49 



the trees on that block gave 3 to 4 lb. of rubber each; 

 the more closely planted estates gave about 2 cwt. per 

 acre during the same period. 



The rate of growth on many clearings is phenomenally 

 rapid, and would cause many Ceylon planters to ponder. 

 I measured many trees, not yet three years old, which 

 were 18 to 21 inches in circumference a yard from the 

 ground; they will be 24 inches, long before they are four 

 years old. Most of the young plants have been thurnb- 

 nail pruned at about ten feet from the ground, and now 

 possess good heads of fresh healthy foliage. 



There are now nearly 1,000 acres at the tapping stage; 

 250,000 lb. will probably be obtained during the current 

 year. This should be very largely exceeded when the 

 young clearings are in bearing. 



Young Estates. 



I then took a journey by motor along the road to 

 Kuala Selangor. I saw a part of the Sungei Kapar 

 Estate, planted 15 by 15 feet, which was being tapped. 

 Only one-third to one-half of the first five feet from the 

 base of each tree was being tapped on the half herring- 

 bone system. A few trees were being pollarded at a 

 height of I to 7 feet, the latter system being stumps 

 which can be tapped for quite a year. Beverlac was the 

 next property I saw where trees, apparently about ten 

 years old, were being tapped on the half herring-bone 

 system up to five or six feet from the base. After just 

 catching only a glimpse of Golconda, we reached the 

 property of the Kapar Para Rubber Co., known as Jalan 

 Estate, and associated with Messrs. Fletcher, Oswald 

 and Nevitt. I was informed that this property had over 

 2,000 acres planted. What I saw of it was in excellent 

 condition. The directors appear to have made up their 

 minds that the clearings, originally planted about 15 by 

 15 feet, were too closely planted; every alternate row has 

 been felled, even though the trees, judging from their 

 sizes, must have been in their third year. They were 

 also thinning out the four-year-old clearings by felling 

 the thin trees near the base. 



The soil in this district is composed of a rich clayey 

 loam with plenty of humus in the first foot and a stiffer 



