1 6 



Production 1 5. The four District Officers — to whom I am indebted for the 

 andconsump- trouble they have taken in furnishing reports on this subject — have 

 byValays! nac * mucn difficulty in arriving at accurate statistics as to the pro- 

 duction and consumption of rice by the Malay population ; but 

 from the particulars which they have furnished, it may be estimated 

 that in the districts of Temerloh, Pekan and Kuantan, the Malays, 

 during a good padi season, grow on an average about enough rice 

 for their own consumption ; whilst in Ulu Pahang, where a pro- 

 portion of the Malays are engaged in work connected with mining, 

 the local crops produce about five-sixths of the rice necessary to 

 support the Malay population. Much, however, depends on the 

 rainfall which varies greatly, and in some years, owing to drought 

 or floods, the crops fail entirely. The Chinese live almost entirely 

 on imported rice. 



Censns - 16. A more accurate estimate could have been furnished of the 



relative production and consumption of rice after the Census, 

 which is to be taken next month, out as it will be some time before 

 the Census returns have been compiled, I have thought it better 

 not to delay this report which is already long overdue. 



ofTheThree 1 ' 1 ' ^ ^ e tnree met hods of cultivation it is needless to say 

 methods of ^ ia *- *- ne we ^ P a di deserves the most encouragement; but in many 

 cultivation, places where Malays have settled for generations and possess 

 houses and valuable fruit plantations, there is no water available 

 for irrigation except at a prohibitive cost. These men are forced 

 to content themselves with plough or hill land. 



Printed 1 8. The subject of the encouragement of rice cultivation 



^bushed in tnrou g nout tne Malay Peninsula was dealt with in the printed 

 1893!* 6 n re P 0I "ts furnished by order of His Excellency the Governor in 

 '893* and the recommendations made by the various officers from 

 whom these reports were received were summarised and criticised 

 by the Colonial Secretary, the late Sir WILLIAM MAXWELL, in his 

 minute of the 28th January, 1893, to which I would refer you. 



Prospects of 1 9. The possibility of largelv increasing the production by the 

 locaP^oduc P resen *- population is out of the question. The Pahang Malay 

 ti'on ofrice! " can l' ve during a favourable season on the production of the area, 

 now cultivated, and his ambitions will not urge him to exertions 

 which he considers unnecessary. He has enough during a good 

 season, and were he to plant double the present area it would 

 benefit him little in unfavourable seasons, when the crops fail 

 almost entirely through floods or drought. At such times he can 

 with ease earn enough money to keep him by working on day 

 wages or collecting jungle produce. 



Foreign 2 o. The introduction of foreign settlers is the only means of largely 



increasing the local production, and, although there are doubtless 

 areas of suitable land which could be irrigated, there is no pros- 

 pect of inducing many foreign settlers to come in so long as the 

 counter attraction exists in the Western States of an abundance 

 of good land more easily accessible. Much, however, may be 



