28 5 



and more per tb., and with a very reasonable hope of continuance 

 of such prices, owners will not keep to their intentions in thinning 

 out trees which are giving them a profit of $i or $2 each; and 

 dangerous because if they did steel their hearts and cut out their 

 trees the policy of leaving large numbers of dead rubber roots 

 among healthy trees is one which any one acquainted with root 

 diseases, both due to fungi and insects, would condemn as 

 running serious risks of encouraging that most insidious type of 

 pest. 



The practice, now very general, of planting at unequal 

 distance, i.e., in avenues of trees 24 ft. by 30 ft. or 20 ft. by 17 ft. 

 has many advantages. It admits direct sunlight all over 

 the ground for a short period every day. The sun is the cheapest 

 and most effective weapon against the attacks of fungi and bacteria 

 that the planter possesses. When the trees are 10 years old or 

 more the avenue system allows of quicker and more effective 

 supervision of the health and vigour of trees, and is a help in 

 enabling the Superintendent to easily locate trees on the estate for 

 ordinary or for disease prevention work. 



As to the exact distance which trees should be planted, 

 situation, soil, rainfall and other factors must be considered, but it 

 is better with an eye to the future to err on the side of planting 

 too few rather than too many. 



On more than one-third of the total planted acreage in 

 Malaya there are 200 trees or more per acre, that is the t 

 istances . 

 :venth of the acreage are the t 

 verage figure convevs verv little information. 



!n the Federated Malay States there are 39,000 coolies 

 employed regularly at estate work ; of these nearly 30,000 are 

 Tamils 1,4,000 Javanese, 1,500 Malays, and 3,400 Chinese ; some 

 °ithe last are only temporarily employed and are not working at 

 agricultural tasks, but are employed in building, road-making, etc. 



The average of trees tapped to coolies employed is only n 

 ree * per coolie, but this has no value as 90 per cent, of the coolies 

 11 employed in opening, planting, weeding, etc. When, however, 



13,000,000 trees already planted in the Peninsula m say 5 

 are all i n bearing, about 50,000 coolies will be needed for 

 ? ta PPmg operations alone, and the labour question is therefore 

 unnr ramount importance. The outlook is by no means 

 ^Promising. If a ll proprietors and superintendents realise the 

 the n ^ the coolies h ^lth and comfort are as much a factor in 

 tree P '° fi l able ruh ™g of the estate as the amount of latex each 

 in th be S°t to produce, or the price that the rubber will fetch 



e m arket, this required labour can be obtained. 



