and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



489 



CLEAN WEEDING ON RUBBER 

 ESTATES. 



Mr. Carruthers Criticised. 



Mr. A. B. Lake, a prominent Malaya planter, 

 takes Mr. Carruthers severely to task for advoca- 

 ting the avoidance of clean weeding on rubber es- 

 tates, as enabling better growth as well as a saving 

 in expenditure of labour. Mr. Lake not only con- 

 demns the F. M. S. Director for not having 

 pointed to any one estate where the system has 

 been long tried and found a success, but goes 

 so far as speak of Mr. Carruthers having had no 

 practical experience at all. As a planter, perhaps 

 not; but from planters— and Malaya planters, 

 too — he must have obtained his views, after 

 using abundant opportunities as Director of 

 Agriculture for seeing a good many estates 

 throughout the Malay States. We cannot re- 

 call Mr. Carruthers' having counselled Ceylon 

 planters to leave weeds alone, among rubber 

 (the bulk of which was very young when he was 

 here) or any other product. However, as to 

 the point itself Mr. Lake writes in a convinc- 

 ing style — we reproduce the letter — and we 

 will be interested to read the Malaya official's 

 reply. We notice that at the P. A. M. meet- 

 ing it was suggested Mr. Carruthers should be 

 asked to value estates with a view to loans to 

 planters, District Officers having reported some 

 estates, when not clean-weeded, as abandoned. 

 [To the Editor, "Malay Mail."] 

 Dear Sir, — Having just read an article en- 

 titled "Clean weeding of rubber clearings" in 

 your yesterday's issue, I send you a belated 

 article addressed to the Editor, The Agricultural 

 Bulletin, which T wrote 3 weeks ago, but never 

 sent in. It is but a very general reply to an 

 article headed " Weeding in Para rubber culti- 

 vation," as an answer in detail would have taken 

 up too much space. My letter is as follows : — 

 I have just read an article by Mr J B Carru- 

 thers on " Weeding in Para rubber cultivation" 

 in your September number, in which he holds 

 up to contumely clean weeding. I feel impelled 

 to join issue with him, as his article, being very 

 plausible, may do an incomparable amount of 

 harm. I do not believe that the Planters of this 

 country are as a body incapable of looking after 

 their own interests; they are all willing to accept 

 good advice, and any new system, which can be 

 shown to be a commercial success. But they will be 

 very ill-advised if, at the instigation of a gentle- 

 man who has after all no practical experience, 

 they abandon old methods for new without proof 

 that the new system is superior to tho old. 

 Have we any proof at present, which would 

 warrant this change? I say most emphatically 

 "no"; that one estate had tho luck to grow up 

 in "beluker" and not lalang is no proof. 



Mr Carruthers tells us the ground should be 

 moist — and shaded. 1 grant him he is theor- 

 etically right, and I will grant him that he is 

 practically right when he can show me one 

 hundred acres of eight-year-old rubber treated 

 according to his system which can compare 

 favourably in yield and cost of bringing into 

 bearing with a like area of clean-weeded rubber. 

 Mr Carruthers assumes that tho planter boliuvoa 



in clean weeding for clean weeding's sake ; it is 

 not so, but that he knows that on an estate clean- 

 liness is far above godliness, where expenditure 

 is concerned (clean weeding is cheap-weeding). 



That many estates have to pay large sums 

 for weeding is no proof that properly 

 selected estates (no kampong land, and laid out 

 on the rectangle) cannot be weeded cheaply if 

 kept clean from the burn. 



It really passes my understanding how Mr 

 .Carruthers can state that "without any detri- 

 ment to the rubber this method of cultivation 

 reduces more than considerably the cost of 

 bringing a rubber estate into bearing": any non- 

 resident reader would imagine that Mr Car- 

 ruthers could point to an estato where his sys- 

 tem of cultivation had been tried for years and 

 found a success ; whereas in fact it is a theory 

 put forward by a well-meaning, but, I fear, 

 misguided man. It is, I think, much to be re- 

 gretted that one holding the high official posi- 

 tion of Mr Carruthers should actually ventilate 

 in print such unproven theories, and it is with 

 the feeling that it is someone's duty to point 

 out that in this year of grace they still are 

 theories, that I have ventured to put pen to 

 paper. Yours, etc., A. B. Lake. 



Batu Unjor Estate, Klang, Oct. 4th, 190S. 



PLANTING IN TRAVANGORE. 



Rubber and Tea; 



We call attention to a chatty letter from out' 

 old friend, Mr. Drummond-Deane, on this 

 page. He gives a good deal of information 

 in regard to the progress of Rubber, which is 

 satisfactory, and indicates a new Limited Com- 

 pany for the two products as in course of 

 promotion— one which, we think, ought to take 

 and do well, having regard to the statistics put 

 forward, 



(From an ex-Ceylon Planter.) 



Sept, 29 " Rubber " is really doing very well 

 indeed, and though little is said or written on the 

 subject, it will, I venture to think, assert itself in 

 the near future. I am thinking of putting these 

 places and two rubber places into a Company, and 

 if it goes through, Mr. T C Owen will be a Dir- 

 ector, and, probably, Messrs. Rowe, White & 

 Co. will be Agents. Certain people have the 

 refusal up to 30th November. The capital to be 

 £60,000 with an issue of £55,000 — on which it 

 is estimated the tea will at once pay a 5 per 

 cent dividend and continue to do so, while the 

 rubber comes into bearing. The lands consist 

 of tea : Stagbrook, Hope and Maymolly estates 

 in Peermade 1,167 acres, of which 687 are in 

 bearing and 124 immature tea and 356 reserve 

 lands. Eldorado Rubber Estate : — 



1904 

 1905 

 1906 



45 acres. 

 160 „ 

 345 ,, 



1907 

 1908 



108 acres. 

 20 



678 



Resene land. ..136 

 Total,.. 814 



62 



