Aug. 1, 1902.] THE TROPIOATj AGRICULTURIST. 
101 
the time (1861-2) of tlie first missionary occupation 
of tliis district it was densely populated, but 
when it was first opened up by cofi'ee planters 
no people lived there, so that it was overjxrown 
with timber of an average height of 30 to 60 ft., 
— ample proof that this seed has remained in a 
fertile condition for forty years more or less. 
This variety of Nicof iana is probably N rnstica, 
also found on the West Coast of Africa and 
ehev/heve.— -British Trade Journal, June 1. 
PLANTING IN THE MALAY STATES. 
{Extracis from the Report for 1901 of the 
United Planters' Association, F. M. S.) 
Export Coppee to Europe. — With the idea of even- 
taally placing regular monthly consignments of 10 
piculs upon the London market to attract attention to 
o«r coffee, several of your members combined and sent 
a trial shipment of 80 piculs. This was bulked in the 
Port Dickson Co. Mills, and sold through Messrs. 
Frame, Alston & Arbuthnot. The price realized was 32s 
per cwt. which worked out to f 17 78 per picul. This 
rosnlt was not sufficiently encouraging to provide any 
inducement for persevering with the experiment, and 
no further shipment of any size was made. A small 
parcel of 12 piculs w»s, however, purchased to test the 
respective merits of sun-dry ing and storing in Port Dick- 
son and Aden/, 7 piculs of this, which the Port Dickson 
Coffee Curing Co. took in hand, were sold in London at 
30s per cwt., whilst the 5 piculs sent to Aden realized 
only 26s per cwt. There were grounds for believing that 
the Aden shipment was not properly looked after, aud 
therefore no information of any value was derived. A 
large parcel of good 3-year-old Coffee was disposed of at 
§2 per picul less than ISlu. 1 fresh from the plantations, 
and the idea has gained ground that to speculate by 
holding, on the assumption that coffee appreciates in 
value with age, is a very doubtful policy. There may 
be markets where old coffee is eagerly competed for, 
but Singapore is certainly not in touch with any of 
them. Reports from London Brokers favour shipments 
of coffee dried in the cherry before peeling, and report 
such coffee to be sweet and suitable for home coiasump- 
tion, but it is suggested that a market for this descrip. 
tion must be gradually built up, and no shipments of 
any size are known to have been made. 
YiELB OF CoPBA. — In response to a request for in- 
formation on this subject, the Manager of the Singapore 
oil mills kindly favoured ua with the following com- 
munication which your Committee think they cannot 
do better than reproduce " in extenso. " 
Mr. E B Skinner, Secretary, the Planters' Associa- 
tion, Selangor, Singapore, October 11th, 1901. 
Dear Sir, — I am in receipt of your letter of the 19th 
nit. re the various copras and their comparative yield 
of oil. The copras arriving in Singapore uaaally go 
under the name of the Island or State they come from, 
as for instance Bally, Maoasaar, Selangor, Kelantan, 
etc. These copras are more or less the same, the real 
difference being that, while same qualities are m»«le 
from ripe and fully-matured nuts, others contain 50 per 
cent of copra made from half-ripe nuts ; consequently 
the yield of oil from the latter ia much below that of 
the former. 
Formerly Bally copra was recognized as the standard 
for " Sun-dried Quality." It was thick, dry, and rich 
in oil. Evidently great care was taken in picking only 
the ripe nuts, and it was properly dried before being 
packed. This copra has fallen from its first position 
and is now very inferior, being no batter, if as good, 
as the poorest qualities. 
Some samplfa of copra from Penang and Kelantan 
have given good results but, as mentioned above, all 
depends on the percentage of unripa copra in the 
parcel, and where you may get one shipment with, say, 
5 per oent of unripe in it, the next lot from the same 
place and dealer may have 50 per cent. 
Occasionally a small parcel will arrive from the Mi- 
cobar Islands. This copra is evidently made from a 
nut much smaller than those usually seen in Singa- 
pore, the kernel is very thick and rich in oil. Our 
Chinese dealer says it is made from the "Klapa Raja." 
Ceylon copra is also noted for its richness in oil, 
yielding about .3 per cent more oil than the Straits 
article. Yours faithfully, (Signed) The Manager, 
Singapore Oil Mills. 
Experiments made with Firewood, to decide the 
respective merits of Oasuarina, Bakau (mangrove) and 
ordinary wood, were undertaken by the State Engi- 
neer with the following result.— 
O o 
3 .S3 
g 0) 
.2 » 
^ a 
S 2 .S.'o,„- 
"S S & o o 
W o o <iS<j -5" 
Oasuarina 105i 56-441b. l-22c.ft. 2hors. 81'71b 461b 
Bakau £7.i; 78 25 „ 1-21 „ 2 „ 81-6 61' ' 
Ordinary 62 75 8 „ 1'36 1-68,, 87-5',', 55| 
The above trial very clearly demonstrates the sri- 
periority of Casuarina. This tree has been largely 
planted in Southern India for future fuel reserves, 
and, as seed ia easily procurable at an almost nominal 
price, it would seem sound policy for the P M S 
Forest Department to follow the example of India in 
districts which have been largely denuded of Jungle. 
Rubber in Mexico.— Ou the 24th October your Chair- 
man addressed a letter to H B M Consul, Mexico City, 
D F Mexico, asking foi further information regard- 
ing the " wild rubber " in Mt-xieo and any cnltivated 
varieties in that republic, but so far no reply has been 
received although your Chairman's letter was the 
outcome of a communication from the Consul to the 
Singapore Chamber of Commerce, 
Rhea Fibre.— The cultivation of this product has 
attracted little or no attention during the past year, 
owing mainly to the uncertain market for ribbons' 
Upon information received from Sir F Abel, Director 
of the Imperial Institute, to the effect' that a firm of 
high standing in London were prepared, for several 
years to come, to purchase Rhea ribbons at £15 per 
ton, the Government by notification in the different 
" Gazettes " gave wide publication to this offer. 
When a member of your Association however inter- 
viewed the firm in question in London, ho was told that 
they would take 100 tons at £15, after which they 
could not guarantee a price. Such a rapid change of 
front was not allowed to pass withotvt comment, and 
your Committee are pleased to be able to report that 
H B the Governor considered the matter of sufficient 
importance to refer to Sir P Abel, who has dealt with the 
complaint in a manner leaving nothing to be desired. 
Catch Crops.— Very little success has attended the 
efforts of those who have endeavoured to keep down 
expenditure by the cultivation of subsidiary products, 
The outlets are too small and markets are in conse- 
quence easily swamped. As long as prices keep up, 
the Chinese sub-lessees will maintain their kladdie or 
pumpkins, as the case may be, in fair condition ; but 
directly a slump occurs, they cease to weed and indeed 
to put any more labour into the undertaking at all, 
with the result that the Superintendent has to devote 
a lot of valuable time to trying to get things straight, 
and usually meets with very indiffenent success. It 
is generally recognised now that, if more than one 
product i3 to be cultivated upon the same ground, 
the best combination is Coffee and Para Rubber, the 
former planted close, to yield maximum crops within 
a limited period, and the rubber at whatever distance 
may most commend itself to the individual proprietor. 
CoFFRE.— The export returns for Perak, Selangor 
and Negri Sembilan show au increase in 1901 of 6,476 
piculs : this must be considered a satisfactory result 
in view of the fact that prices averaged .^IS'29 pec 
