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THE CHINESE METHOD OF ROTATION OF CROPS 

 AND RECLAMATION OF LALANG LAND. 



The most conspicuous evidence of the folly of the Government 

 leasing of agricultural land in the Straits Settlements, is the existence 

 of enormous tracts of valuable land, now overgrown with lalang 

 (Imperatia cylindrica) and consequently thrown back upon the Govern- 

 ment as a practically valueless asset. It generally takes about ten 

 years for such land to be covered with good secondary forest growth. 

 Had the Government stipulated that every acre of land should be re- 

 planted with some permanent trees, or had they made the conditions 

 of the lease such that it would be more profitable to cultivate such 

 land than abandon it and take up new virgin jungle, we might have 

 had all these waste areas beautifully afforested or at least yielding some 

 returns. Fortunately since the cultivation of Para Rubber has proved 

 to be a success, even with tapioca as a catch crop — thanks to the 

 pioneer work of Mr. Tan Chay Yan at Bukit Asahan — now the Malacca 

 Rubber Plantations Limited, the Government or the officials of the 

 land office, are quite awake as to the necessity of preventing tapioca 

 and other lands going into w T aste under lalang. 



It may therefore be of considerable importance to planters to 

 know that Chinese vegetable growers practice an economical method of 

 reclaiming lalang land. In discussing this, it may be interesting also 

 to note in passing their system of manuring, for the lalang is not merely 

 weeded out but is also choked out by a careful rotation of valuable 

 crops. As a rule, it costs about twenty dollars at least to clear one 

 acre of lalang. The Chinese, who pay their farm hands at $12-$15 

 a month, manage to get good returns within two years by reclaiming 

 lalang land, and to convert it into a useful vegetable garden. 



The fact that this system has succeeded so well in Singapore, 

 where the soil is generally poor, argues that it should be more success- 

 ful, wherever the soil is more fertile. It must be admitted that with- 

 out the use of farm-yard or human manure this system cannot succeed 

 very well. 



The essence of it may be explained in a few lines. The stems of 

 the lalang are exposed by hoeing or deep ploughing, and removed by 

 the rake and burned. The soil has to be turned up two or three times 

 if necessary to remove the weed completely. 



At the same time, the aid of nature is called in. Rapidly growing 

 plants are planted at once in carefully manured beds. A struggle for 

 existence is thus artificially introduced, and within three months or so, 

 the patch of w 7 aste land is covered with green vegetables. The trans- 

 formation is very impressive, but the steps require to be seen. The 

 change affords a striking object lesson of the importance and value 

 as well as feasibity of permanent cultivation of the soil. 



But unfortunately in Singapore, cultivation of the soil is not 

 profitable unless " night-soil" is utilised. Human excreta constitute 

 the most efficient and at the same time the cheapest manure. The 

 Municipal authorities evidently do not take the slightest interest in 

 the utilisation of this refuse. They proposed an extensive scheme of 

 casting it out to sea, and dumping it all into the deep ten miles off 



