236 



FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 



Report of the Director of Agriculture for the Year 1910. 



The year has been marked by numerous changes in the staff 

 of the Department of Agriculture. The resignations were : — Director 

 of Agriculture and Mycologist, Mr. W. J. Gallagher, on 1st June; 

 Mr. J. W. Campbell, Superintendent of Government Plantations and 

 Assistant to the Director, on 23rd June ; and Mr. F. R. Long, Super- 

 intendent of Government Plantations, Perak, on 30th June. The 

 new officers are :--'Director of Agriculture, assumed duties, 13th 

 November; Mr. B. J. Eaton, Agricultural Chemist, transferred to this 

 Department, 1st October; Mr. C. K. Bancroft, Assistant Mycologist, 

 assumed duties, 8th August; Mr. C. B. Holman-Hunt, Assistant 

 Entomologist, transferred to this Department, 1st December; Mr. 

 F. G. Spring, Superintendent of Government Plantations, assumed 

 duties, 2ist October; Mr. C. E. B. Pratt, Assistant Inspector of 

 Coconut Plantations, assumed duties, Ilth May; and Mr. W. L. 

 Wood, Superintendent of Government Plantations, Perak, assumed 

 duties, 7th October. A second Assistant Mycologist has been 

 appointed and is expected early in 191 1. The only officers who were 

 attached for the whole year were : — Mr. L. C. Brown, Inspector of 

 Coconut Plantations, Mr. H. C. Pratt, Government Entomologist, 

 and Mr. T. C. Nock, Assistant Inspector of Coconut Plantations, 

 Selangor and Negri Sembilan. 



With so many new officers, most of whom did not join the 

 Department until nearly the end of the year, it has been impossible 

 to originate much new work and they have been chiefly occupied in 

 gathering the threads of their predecessors* work and endeavouring 

 to discover a starting point for new work and new experiments. I 

 Have had but little opportunity of visiting plantations during my 

 six weeks in the States. There was a considerable accumulation of 

 office and experimental work that demanded immediate attention 

 and this has occupied the greater part of my time. 



RUBBER. 



The year 1910 has been a remarkable one in the history of the 

 rubber industry. The high price of rubber during the early part of 

 the year and the realisation by the European investors of the value 

 of rubber shares brought about the so-called " rubber boom " and the 

 price of shares reached very high figures. That the industry came 

 through this period with so few failures is one of the strongest proofs 

 that could be offered of its inherent soundness. 



The price of rubber fluctuated considerably during the year. 

 Starting at 75. per lb. in January (sheet and biscuit), it rose to 85. 2d. 

 in February, to 95. 7^/. in March, and finally reached lis. lO^d. in 

 April-May, after this there was a fairly steady decline to 85. Sd- Per 

 lb. in July and to 55. Sd. in December. The lowest figure was 45. gd. 

 in October. The cost of production has probably increased above 



