476 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. 1, 1901. 
Mr. As)ii)joro attempted to cure some latex 
from Cafifilloa trees by smokina;, nsing a stove 
and coro:ial nuts for fuel. " The milk coaR-ulated, 
but the rubber was very spongy, and the process 
terribly alow."— India UuMcr World, Nov. I. 
UNITED PLANTERS ASSOCIATION OF 
THE STRAITS. 
CArKRPiLUR^ Attacking Co'^'F.b. — The Chairin''n 
informed the meeting that af n r very ca>-efnl cm- 
Rideration the Committee had come to the conclusion 
thiit tliey were not in a position to recommend 
legislation, and that the Committea proposed wi'.h 
the sanction of the meeting to forward th" follow- 
ing resolution to the Government. " Thnt the Com- 
mitter of the United Planters' Association do not 
feel disposed to take on themselves to recommend 
legislation on their own responsibility, but desire 
to pxprpss their great sf-nse of the interest and 
assistance which the Government have shov.'n in 
the matter, more particularly in connection with 
tile remedial measures proposed by the Acting Bri- 
this Resident, Negri Sembilan." — Carried. 
The Proposed Appointment of a REcauiTEn of 
Tamil Labouii for thf. Fedeeatrd Malay States. 
— The Committee propose that the salary should be 
^500 per month as an outside figure, but that that 
sum should command a really first-class man. As 
to the method of contribution to the cost by non- 
Government employers of labour, the Committee 
proposed a capitation fee of $2 for coolies recruited 
by the proposed officer and .5 per cent on cash 
disbursements; in cases where the officer only acts 
as Agents, he would only charge 5 per cent on cash 
disbursements, drawing bills upon the employer, at 
the common usage. Ihat the oiBcer's hearlquarters 
should be at Negapatam. That the Committee are 
not in a position to name any one in particular 
to fill the post ; hut that T Heslop Hill's name has 
been repeatedly mentioned in connection with the 
matter, and they feel sure that his appointment 
would meet with the unanimous approval of the 
planting community 
Export of Coffee to Europe — Letters from Mr 
T H Hill were laid on the Table, also a letter from 
Messrs Sanderson and Co of London being a report 
on the samples previously seut home 
Coffee— Mr T H Hill says : It is evident that 
the Malay Peninsula can compete with the Brazils 
in the cost of production of coffee. In the interests 
of all concerned the standard should not be left as 
it now is, viz • — " Fair average of the Season'" and 
at I have already said it will be seen it is un- 
reasonable to expect any one man to be able to 
deal with the matter, even if willing to face the 
delay and expense. I am informed that 24 monthly 
sales would probably suffice and when it is remem- 
bered that the export duty on coffee is fixed on a 
sliding scale, and that the higher standard would 
pay the higher duty, it appears equally to the 
advantage of the Government and the Planter that 
such further standards should be sought for, and 
the Government might fairly be asked to grant a 
sum pcsr cwt. towards the expense of the coffee 
shipped as indicated. The value is advancing and 
if such should be the case in the future each shipment 
would result not only in benefit to the members of the 
Association but possibly in actual cash profit as well. 
If the two standards are now established in future 
I believe it would be a step in the right direction 
to make Liljerian Coffee more popular and enable 
estates to carry on better in times of depressed 
markets. 
S\nder=ion '& C->. — The chief thing to bear in 
mind is to take out all the broken and black ber- 
ries and keep the sample as even as possible in 
colour, viz, a bright golden yellow or brown, but 
not dingy and dull. Our present quotation for our 
fair average picked standard, is 38/— c & f. 
The Committze had decided to send 5 piculs of 
coffee to Aden, and to keep 5 piculs at Port Dick- 
son : to test the advisability of storing coffee, the 
samples having been duly passed. That as an out- 
come of the correspondence vibioh had been read 
to the Meeting, the Committee with th« apnroval 
of the General Meeting had decided to follow Mr. 
TH Hill's advice: pnd to forward monthly ship- 
ments of 100 cwt. at least to Messrs. Sanderson 
and Co. to be auctioned in the way Mr Hill sug- 
gested. That various planters had already given in 
their names as gnararteeing shipments for one year. 
Th'it the management of the experiment was to be 
in the hands of six members to be elected at the 
meeting — three from Selangor, three from Negri 
Sembilan. The Committee to pass all samples, and 
see that they were up to standard. The ccfiee was 
to be sized into two siz^s: to be sent to the Port 
Dickson Ccffee Curing Co. who would see to the 
bulking and i-hipment, and generally act as Agents. 
The following Gentlemen were elected: Messrs. 
Bailey, Toynbee and Prior from Selangor and 
Messrs Cuming, Coates and Lake from the Negri 
Sembilan. It was further unanimously agreed to 
send a special letter expressing the gratitude of 
the meeting to Mr T H Hill for all his efforts 
and recording a vote of thanks passed at the meeting. 
Expert. — A sea i-oflficial letter from the Secretary 
to Resident General addressed to Mr Carey was next 
read announcing the appointment of Mr Stanley 
Arden to superintend the proposed experimental plant- 
ing, and requesting the opinion of the Committee as to 
where his headquarters should be, and what sugges- 
tions the Committee might wish to make for carrying 
out his duties. The Chairman reported that the 
Committee had decided to name Kuala Lumpur as 
Mr. Arden's headquarters, and that for the present 
the best that could be done was to carry out the 
suggestions contained in the semi-final paragraph of 
the letter of the Secretary to Resident General, which 
read as follows : " That he (Mr. Arden) should I 
think, visit all the estates where Para Rubber is 
largely planted and advise the planters on the subject, 
and should, later on, experiment with the cultivation 
of other products." 
Tamil Coolies. — During the last year, some $15,000 
have been expended by the Selangor Government 
in bringing Tamil labourers into that State. The 
Chairman stated that the Committee after dis- 
cussion suggested, with the approval of the meeting, 
replying as follows: — "That this meeting thanks 
the Secretary to Resident General for the informa- 
tion, but cannot realise that the sum mentioned 
represents the total sum expended on the number 
of coolies recently brought into Selangor by that 
Government." 
Java produces some 80,000 tons of teak timber 
per annum of which, however, only 10,000 tons 
are exported, chiefly in the shape of railway 
sleepers. At present the transport of long logs 
and squares is attended with difiBculties which 
have not as yet been met ; and though the annual 
possibility of the teak forests of Java is estimated 
at some 150,000 tons, no rivalry with Indian and 
Siain teak need be apprehended for some time at 
least. 
Fowl Manure. — X poultryman, who is noted 
for success in producing vegetables, states that 
he grows twice as much on an acre as formerly. 
He keeps 100 fowls, and has two lots of ground, 
one being given up to the fowls while the other 
is used for a gar ien. the lots being about IJ acres 
each. The next year he turns fowls on the garden 
plot, and uses for .a garden the plot (hat was 
vacated by the fowls. By thus giving up his 
garden plot to poultry every alternate year, he 
keeps the soil very fertile. — Texas Stockman and 
Farmer, 
