Miscellaneous. 



160 



[August, 1910, 



with great vigour. My experience of 

 this plant in Ceylon was entirely 

 different ; there the most vigorous plants 

 were some thousands of feet above sea- 

 level, but the srrowth of the trees in 

 Batu Tiga and Kuala Lumpur plots has 

 been so extraordinarily rapid that there 

 is no doubt of the suitability of this 

 climate to the cultivation of this plant. 



It is, however, well that the constant 

 fear of attacks by insects, fungi; or 

 other causes should haunt the culti- 

 vator. The paradise of the man who 

 fears no devastating pest is but a fool's 

 paradise, and the condition of the 

 planter who by watchfulness and fore- 

 thought prevents any evil getting the 

 better of his plants or minimizes their 

 effects, is in the end pleasantor aud 

 more profitable. 



Agricultural Acreages in the 

 Federated Malay States, 1907, 

 excluding padi and horticulture. 



THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 



Selangor. 

 Coconuts ... 21,321 

 Rubber ... 61,552 

 Coffee ... 7,595 

 Other cultiva- 

 tions, chiefly 

 tapioca .... 1,604 



Perak. 



57,776 

 4(5,167 

 756 



10,270 



Negri 

 Sembilan. Pahang. 



IS, 000 

 17,656 

 2,382 



261 



15,463 

 860 

 100 



Total. 



112,560 

 126,235 

 10,833 



12,135 



Total acres 92,072 114,969 3?,299 16,423 261,763 



Coconuts have had a prosperous year 

 without any serious outbreak of disease, 

 and the diseases which are already rife 

 have been during the year successfully 

 combated by the Inspector of Coconuts 

 and his staff. It is not easy to estimate 

 what damage would have been done to 

 the coconut industry if the coconut 

 preservation staff had not been in exist- 

 ence, and it is not, therefore, possible 

 to give any idea as to the amount— no 

 doubt very considerable— which this 

 preventive and curative work has added 

 to the wealth of the country. 



An increase over last year of about 

 7 per cent, in the acreage of this staple 

 industry shows that there is an appreci- 

 ation of the profits which can be gained 

 by the cultivation of c aconuts. 



This important branch of the agricul- 

 ture of the Federated Malay States, 

 covering at the end of last year 112,500 

 acres, is dealt with in detail in the 

 report of the Inspector of Coconuts. 

 During the past year, owing to the drop 

 in rubber prices, there has been a 

 tendency to take an interest in the 

 "Consols of the East " cultivation, and 

 land has been taken up which will be 

 planted with this easily cultivated and 

 profitable palm, 



(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VIII., 

 No. 195, October 16, 1909.) 

 The increased interest in the colonial 

 and other possessions of England, and 

 the recognition of their importance as 

 sources of commodities which could not 

 be produced in that country have made 

 a great differenc in the way in which 

 those possessions are regarded by the 

 Mother Country. This change of atti- 

 tude has taken place most quickly dur- 

 ing the last twenty years, and the 

 erection of the Imperial Institute at 

 South Kensington, as the National 

 Memorial of the Jubilee of Queen 

 Victoria, was its direct outcome. Open- 

 ed in May, 1893, this institution has 

 quickly increased in importonce and 

 usefulness until the present time. 



An appreciation of the intimate con- 

 nexion between the work of the Imperial 

 Institute and the progress of the English 

 possessions will be gained when its 

 object is considered. This is stated in 

 the Report of the Work of the Imperial 

 Institute, 1908*, to be ' to promote the 

 utilization of the commercial and indus 

 trial resources of the Empire by arrang 

 ing comprehensive Exhibitions of natu 

 ral products, especially of the Colonies 

 and India, and providing for their 

 investigation and for the collection and 

 dissemination of scientific, technical 

 and commercial information relating to 

 them'. Thus the provision of the best, 

 uubiased scientific research aud advice 

 is made, for the special purpose of the 

 advancement of commerce. 



This work must naturally be passive 

 as well as active. That is to say, there 

 must be the provision of both literary 

 and examplary records, as well as of 

 advice aud the results of investigations 

 which are designed for a direct commer- 

 cial application. The former of these 

 exists in the valuable Colonial and 

 Indian Collections, by which raw mate- 

 rials and primary manufactures are 

 displayed for public examination ; and 

 in the Reference Library, which provides 

 works of reference relating to the 

 Colonies and India, with such periodicals 

 and newspapers as are likely to be 

 required by those using it. The latter is 

 provided in the Scientific and Technical 

 Department, which includes a special 

 staff and research laboratories ; in the 

 Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, which 

 is described in the report already re- 

 ferred to as ' a quarterly publication 

 containing a record of the work ot 

 the Imperial Institute, in its various 



* Colonial Reports— Annual, No, 601, 



