and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



483 



GOOD MARKET AT HOME AND ON THE CONTINENT 



for chillies and good samples are eagerly 

 bought up by condiment, pickle and sauce 

 manufacturers. Up to the present time I 

 have had no difficultly t o dispose of my 

 crop, which is usually a large one, but growers 

 must not forget that the present time is different 

 to the " good old days," and the public expect 

 a great deal for their money. Only the best 

 variety should be grown, and planted on good 

 rich soil, carefully cultivated and the curing 

 done properly, so that absolutely a first-class 

 article is produced, while the get-up of the 

 packages or bales must be especially neat and 

 attractive. This I contend is half the battle 

 of the producer of any crop. 



F. M. S. RESIDENT GENERAL'S 

 REPORT FOR 1907. 



EXTRACTS. 



Agriculture. 

 The Director of Agriculture, in the course of 

 his remarks on the working in 1907 of the 

 Agricultural Department, calls attention to the 

 fact that " The conditions for rapid growth are 

 almost unique in Malaya — viz., alternating sun- 

 shine and rain with an equable temperature and 

 a moist, humid atmosphere." According to the 

 Director the land in cultivation at the end of 

 1907 was :— 



Perak . . 114,989 acres 



Selangor 92,n '2 „ 



Negri Sembilan .. 38,299 „ 



Pahang .. 16,423 „ 



Total .. 261,763 „ 



The following observations by the Resident 

 of Selangor regarding rubber cultivation in that 

 State are of interest : — 



"The returns of rubber exported during the year show a 

 total of 1,19^,751 pounds, as compared with 631,040 pounds 

 in the preceding year. Fifty-nine thousand seven hundred 

 and fifty-eight dollars was paid as export duty. The fall in 

 the market price of the product which occurred towards 

 the end of the year, though causing a depreciation for the 

 time being in the value of shares, had no material effect 

 upon the progress of estate development. I understand 

 that in a few instances contemplated extensions were 

 stopped pro tempore, but for the most part the confidence 

 of estate proprietors in the future of the undertaking re- 

 mains unshaken by a fluctuation in values attributed to 

 causes which can have no permanent effect upon the suc- 

 cess of the industry. At the time of writing there is no 

 indication of any pause or hesitation in the process of 

 development. " 



Coconuts. — The acreage under coconuts in- 

 creased by seven per cent. Of the 7,500 acres 

 newly opened, only some 650 acres were planted 

 by Europeans. The total value of the coconut 

 plantations is put by the Inspector at $22,000,000. 

 The exports of copra he puts at 55,421 pikuls. 



Coffee. — There was a small increase in the 

 area planted with coffee, 10,833 acres as com- 

 pared with 9,708 acres at the end of 1906. 



Tapioca.— Some 10,000 acres were under 

 tapioca. In connection with this form of culti- 

 vation, experiments were made as to manuring. 



FORESTRY AND RUBBER EXPEIUMENTS. 



From the Conservator's report on tho work- 

 ing of the department for 1907 it appears that 

 at the close of tho year the area of reserved 

 forests in these States was 682 square milos 

 (436,710 acree), equivalent to about per cent. 



of the whole area of these States. When the 

 further 440 square miles, which it is intended 

 shall be reserved, are added to this, the per- 

 centage will be raised to 4i per cent., a still 

 somewhat disproportionate area. In Perak, of 

 the 106,145 acres which it is proposed to re- 

 serve, 31,145 acres were being surveyed during 

 tho year. The Trolak gutta-percha area was 

 divided up into 47 blocks of about 40 acres each 

 and surveyed. In Selangor the Rantau Panjang 

 extension, the Sungei Lalang reserve and the 

 Ranching reserve, 37,915 acres in all, were sur- 

 veyed. The Kuala Selangor-Klang protective 

 belt was surveyed by the Revenue Survey De- 

 partment, and this area of 23,826 acres has been 

 constituted a Forest reserve. In Negri Sem- 

 bilan the Tebong reserve, 2| miles of the 

 Pertang reserve, and 12J miles of the Bukit 

 Terip reserve were demarcated by the Forest 

 Demarcator. In Pahang, also, the Forest 

 Demarcator finished the Baloh reserve and de- 

 marcated 2i miles of the Rotan Tunggal reserve. 



The quantity of timber felled and burnt by 

 planters in opening up new areas for rubber and 

 coconut planting must be very large. No account 

 of it is available, but 64,881 acres are said to have 

 been alienated Jor this purpose during the 

 period under review, and on this land there 

 must have been standing timber of a useful 

 character of not less than 50 tons to the acre. 

 The plantation at Pondok Tanjong, a plantation 

 of chengal and merbau 



MIXED WITH RUBBER, 



was carefully looked after and much improved 

 during the year. This resulted in heavy expen- 

 diture, an expenditure of close on $21,000. The 

 pioceeds of the rubber collected and sold 

 yielded an almost equal amount. It was noted 

 that the chengal and merbau appear to grow 

 more quickly than in heavy forest. The small 

 plantation of 



PARA AND RAMBONG RUBBER NEAR TAIP1NG 



also gave good returns and left a balance of 

 some $2,000 over and above expenses. 



The casuarinas planted in 1906 in abandoned 

 mining land near Taiping did fairly well. A 

 further 10 acres were planted in the abandoned 

 mining block at Rassah in Negri Sembilan and 

 failures in the 30 acres previously planted were 

 replaced. A large proportion of the casuarina 

 seedlings planted out at Serendah in Selangor 

 failed, while nearly all the tembusu succeeded. 

 The plantation on the Circular Road at Kuala 

 Lumpur was keptup during the year and 

 weeded, blanks being supplied with tembusu. 

 Drains were made through the plantation by 

 the local staff. Nurseries of tembusu, senna, 

 molabira and rotan sega were prepared. 



Cultural operations were carried on as usual. 

 In the Trolak reserve 686 acres were cleared of 

 undergrowth in order to benefit the young taban 

 trees ; the area treated in this manner now 

 totals 1,544 acres. In the Rantau Panjang 

 reserve in Selangor 12 blocks of taban, of 80 

 acres each, were attended to. In the Weld's 

 Hill reserve at Kuala Lumpur a few acres wero 

 planted up in lines with merbau, and a great 

 deal of attention was given to the three-year-old 

 taban. In the Waterfall reserve at Taiping in 



