74 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



distance back than Mr, Barrett did. Another 

 thing which has struck me is that some Com- 

 panies, which are run upon lines of froth and 

 speculation, are mentioned everlastingly in 

 the columns of the press ; whilst others, whose 

 shares are held by a small coterie ot old planters, 

 are never referred to at all, except when the 

 returns for the year are published or their 

 dividends are declared. If I was a buyer, 

 these latter Companies are the ones I would go 

 for ; but their shares are scarcely ever to be 

 bought, and, if so, are promptly snapped up 

 by those who already are holders. When esti- 

 mates are published as to the probable crop of 

 rubber to be harvested, in the years to come, 

 they are apparently framed on the supposition 

 that every Company, — the wide world o'er — 

 will give quite a good return of latex, that 

 no disease will interfere with the growth of the 

 trees, that labour will never be scarce, that 

 vessels will be chartered at the cheapest rates, 

 and everything will be in favour of the rubber 

 grower. If I was to try to make an estimate of 

 the amount of rubber likely to be harvested, say, 

 in 1915, I would commence by writing off 50 per 

 cent of the wild-cat Companies, which will 

 probably never be heard of again ; and I would 

 estimate all estate, shipping and brokerage at a 

 considerably higher rate than at present ; but 

 in return I would never reduce the price of 

 rubber below 10s., perhaps 15s. So I end with 

 the impression that rubber is a good thing to 

 take an interest in — not as a speculator, but as 

 a lona fide share owner ; and if the shares are in 

 good, sound Companies, with a directorate of 

 men whose name? are well-known and respected 

 by every one, then the share-owner may depend 

 ou having a run of handsome dividends for the 

 next five or six years, at any rate. And by that 

 time many things may have happened which we 

 know not of, and for which, in the classic words 

 of Mr. Asquith, we must "wait and see." 



COCONUT S IN PE AT SOIL. 



Mr Lermit kindly sends an instructive photo- 

 graph of Coconuts cultivated in the same kind 

 of peat soil which has been already described as 

 utterly unsuitable for Para rubber. The coco- 

 nut palms were first planted some twenty-five 

 years ago and at present the yield of nuts is 

 practically nil. The depth of peat is fifteen 

 feet. The photograph shows a number of the 

 palms of fair size, but most with bent stems, as 

 we are accustomed to see in soft wet ground, 

 and a number of young ones of a fairly good 

 habit. The ground beneath the trees is covered 

 with a thick mat of grass and ferns, the Lamid- 

 ing Acroslichum being thb most conspicuous. 

 The effect on the trees seems to be that of 

 swamp land. Coconuts grown on low lying 

 damp soil, insufficiently drained, are bent and 

 lie at all angles sometimes nearly horizontal and 

 though attaining often a good size fruit little or 

 not at all. A curious thing I observed about 

 such trees many years ago was that they were 

 never attacked by coconut beetles, though in 

 some cases the surrounding trees were freely 

 attacked. This suggests that some part of the 

 nutriment for the nuts, which is also attractive 

 to the beetles, is absent from the tree. — Ed. 

 — Straits Agricultural Bulletin, for June. 



MR. JOSEPH FRASER ON THE F.M.S. 

 RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF HIS TRIP. 



Mr Joseph Fraser, the well-known V. A., 

 on his return after his visit to the Straits, where 

 he toured with Mr R Davidson, gave us the follow- 

 ing impressions of his visit: — 



Rubbek Manufacture and Curing. 



We saw some fine smoked sheet on Vallam- 

 brosa and Kapar Para; but the toughest and 

 most resilient rubber we examined was on Batu 

 Caves, turned out by the Da Costa process of 

 coagulation and smoking. The machine used, 

 however, was far too small for estates turning 

 out large quantities. 



Coconuts : Extraordinary Growth ! 



The growth of coconuts was splendid and far 

 ahead of anything I have ever seen in Ceylon, 

 average crops of 50 nuts per tree being secured 

 in the sixth year. An average of 80 to 90 nuts 

 per tree should easily be secured, without 

 manure, for sometime when the trees are in 

 full bearing. The best results were being 

 secured from 



Well-Drained and Clb in- Weeded Estates. 

 A marked feature of the rivers and streams in 

 the F.M.S. was their very muddy and dirty 

 character. We scarcely saw a clear stream in 

 the whole country, due no doubt to the tin 

 mining and washing industry. 



Fine Coasting Steamers. 



I congratulate the Straits Steamship Co. on 

 their excellent service of coasting steamers. 

 They are beautifully kept, and the food and 

 attendance is of the best. 



The train service is good and most punctual. 



The following are further impressions (from an 

 interview in our contemporary) which have been 

 specially revised, and obvious pressman's blunders 

 corrected, by Mr Joseph Fraser himself : — 



"I have had a very pleasant holiday," he said, 

 "in the F. M. S. We saw a good many Ceylon 

 friends, who treated us splendidly and did every- 

 thing to make our trip an enjoyable one. We 

 covered a good deal of ground during the fort- 

 night we were there. We visited a few rubber 

 estates in Negri Sembilan, Perak, and a large 

 number in Selangor in the Klang and Kuala 

 Lumpur districts. We also visited coconut 

 estates in Bagan Datoh and Klang districts. The 

 growth of rubber is 



QUITE A YEAR AHEAD OF CEYLON 



(other things being equal as regards the soil 

 whether it is virgin or otherwise) from the fourth 

 to the sixth year, but from the end of the sixth 

 Ceylon gradually improves, and at 9 to 10 years 

 old I should say there is very little difference to 

 be seen. The soil in Ceylon generally is quite 

 equal to the F.M.S., but the climate is more 

 suitable, the rainfall being evenly distributed, 

 80 to 100 inches being about the average in Selan- 

 gor. This, I should say, is mainly the cause of 

 the finer growth in the earlier stages. There is 

 also an absence of strong south-west winds in 

 the F.M.S., though damage is done by 'Suma- 

 tras' in limited areas. The 



