74 



first year, i| guilders monthly for the second year, and 

 one guilder for the third and fourth years. Compare 

 that cost with the combined cost of felling, clearing, 

 burning, and weeding on an ordinary estate developed 

 from forest. Lalang does not come out as badly as the 

 average rubber investor imagines. 



I do not for a moment wish it to be thought that I 

 like lalang. I wish it were not in existence, and strongly 

 advise that every effort be made to prevent it from getting 

 a hold on any planted estate. But from what I have 

 seen accomplished in Java, Sumatra, and Perak, on lands 

 originally possessing only lalang, I no longer regard it 

 as a weed beyond the control of the planter. 



General Conditions. 



Most estates are supplied with Javanese cooUes for 

 coffee and rubber, and Chinese coolies for tobacco; a few 

 Malays and Tamils are occasionally to be seen. The 

 Javanese coolies cost about 70 guilders each, half of which 

 is recoverable; a further advance, the whole of which can 

 be recovered, is usually made to the coolies when they 

 arrive on the estate. The coolies, though indentured for 

 three years only, usually enter into a further contract, and 

 in some instances make Sumatra their home. Tkey are 

 well provided for on the estates, and are visited by in- 

 spectors who enquire into the daily tasks set them, their 

 house and hospital accommodation, etc. The cost of 

 managing estates in Sumatra is high, but many tobacco 

 companies manage to pay dividends approaching to, and 

 sometimes exceeding, 100 per cent. Europeans are 

 highly paid, the cost of living necessitating high salaries 

 and substantial commissions. 



The local train service is only fair; berth accommoda- 

 tion for travellers doing long journeys is certainly re- 

 quired. The main roads are good, and motoring is, or 

 can be, a pleasure. In addition to Dutch, there are 

 numerous Swiss, German and English managers of es- 

 tates; in the Serdang and Langkat residences there are 

 many English interests, and, if I mistake not, these are 

 likely to be considerably increased in the future. 



