growth, and growth may he more in one year than another. A very 

 little hark breaking off a large tree would make a great difference. 

 This factor will he elliminated more or less after several years of 

 measurement. 



100 Getah Tahan trees (Gutta percha, Palaquium gutta) have been 

 mesured near the waterfall at Taipeng, of girths varying from 18to 65 

 inches. 



These shew a much more rapid rate of growth, 1.69" inches per 

 annum, or 42 years to reach a girth of 6 feet at 6 feet from the ground, 

 What at first sight seems remarkahle is the great differences in rate of 

 growth, e.g. some trees have grown in the 7 years as little as 3 inches 

 in girth while other have put on 20 to 24 inches. There is no doubt 

 that in natural forest in this country where the naturally sown seeding 

 has to struggle for existance with a minimum of light, the girth incre- 

 ment is almost absent altogether until the crown of the tree gains 

 access to light. 



I have seen this exempli tied in Trollah Reserve, where under- 

 growth has been cleared over about 2,000 acres to assist young Taban. 

 A frequent sight after such a first clearing is a long thin Taban tree, 

 about 30 to 40 feet high but only a few inches in girth. When the 

 surrounding thick undergrowth is cut away these trees cannot bear 

 their own weight at first, and bend over to a greater or lesser degree, 

 sometimes so much as to require propping up. The girth increment of 

 such a tree may be said to have been almost absent for years, all the 

 energies of the tree being put forth in height-growth in an effort to 

 reach the light. 



When light is artificially admitted by cutting the surrounding 

 growth, the girth increment will doubtless increase with great rapidity, 

 and more leaves bo put on. The inference is that the duty of the 

 Forest Department in these forests is to assist valuable species, 

 such as Chengal and Merbau to establish themselves, by letting 

 in light. 



From observation of the big forests in Kuantan and elsewhere, the 

 conclusion has been forced upon me that the large solitary Chengal 

 trees found there are of immense age, certainly not less than 300 years 

 old. The almost complete absence of trees say 2' to 4' in girth is a 

 very marked feature and a very serious problem for the forester. 



It is obvious then that there is an immense field for the study of 

 the rate of growth of timber trees and that a great deal depends upon 

 it. Now that the Forest Department has been gradually increased in 

 numbers, experiments will be made in clearing round young trees in 

 the forest and measuring these trees annually, then comparing their 

 rate of growth with trees uncleaned. Some few thousand Chengal and 

 Merbau trees which were planted in 1898 in the Pondok Tanjong Rubber 

 Plantation have grown exceedingly well and are probably four times the 

 girth of trees of the same age in big forest. 



These trees have had the partial shade of Heveas from the beginning, 

 being planted in rows alternately with Heveas about 22' apart by 12' in 

 the line. The average girth increment in 11 Merbau trees for one year 

 is 1*15" and for 20 Chengal trees 1"19". This would give 31 years 

 to reach a girth of 3' for the former and 30 years for the latter, a very 



