672 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[April 2, 1900. 
PLANTING COFFEE, COCONUTS 
RUBBER; &c. IN TUB STRAITS. 
SELANGOll PLANTERS' ASSOCIATION. 
A'iXUAL liEPOitT roH 1893 
In preseiiting' this their Seventh Annual Re- 
port, your Committee have to announce that 
05 members are now on llie roll of the Associa- 
tion, boiu;;' only two less tlian last year, although 
seven names have been removed from the roll 
during the year through closing of estates, 
departure from the Staie and resignation. The 
attached statistics show an increase under culti- 
vation of 1,172 acres, but of labourers of all 
nationidiiies a decrease of 178. 
PL.YN'rixu Products.— (fl) Coffke.— Estimates 
have for the most part Ijeen realized, l)nt the 
depression of prices, complained of in 1898, con- 
tinued during the past year, and the following 
list of prices realized for coU'ee durina; lKiJ9:— 
viz., .January ^lS.t5, February !|jil8..50. March $18, 
April .'ii>l().50, May $10.05, .June tipie.75, .July .$16, 
August !S?15,oO, September $15.85, October §10, 
Novembei' .$18, December .'t620..5O : an average of 
$17.20 per j.)icul for the tvi-elve months— sliows 
that there was no margin for profit ; in fact, 
your Committee consider that the present good 
order of Selangor Estates is very creditable con- 
sidering above prices, and that it has been a 
good, though trying, lesson to planters generally. 
During the year, until December, there was 
almost no demand for Ijiberian coffee in tlie 
Pluropean market, l)Ut since thoi there has l)een 
a distinct improvement. 
There has also been a decided improvement 
in the quality of our coffee, owing, no doubt, to 
betlier machinei'y and greater care in curing, and 
your Committee hope that every member of the 
Association will do his utmost to help in this 
respect, so that still greater improvement may 
be reported at the end of 1900. Although soma 
300 acres under coffee were abandoned during the 
past year, it is satisfactory to knov.' that the 
acreage cultivated under coffee by Europeans has 
not decreased, being about the same as at end of 
1898, as for every acre of bad land abandoned 
there has been an acre of good land brought into 
cultivation. Mr. Heslop Hill has taken great 
trouble in procuring statistics which show that 
we can produce coffee in the Straits cheaper than 
it can be produced in Brazil, and this, taken with 
the fact that late Ijondon reports maintain that 
the demand has almost equalled the supply, make 
your ComTiiittee consider that the present out- 
look is more hopeful than it has been for a long 
time past. 
(/)) 'Pab.v Rukbki;.— llie low prices for coffee 
during 1899 stimulated the cultivation of this 
product very considerably, and no less than 
1,000,000 imported and locally grown seeds were 
put into nurseries in Selangor, which have pro- 
duced, say 1,000,000 healthy plants, all of which 
either have been or are being planted out. On 
all estates in Selangor where Para Rubber has 
been planted, it is doing extremely well, and, at 
present, it seems as if rubber ^vas going to be 
one of the leading products of the State. There 
can be no doubt that we have much to learn about 
rubber, and it is satisfactory to report that through 
the representations of the U. P. A., 1^. M. S., the 
Federal Malay States Government have voted a 
sum of .'jM,(K)0 in the 1000 estimates for the pur- 
pose of carrying ou t c.\])erinients with rubber and 
ot'ier 1, rod nets. There has also been some dis- 
cussion about sending a practical man to report 
on Para and Castilloa liubber in the countries 
where they are grown, and there is evei-y likeli- 
hood that til is w ill be done by the planting 
community even should (lovernment not see their 
way to help. The planting of Para Rubber seed 
at stake has not, as a rule, proved a success, 
and e\"en young plants are so liable to be eaten 
off by rats, crickets, and other pests, that the 
best and s;ifest plan seems to be to plant stumps 
as thick as a man's forefinger, and cut long 
The wJiiteants (termites) are Para Kul)ber's w orst 
enemy, and your Committee hopes that any suc- 
cessful experiments in destroying tliese or any 
other pests will be reported to them 
U-) GUTTA liAMBO.N'G. —This rubber it indigenous 
to the Straits Settlements and up to the pi-esent 
does net seem to have received as mucii atten- 
tion as it deserves from Planters. It gi-ows 
luxuriantly and gives an enormous yield at 
from 10 to 12 years old (probably earlier) and 
no doubt the new coagulating machine will 
act on its milk in the same way tiiat it does 
on that of the ('(istilloa Elaalicn, as reported 
in the Ceylon Botanical Gardens Reports (making 
it equal to the best Para). Up to last j-ear it 
was ratlier difficult to get plants or cuttings 
which found a ready sale at from 15 to 25 cents 
each, but each plant put out for the last three 
years has been yielding 30 fold, and there are 
now thousands of rooted plants available at from 
4 to 5 cents each, wliicli is a very i-easonable 
price. There should be about 500,000 plants 
available for next year, though probably not all 
for sale, as some planters are planting out all 
they can produce. 
(f/) CASTii-LOA Ei.A.STicA.— It has been almost 
impossible to procure seed of this rubber, but 
those plants already in the country are doing 
extremely well, and a large quantity of seed 
has been booketl for 1900. 
((') Coco.v UTS.— A large acreage has been planted 
during the year, chiefly in the Coast Districts 
and the Kuala Selangor Oil Mill has been work- 
ing steadily and turning out excellent oil and 
cake. The company have planted 20U acres this 
year. The growth of the coconut in Selangor 
has been pronounced by experts from Ceylon to 
be finer than anything in that island. This pro- 
duct is well worthy of attention. 
(/) Ramie. — So far, the only extensive experi- 
ments carried out with this product are those 
of Mr. C Baxendale on the .Jugra Estate, Kuala 
Langat, which we hear leported on favourably 
and we hope soon to learn that he has proved 
.the cultivation a success. 
((/) Minor Products.— A very considerable area 
has been planted with plantains and kladi in 
conjunction with coffee and rubber, and boih 
are favourably reported on as more than pajdng 
all expenses rf upkeep on the land. During the 
yeai" an attempt was made to establish a trade 
in plantains with Western Australia, but, on 
enquiry, the business proved to be so small that 
nothing came of it. We believe another effort 
is being made in the same direction, but have 
not yet heard with what result. 
CINCHONA: CABLEGr^MS 
Amsterd a, Feb. 15. 
At the auctions of cinchona bark held today, 
over 6,000 packages were offered, of whieli 
5,814 sold at an average unit of 10'65c per half- 
kilo, against 8 90c paid at the January auctions. 
The following were the approximate quantities 
))urchased by the principal buyers : — English and 
American factories, who purchased the equiva- 
lent of 7,430 kilos, quinine sulphate ; ]3runs\vick 
fa'jtoiy, 2,029 kilos ; the Mannheim and Anister- 
ilani factoi ies 5, '201 kilos, the Fraukfoi t-on-Maiiie 
and Stuttgart factories, 2,448 kilos ; and various 
buyers. 3,408 kilos. The prices n.iid for the ma- 
nufacturing bark ranged from 12e to 93c per half- 
kilo, and far " druggists ' "from lOJc to 86c per 
half-kilo. The tone was very firm.— C7Ae»it*i and 
Druggist, Feb. 17. 
