404 
hood  of  a good  trade  centre  or  of  large  c.,tatcs  of  l''uroj)can  or 
Chinese  planters  can  often  manage  to  dispose  of  liis  produce  at  a 
reasonable  price,  and  this  will  be  easier  as  the  Peninsula  becomes 
more  opened  up  by  rail  and  road  and  more  ihiacly  populated,  but 
('ven  in  this  case  there  are  often  difficnlties  in  disposing  of  the 
produce. 
'The  energy  of  the  Javanese  in  Agriculture  in  the  Dutch  East 
Indies  contrasts  strongly  with  the  indolence  of  the  Malays  of  the 
Peninsula,  and  perhaps  this  is  due  in  some  measure  to  the  over- 
crowding and  conse([uent  competition  for  the  food  supply  in  Java, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Dutch  factory  system  has  been 
long  in  work  there,  and  that  the  Javanese  were  practically  com- 
pelled to  become  agriculturists,  and  had  a purchaser  at  hand  for 
their  produce  so  that  although  the  system  led  to  a great  deal  of 
liardship  at  times  it  certainly  produced  a nation  of  agriculturists. 
It  would  have  been  impossible  to  do  this  without  making  it  a cer- 
tainty that  the  grower  could  dispose  of  his  produce. 
I have  so  far  dealt  with  the  question  of  the  market  only,  which 
is  the  second  part  of  Mr.  Arden’s  scheme^  because  it  will  be 
most  important  first  to  get  the  Malays  to  cultivate  and  sell 
their  produce.  In  many  of  the  minor  products  especially,  but 
little  machinery  or  expensive  apparatus  is  required,  but  with  some 
crops  it  is  very  different.  For  the  heavy  oils,  such  as  those 
of  Ground-nuts,  Castor  and  Sesamum,  the  machinery  may  be  very 
simple,  unless  the  manufacture  is  done  on  a large  scale,  and  it 
would  be  best  then  for  the  mills  to  be  erected  in  one  central  place, 
Avhere  the  cultivators  could  easily  send  their  produce.  Essential 
oils  on  the  other  hand  usually  require  apparatus  on  the  spot,  and 
the  cultivation  of  these  by  Malay  agriculturists  would  certainly  be 
encouraged  by  a scheme  such  as  is  proposed.  But  before  any  grant 
was  voted  for  special  machinery,  it  would  be  necessary  (i)  to  make 
sure  that  the  crop  proposed  to  be  grown  was  one  for  which  there 
was  a good  demand,  and  one  likely  to  continue,  and  (2)  that  there 
were  enough  cultivators  in  the  district  willing  to  take  up  the  cultiva- 
tion, and  able  to  supply  the  mill  when  it  starts  work. 
If  enough  agriculturists  could  be  got  to  take  up  any  such  cultiva- 
tion then  the  Government  mioht  with  advantage  to  itself,  and  still 
more  to  the  community  erect  the  machinery  and  so  develop  the 
cultivation.  When  once  this  plan  proved  successful,  more  cultiva- 
tors would  doubtless  join  in  the  cultivation.  This  system  would 
I think,  go  a long  way  towards  evolving  a nation  of  agriculturists. 
There  will  come  a time  sooner  or  later,  when  the  Peninsula  will 
have  to  depend  on  agriculture  for  its  main  support,  and  it  would  be 
strongly  desirable  that  we  should  by  then  have  our  plant  resources 
sufficiently  well  exploited  to  form  a means  of  subsistence  for  our 
large  population.  I may  say  that  I cannot  recall  at  present  any 
country  that  has  attempted  to  develop  its  agriculture  in  exactly  the 
way  suggested,  though  to  a certain  extent  one  might  compare  with 
the  proposed  system,  the  Government  Cinchona  Plantation  in  India 
which  ha\'c  [)roved  so  successful,  and  the  Dutch  compulsory  system 
