14 



given, so that usually luucli more land was obtained than had been 

 asked for. In later years, however, this has changed, and now where 

 a franchise is obtained the land is supposed to be accurately measured 

 by a comi)etent surveyor. 



Only a i)ortion of the 7,000 acres constituting an average-sized 

 estate is under cultivation at any one time. When land was plentiful 

 and concessions were easily obtained, the field was cleared and i)lanted 

 in tobacco but once in twelve or fifteen years, in order that the jungle 

 should grow on it again and make it almost virgin soil. But since all 

 the best land is now taken, this time is considerably lessened, and it is 

 usual to allow but four or five years to elapse between successive 

 plantings of the same field. 



AA 



























Nor 



th 







WftSt 



F3<;t. 





















i 



^ 









AA 



South 





































3 



bI 



B 



bI 



B B 



B 



riG 1. — Diagram showing arrangement of fields and sheds on Sumatra plantation. A B is the main 

 plant road; AA, sheds; BB, small roads crossing fields parallel to main plant roads. The fields 

 are each 60 feet -wide from north to south and 960 feet long from east to west. 



The estate is divided into a number of fields under a manager, or 

 administrator, as he is there called. The maximum number of fields 

 for an estate is about 400. The size of a field is usually IJ acres, and 

 this is given to one Chinese coolie to cultivate. 



The arrangement of the fields is shown by fig. 1. The fields are 

 each CO feet front on the plant road by 960 feet deep and are divided 

 from each other by small gutters to carry off' the rain. Kear the plant 

 road are the sheds to receive the tobacco when cut. The. plant road is 

 24 feet wide. Two roads, each 4 feet wide, run across the fields par- 

 allel to the plant road, dividing the fields into three sections. A cleared 



