 

 straight, branchless trunk. 



There is little to guide one on the subject, but from fifteen 

 to twenty feet apart would appear to be about the correct 

 spacing. At twenty feet it might be necessary to plant 

 something in between to keep them from early branching, but 

 this would not l)e necessary at fifteen feet. In Larut, at an 

 estate at Kampoug Dew, they are being planted at ten by ten 

 feet, that is 544 per acre. It is very close, but it is the 

 intention, I am informed by Mr. Waddell Boyd, the Manager, 

 to thin them out later on to twenty by twenty feet, or 108 

 per acre, tapping the intermediate trees, that is those which 

 are idtimately to be thinned out, as early as possible and as 

 severely as they will stand, while the others are allowed to 

 grow to a large size before tapping. 



With a view to giving some data respecting the growth of 

 the trees, I have measured some of those in the Museum 

 grounds. These trees, it is to be remembered, are ten years old 

 and are planted on mined land of the poorest quality. 



