172 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



PLANTSNG SN'fHE F.M.S. IN 1909. 



Akea Under Cultivation.— The Director of 

 Agriculture puts the area under cultivation in 

 the Federated Malay States at 353,389 acres, 

 divided as follows: 



Perak 

 .Selangor 

 Negri Senibilan 

 Pahang 



Acres. 

 133,960 

 125,623 

 76,204 

 18,612 



353,389 



Total 



an increase of 33,667 acres. 



This acreage, which excludes padi and horti- 

 culture, was planted as follows : 



Acres. 



Coconuts .. 123,815 



Rubber . . 196,953 



5,885 



Coffee 



Other Cultivation 



Total 



26,736 



353,389 



The acreage under coconuts has increased by 

 5,118 acres, under rubber by 28,905 acres, and 

 other forms of cultivation by 2,190 rcres, while 

 that under coffee was further reduced by 2,546 

 acres. 



Coconuts. 



The area given up to coconut cultivation in- 

 creased by 2,139 acres in Perak, 2,649 acres in 

 Selangor, 258 acres in Negri Sembilan, and 72 

 acres in Pahang. 



Rubber. 



The increase in the rubber acreage was made 

 up of 11,572 acres in Perak, 11,607 acres in Selan- 

 gor, 4,640 acres in Negri Sembilan, and 1,083 

 acres in Pahang. The area opened during 1909 

 is very much less than that opened in the pre- 

 vious year, but it is confidently anticipated that 

 a very marked activity will be shown in 1910 as 

 the result of recent high prices. The number of 

 rubber estates in the Federated Malay States is 

 returned as 377, their acreage being 500,431 

 *acres, of which 196,953 acres has been planted 

 up. The output of rubber is recorded as 

 6,083,493 lb (= 2,692 tons) as against 3, 190,000 lb 

 (= 1,425 tons) in 1,908 : the percentage of in- 

 crease works out as follows : 



Per cent. 



Perak _ 177 



Selangor . . 100 



Negri Sembilan . ... 40 



The lands under rubber in the several States 



were : 



Perak 

 ■Selangor 

 Negri Sembilan 

 Pahang 



Acres. 

 68,278 

 93,853 

 31,945 

 2,877 



Total .. 196,953 



Rubber Prices. — There was a steady upward 

 movement in price from 5s Jd per lb. in January 

 to9s8Jdin November as it'is estimated that it 

 costs from Is to Is 3d per lb to place the rub- 

 ber on the market, the prices quoted give a 

 phenomenal profit. 



Rubber Pests.— There was no serious amount 

 of disease on estates, though root disease is still 

 troublesome and costly. A fungal disease at- 

 tacking the branch and stem of the tree appear 

 red, but was quickly overcome ; white ants still 

 give trouble, but are no longer a serious pest. 



Tapping Experiments.— A number of tapping 

 experiments were commenced in Kuala Lumpur 

 in September ; these are concerned with quan- 

 tity only and the results will be published when 

 the first six months are completed. 



At the Batu Tiga Experiment Station tap- 

 ping experiments were commenced in November 

 with a view to testing the effect of certain 

 chemical manures on the latex. 



Native Cultivation.— Apart from some treat- 

 ment of pests very little was done for native 

 cultivation. 



The Labour Employed on Estates 

 is estimated at 77,524, divided as follows : 

 Perak, 27.673 ; Selangor, 36,498 ; Negri Sembi- 

 lam, 12,321 ; Pahang, 1.032. Total— 77,524. Of 

 these, 55,732 were Tamils, 6,170 Javanese, 12,402 

 Chinese, and 2,778 Malays. 



Coconuts. 



The Inspector of Coconut Plantations reports 

 that about two-thirds of the area (123,815 acres) 

 is probably in bearing, and he estimates the 

 value of the whole to be $25,000,000 ; of the area 

 opened during the year (5,118 acres) about 1,500 

 acres is to be credited to Europeans. 



Distribution of Coconut Lands.— The area 

 under cultivation is distributed as follows : — 

 Perak, 63,225 acres ; Selangor, 25.818 acres ; 

 Negri Sembilan, 19,037 acres ; Pahang; 15,735 

 acres. Total— 123,815 acres. 



The Copra — exported — was : 



Perak 56,560 pikuls valued at dol. 395,466 



Selangor 16,826 „ „ 323,193 



Negri Sembilan 781 ,, „ 6,123 



Pahang 302 ,, ,, 2,102 



Total 



104,469 pikuls valued at dol. 726,884 



In spite of the efforts of the department to 

 induce the natives to adopt sound methods of 

 collecting and treating the nuts, there are still 

 many complaints of the inferior quality of the 

 native- mada copra. 



The Inspector considers that the increase in 

 coconut cultivation, in all the circumstances, is 

 by no means disappointing and he is hopeful of 

 a further extension of this profitable industry. 

 — BcportoJ F.M.S. Resident- Q eneral, for 1909. 



COTTON CULTIVATION. 



Indian Expert's Programme. 

 Mr G A Gammie, Imperial Cotton Specialist, 

 will carry out the following programme this 

 year :— (1) To visit and advise on points regard- 

 ing cotton and its cultivation whenever requested 

 to do so by Provincial Departments ot Agri- 

 culture or even by individual cultivators. (2) By 

 special invitation of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, Central Provinces, to make detailed 

 investigations throughout the whole of the cot- 

 ton tracts of that Province in co-operation with 

 the Deputy Directors of Agriculture. A continua- 

 tion of this research would probably have 

 to be carried into Khandesh and Bengal, also to 

 investigate into the distribution of superior 

 varieties, in the rich cotton tracts of the Nizam's 

 Dominions, especially those which lie along the 

 Godavery River. (3) As Bourbon and Buri 



