71 



Exactly why Java takes so ravenously to sugar and Su- 

 matra to tobacco, though each country could grow both 

 products very well indeed, is difficult to explain. The 

 only product which is commonly grown on European 

 plantations in Java and Sumatra, to a large extent, is 

 coffee. In both countries the coffee estates are being 

 rapidly interplanted with Para and Ficus rubber trees. 



Sambong Rubber. 



I have seen more Ficus elastica (Gutta Rambong) in 

 Sumatra than in all the other countries put together. 

 Large estates exist each with thousands of mature trees. 

 Planting on old tobacco and lalang lands is still going 

 on, and every campo-eng is planted with this species and 

 no other. You may keep near civilised areas within reach 

 of the train, or you may travel into the interior, where 

 only Batoks have their villages; everywhere you will 

 meet with Rambong trees, many of them of enormous 

 size. The trees are not only growing; they are being 

 tapped, and most of them over seven years appear to 

 be yielding over i lb. of rubber yearly. From my ex- 

 periences in the Dutch East Indies, and especially in 

 Sumatra, my respect for Rambong trees has been 

 changed. I no longer despise that species on account of 

 its poor yielding quahties. If I could only feel certain 

 of a remunerative price for the pure raw rubber, I might 

 be tempted to plant it in districts too dry for Para rubber. 

 Where Ficus plantations exist alone and there is plenty 

 of forest suitable for Para, it would be sheer waste to 

 neglect or fell the Ficus trees. I would only recommend 

 the removal of Rambong trees when they interfered with 

 the natural growth of adjacent Para trees. The fact that 

 eight-year-old trees in Sumatra have given i^ lb. of dry 

 rubber per tree, costing 40 guilder cents (8d.) to collect 

 ■and deUver at the factory, should not be forgotten by 

 Para enthusiasts. 



Para Cultivation. 



Para rubber cultivation in Sumatra was not commenced 

 in earnest much before 1906, and I do not think manufac- 

 turers can expect many tons of rubber from that island 

 before 1913 or 1914. A few estates, such as those owned 



