46 



Tamil labourers are abundant and available at fair rates. 

 One or two estates are already tapping, and the small 

 Government plantation has been, or is about to be, 

 leased for rubber collecting- purposes. An experiment 

 has evidently been made, not far from Taiping, with 

 Ficus elastica trees on an old tin-mining site, but the 

 trees are only poorly developed. 



From Tali Ayer Estates some samples of rubber, from 

 trees which will be only four years old in August, will be 

 sent to the Rubber Exhibition in London to draw atten- 

 tion to the rapidity with which the trees sometimes grow 

 in Perak. This estate also possesses a large number of 

 trees, rising two years in age, planted in deeply-drained 

 land. The soil in the flat parts is good, but that in the 

 more hilly district is not at all striking and would hardly 

 compare with much of that planted with rubber in Cey- 

 lon. A large area of the flat country has been super- 

 ficially worked by the Chinese for tin; such land often 

 forms part of a rubber-cum-tin proposition, but should be 

 regarded as of no value for rubber growing. 



Several rubber estates were passed through after leav- 

 ing Taiping. The first one of note was, according to 

 my informants, owned by Dr. Jamieson, who is interested 

 in Penang developments; the part visible from the train 

 was only two years old, and was planted on what, for the 

 district near Padang Rengas Station, might be termed 

 hilly land. I assured my friends, however, that most 

 remarkable growth was obtained on much steeper and 

 stony slopes in Ceylon. Gapis Estates, with Mr. Salis- 

 bury in charge, was the next property of importance; 

 many of the trees will soon be fit to tap. I understand 

 that Mr. Mackay, of Ceylon, knows this plantation well. 



Kaumuning Estate, well-known on account of its con- 

 nection with Messrs. Guthrie and Co., London, is 

 managed by Mr. Machado, late of the Singapore Botanic 

 Department. On this property are considerably over 

 one thousand acres planted with tappable and young 

 trees, most of which appeared to be well branched and 

 growing vigorously; the undulating land whereon many 

 of the trees are planted should give good results. An 

 interesting feature of this estate was the number of young 

 trees of Castilloa elastica growing there. So far I have 



