51 



perty where the gouge was used that I saw tapping 

 second to none; which proves our oft-repeated contention 

 that success depends on the man using the knife, and not 

 on the implement itself. I kept my eyes open when going 

 over the clearings and the sections planted with coconuts, 

 Rambong rubber and coffee, and concluded that the 

 rubber crop alone for the current year should not fall 

 far short of 200,000 lb. It is obvious that this property 

 will soon outrun many others in yield of rubber. 



Tapping is usually done on the half-herring-bone sys- 

 tem, only the leading trees being tapped on the full- 

 herring-bone system. The bark below 5 feet has lasted 

 four years, and the renewed tissue is often quite as thick 

 as the original or primary bark. It is anticipated, how- 

 ever, that the trees will be tapped from 6 to 9 feet be- 

 fore the renewed bark on the basal section is touched. 

 Each tree is tapped every alternate day for three months 

 and then rested two months. The trees are not tapped 

 until they girth 20 inches a yard from the ground. 



Some parts of Bukit Rajah have been planted 20 by 

 20, 30 by 15, and 15 by 15 feet. I saw some trees plan- 

 ted in March, 1904, which were 20, 25, and even 29 

 inches in girth. Many of the five-year-old trees, planted 

 15 by 15 feet, had a girth of 26 inches. This property, 

 in virtue of the widely-planted trees now two, three, four, 

 five, six and ten years' old, must rise in value in a very 

 short time. The view from the bungalow of the manager, 

 Mr. C. T. Hammerton, is very impressive, between 2,000 

 to 3,000 acres of planted rubber trees belonging to Bukit 

 Rajah alone being visible. 



The factory is well equipped with up-to-date washing 

 rollers, a Passburg vacuum drier, and an oil engine. 

 Mr. Hammerton is curing rubber for several small estates 

 in the district, a fact from which one may glean the 

 capacity of the machinery already in the factory. 



I shall go back to what I saw on Bukit Rajah and 

 Vallambrosa at a later date. 



Planters' Association of Malaya. 



It will surprise many people at home to learn that the 

 planters usually hold their important meetings at Kuala 

 Lumpur on a Sunday. The usefulness of Planters' Asso- 



