3 o8 



reach the stage suitable for supplying bark. I lately found also a 

 fair-sized tree presisting in the old Gunong Pulai Estate in Johore 

 which has been long abandoned. 



RUBBER. 



Para Rubber (Hevea braziliensis) . — An account of the introduction 

 of this plant to the Malay Peninsula was published in the Agri- 

 cultural Bulletin, Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States, 

 New Series, Vol. II. p. 2. Mr. COLLINS, above mentioned, was the 

 first to obtain seeds in Brazil, which were shipped through Mr. CLE- 

 MENT Markam to Kew. The few that survived the journey were 

 sent from Kew to Calcutta, where they failed. The next lot, received 

 from Mr. WiCKHAM, went to Ceylon (1876) and 50 plants were sent 

 to Singapore, where by delay at the docks they perished ; next year 

 22 plants arrived safely at the Botanic Gardens, and Mr. MURTON 

 took 9 plants to Perak for Sir HUGH Low. Much later some more 

 seed was received from Ceylon and grown in the Botanic Gardens. 

 The plant seems never to have been successfully introduced again 

 from South America, and it may be said that all the Para Rubber 

 trees in the Malay Peninsula and indeed all in cultivation in Africa, 

 Asia and Australia are descendants of the seed introduced by Kew 

 through WiCKHAM, and further more all the trees in the Malay 

 Peninsula, except such as have been lately introduced from Ceylon, 

 were derived from the Botanic Gardens of Singapore, which Depart- 

 ment has also supplied most, if not all, the plants cultivated in Africa, 

 Mauritius, Seychelles, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Australia, New 

 Guinea, Polynesia, Hawaii, Mexico, Cochin-China and other coun- 

 tries. 



Though there were a few estates in the Peninsula like Linsum and 

 Kamuning, which had Rubber plantations, no cultivation commerci- 

 ally was undertaken till 1896, when Mr. Tan Chay YAN was induced 

 by the Director of the Botanic Gardens to plant Rubber, which he 

 commenced to do at Bukit Lintang, in Malacca, and later opened up 

 a much bigger estate at Bukit Asahan, said to be at present the big- 

 gest Rubber estate in the Peninsula. Other planters followed suit 

 in 1897, and the success proved so great that new estates are 

 being started every week. 



There was no reason why this cultivation should not have been 

 started many years previously. Planters had been strongly advised 

 to turn their attention to this plant, seed was freely distributed from 

 the Botanic Gardens to any who would take it, and samples of 

 prepared Rubber from the Gardens, trees were shown at all Agricul- 

 tural Exhibitions, but attention was then entirely fixed on Coffee, 

 and an unfortunate error made by a Resident of Perak, caused not 

 only delay in the cultivation but destruction of some of the finest 

 trees in the Peninsula. Some Dyaks had been requested to ex- 

 tract Rubber from the Para trees, and not understanding the work 

 failed and declared that the trees were worthless. A number of 

 these trees which had been planted by Sir Hugh Low, at Kuala 

 Kangsa, were on this report destroyed, and no planters could be in- 

 duced to pay any more attention to it tilL 1896* 



