52 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Ju&y 1, 1003. 
UNITED r. A. MALA.Y STATES. 
(Extracts from the Bevort for 1902.) 
Labour. — Oq the whole the supply of coolies from 
India hxs not been maiutained, and complaints of 
shoi tage are to be heard oa all sides. There are 
various reasons for this. A good paddy season in [ndia, 
the heavy fall in exohanga and consequent increase 
in the coat of living, higher v/ages offered by other 
countries, and a rapidly growing demand for tba 
seryices of the Tamil coolie wherever his employment 
is permitted by the Indian Government, all provide 
an explanation for the inadequate supply in the Mtilay 
Peninsula. The Governor in Council has just stated 
that the F M S during the past year have paid, as 
forfeit to the British India Company, the sum of 
^44,000, the equivalent of 4,000 tickets unused, 
against the guarantee to which a lengthy re- 
ferencs was made in your last annual report. 
Two labour conferences have been convened by the 
Government, one in Penang and one more re- 
cently in Singapore. At these all classes of Tamil 
labour employers were repressnted, your Chairman 
attending on behalf of the coffee., coconut and rubber 
interests of the F. M.S., and it has been finally 
decided that a monopoly, as regirdi professional 
recruiting, will be granted to the Madura Company, 
Ne^apatam, the wages offered ranging from .35 cents 
to 45 cents, subject to exchange ttuctaationa, and ac- 
cording to the locality in which the cooly recruit will 
. have to work. These Conferences were arranged with 
the double object o£ ascertaining the views of planters 
and other unofBcial employers, especially with respect 
to wages, and so avoiding the risk of friction, 
attendant upon possible Government competition, and 
also of considering a scheme for putting the whole 
question of resruitiog upon a sound basis, which 
emanated from Messrs. O'Sullivaa and Hill as the 
result of a visit which these gentleman hwe recently 
paid to India. It should be clearly underatood that, 
whilst no professional recruiting will be permitted 
except through the Madura Co., the kingani system 
will not be interfered with in any way. It may be that 
the offer of wages, so much higher than those ruiiug 
at present, will compel the employers of kanganies to 
rjzise their rates also, but that has yet to be seen, 
especially ii recruiting by professionals is practically 
to be confined to fndeutured labour, and there was 
a remarkable concensus of opinion amongst ths various 
delegates that the wages at present paid are quite 
insufficient to attract ths Tamil coolie, in any num- 
bers, to this country. There can bs no doubt that if 
the Rubber industry is to achieve the suoceis which 
i9 at present foreshadowed, the importation of very 
large numbers of coolies in the near faturo is tlistiucSiy 
indicated. It will not do for planters to wait until 
their trees are actually ready to tap, and then look 
round for labour and expect to find a suffi-ient supply 
at ha;id. Attached are various statistics in connection 
with labour, which should prove of interest. 
COOLIKS IMPORTED DURING THE YEAR 19Q1. 
Average 
Landed at No. of 0o3t of cost of 
Klang coolies Oooiiss. each coolie. 
$ $ 
Railway .. 1,732 43,840ai 25-31 
Public Works Dept. 514 12,166-38 23-67 
Negri Sembilaa . . 316 . . 29-10 
Perak ..117 .. 34-68 
ExPEBiMENTAL Gaiidens.— During June, 1902, the 
Oommitteo appointed by the Resident-General to 
confer with and advise the Superintendent, paid a 
vitit to these gardens. At this time tha land had nob 
been finally acquired, and there was but little progress 
to report. Since that date no oflicial inspection by the 
Committee has been made, but it is reported that 
some CO acres have boon felled and cleared, and that 
the Superintendent's J3ungalow, with a considerable 
approach road, has been built. The next report of the 
Committee, following a further inspection which will 
be shortly made, will be awaited with interest. The 
Superintendent has compiled an elaborate treatise 
upon the extraction and preparation of latex from 
the Para Rubber tree {Heiea Braziliensis), accom- 
panied by extensive statistics in connection with his 
experiments. The sampl-^s of rubber prepared by him 
were reported upon by the London experts, at the 
instance of the Kew Garden authorities, with the most 
satisfactory results, the best quality being valued at 
4/4d per lb. Your (Jommiitee are of opinion that the 
treatise referred to above ia a most v»l-aable contri- 
bution to the literature of Rubber, and that the 
Superintendent has succeeded.in absolutely dispelling 
the idea prevailing in certain quarters, that the rubber 
produced in this part of the world is of inferior quality. 
Ageicultuhal Sh ow.— It has been decided to hold 
an Agricultural Show at Kuala Lumpor in July, 1904, 
and a Committee has b^en appointed to arrange 
preliminaries, but at present no definite programme 
has been d.f-awn up. 
Insect Pests. — Tht Bee Hawk Afoth.— The cater- 
pillars of this species have, during the past year, 
caused a great deal or anxiety tc owners of coffee 
estates iu the Klang district. It has only been by 
the most sustained effort and th3 expenditure of very 
large sums of money, that their ravages have been 
kept within bounds. A feature of the attack, has been 
its persistent recrudescence in spite of the apparent 
completeness of the meas'ires taken for its suppression. 
A small batch of Ceylon crows were imported by the 
Government at your Chairman's suggestion, in the 
hope that these useful birds would settle in the coun- 
try, and perhaps help, in course of time, to keep the 
caterpillar pest down. The experiment has so far 
proved a su-joess in that the birds readily devoured the 
caterpillars when supplied to them whilst in captivity, 
and have not since their relea=(e deserted the locality. 
It yet remains to be seen, however, if they will breed. 
Coonnt Beetle'^.— ' l^hi stuff which I hope shortly 
to have a* my di.sposal Will, I believe, prove sufficient 
to carry out the necessary meaiutes for the protection 
of cojouut trees, and I trust that before long the 
disastrous effects caused by the present ravages of the 
beetles, may be minimised as much as possible." The 
above ia ver batim extract froem a letter addressed by 
the Field Inspector of Coconut Trees to your Asso- 
.ciation, first he entered upon the duties of his new 
appointment, and your Committee have groat pleasiire 
in testifying to the excellence and already far-reaching 
effects of the measures that have been taken for the 
suppression of the beetle pest. It does not seem too 
much to hope that within the very near future a 
serious danger to an important industry will havg 
been averted by the ready and libaral assistance ex , 
tended by the Government at a moat critical juncture^ 
CHIEF PLANTING PRODUCTS. 
Coffee, — In spite of the fact that most of the large 
coffee estates are now thickly planted through with 
Para Rubber, which will undoubtedly kill the former 
product in course of time, the export of coffee fram 
Selangor alone in 1902 amounted to 48,906 picula, 
against 37,664 piculs for the previous year, an increase 
of no less than 11,242 piculs, or about 30 per cent. This 
result can only be due to the fact that a large acreage 
has just come into full bearing, and your Committee 
consider that the returns for 1902 will probably con- 
stitute a record for the F M S., and further that in 
two years' time the export will not amount to much 
more than half its present proportions. During the 
season under review the extensions in coffee alone 
have been practically nil, but in some cases it is 
being planted as a catch crop with Para Rubber at 
varying distances through the fields, and of course, if 
tills system appeals to investors, it may be that there 
will be a continuous, if lessening, supply for some time 
to come. The outlook, however, is by no means en- 
couragin,'^, and although well opened estates on rich 
alluvial land can, even at present prices, be worked at 
