Nov. 1, 1902.] . THE TROPICAL 
AGRlCtJLTUBiST. 
341 
COCONUT CULTIVATION IN THE 
STRAITS. 
To the Editor of the "Straits Times." 
DearSir, — Yonr issne of 12th instant has juat reached 
me, and therein I notice a letter on the above subject 
from the pen of Mr. VV. Greig, of Kuala Langat. As 
I happen to be Mr, Greig's visiting agent, as well as 
at the same time, Chairman of the United Planters 
Association, I trust that I may be allowed to make 
a few remarks bearing upon the existence of the 
coconut beetle in the Federated Malay States as ad- 
versely affecting investment in this particular cultiva- 
tion. Perak and Negri Sembilan it is well known 
suffer but little in comparison with Selangor, and 
visitors from these States have over and over again, 
especially of recent ye>irs, expressed theic astonish- 
ment at the terrible havoc wrought by " beetle " 
upon the coconuts in the immediate neighbourhood 
of Kuala Lumpur. Many Ceylon men, whosd names 
are as well known to Mr. Greig as they are to me, 
have visited estates where coconuts have been planted, 
have gone carefully into the expenditure connected 
with the destruction of the beetles, and have advised 
their friends that until the pest has been brought 
within proper control, the cultivation of coconuts must 
be attended within considerable risk. The Selangor 
Goverument were prep»red to give me a very large 
concession of excellent land, on as easy terms as even 
I could wish, with the object of opening a large area 
in coconuts, but the fear of " beetle " blocked the 
way, and the necessary capital was not forthcom- 
ing. Mr. Thomas North Christie, a man whose judg- 
ment Ceylon planters have, for many years now, 
regarded as well nigh infallible, recently recommended 
that one of the finest clearings of 2-3 years' old coco- 
nuts in Selaugor should be at once interplanted with 
rubber. I admit that our alluvial soil has had some- 
thing to do with these adverse criticisms, and that 
the presence of more or less stiff clay comparatively 
close to the surface is not regarded with favour by 
our Ceylou visitors, bit I know that the ravages of 
the beetle are considered to be of much greater signi- 
ficance. In face of the foregoing is it surprising that 
the Annual Report of the United Planters Association 
should state "that owing to the ravages of beetle, and 
the cost of keeping the trees clean, coconuts are not 
ns much planted as their fine growth would lead one 
to suppose that they would be Your Com- 
mittee are of opinion that the cultivation will always 
be a remunerative one as long as it remains possible 
to keep the beetles under, without incurring a prohi- 
bitive expenditure in doing so." Mr Greig prides 
himself on being unable to record the loss of a single 
tree from beet/e. 1 may as well explain that it is the 
duty ot manag era of estates in beetle-infested districts 
to see that each coconut tree is examined at least 
once in every three days and every day if the insects 
are present in great numbers. According to Ilr Ridley, 
there are two species of beetle which attack coconut 
trees, IChj/nchojpkorus Ferruqinent, ihe Red Beetle, and 
Oryctcs Rhinoceros or the Rhinoceros beetle. The 
former, which is by far the moat dauKerons is, as far 
I am aware, very rarely met with in Selangor. 
According to the same authority the adult 
insect of this variety with its long ovipositor pushes 
its eggs " as deeply into the body of the tree as it can." 
" It is here not to the perfect insect but the grub that 
does the injuries " borrowing " tunnels through the 
soft growing portion of the palm." The Rhinoceros 
beetle, on the other hand, never deposits its eggs in 
coconut palms, unless the trees are " decaying " or in 
other words, dying if not dead. But the insect " makes 
Its way to the base of a leaf stalk and burrows into the 
heart of the cabbage, making a large hole." From 
these quotations it is clear that whilst the red beetle, 
despite the most careful attention on the part of the 
management, may do an infinity of damage " it being 
by no means easy to find out when a palm is attacked 
thU in«e?t," regulf^i; \n8peo^i9n gf ^regp, \l prpperly 
carried out, renders it practically impossible for the 
Rhinoceros beetle to do any very great permanent 
harm. It seems to me therefore that, given labour and 
the funds necessary to permit a regular examination of 
his trees, no planter should lose a single specimen 
from the attacks of the Rhinoceros beetle. To quote 
Mr Ridley again " it would be easy enough in a clean- 
kept estate to keep down the beetles, but where 
there is an endless supply of them in an adjoin- 
ing estate, the matter is of groat difficulty " which 
means 1 take it, that under such conditions, 
the expenditure of large sums of money 
has to be incurred. It is not my purpose in writing 
this letter to attempt to throw cold water upon the 
cultivation of coconuts, or to suggest that as the 
rotting timber on new clearings disappears the pest 
in that particular locality will not grow eggs, for 
I firmly believe myself that there is a lot ot money 
in the industry, and that on no estates, properly 
managed by Europeans, has the expenditure upon 
beetles been found to be prohibitive. But I do say 
that when thousands of coconut palms have been 
killed and rendered unproductive through the almost 
criminal negligence ot their native owners in not 
keeping them clear of beetles, it is high time that 
the Planters' Association drew attention to the fact 
and recorded that investors are, as a consequence, 
shy of giving the cultivation of coconuts the support 
that their fine growth would seem otherwise to warrant, 
and I am altogether at issue with Mr. Greig, whose 
figures are in my hands, and others, who state the 
cost of keeping beetles under " is merely nominal 
considering the total acreage under cultivation.'' It 
is essential that the trees in all infected areas should 
be regularly examined at very short intervals, whether 
the beetles are there or not, and when it is considered 
what climbing and looking over a coconut palm 
means, it is the sheerest nonsense for any one to try 
and make out that the expense is " merely nominal." 
The evil is a very real one indeed, and it is now for 
the Government without any further loss of time, 
to see that the remedy, on the lines of Mr. Ridley's 
excellent memorandum, is vigorously applied. — I am, 
dear sir, yours faithfully, E. V. Caret. 
—Straits Times, Sept. 22. Klang, 15th Sept. 
THE UNITED STATES TOBACCO 
INDUSTRY. 
The total quantity of leaf tobacco produced ;— 
1890 488,256 646 lb. 
1900 8(j8,163,275 „ 
The total production of the United States in 
19U0 shows an increase of 379,906,6291b, or 77-8 
per cent over tlie crop of 1890. All the states 
and territories were represented except Colorado, 
District of Columbia, Nevada, Rhode Island, and 
Utah, but the cultivation of tobacco on a large 
scale was confined to comparatively few states. 
The crop ot only eifjhteen states exceeded 1,000,000 
lb each and that of thirteen states 5,000,000 
lb each. Eight states produced more than 
20.000,000 and three States more than 100,000,000 
pounds each, Kentucky, North Carolina, Vir- 
ginia, Ohio and Tenuesse, in the order named, 
were the five greatest producers, whose 
combined crop was 679,791,000 lb, or 76 3 per 
cent of the entire produciou. Kentucky alone 
produced 36 2 per cent of the entire crop of the 
United States.— .^oard of Trade Journal, Sept. 4. 
Ceylon Para rubber.— Mr. R W Havri.son 
reports Culloden Para Rubber at last London 
sales as averaging 3s S^^d.; biscuit selling for 
3s lO^d, £vad scrap .for & 5f?. 
