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tentatively, but the Government came round, and granted him 3 ) 00 ° 
acres of virgin jungle on very favorable terms, on the understanding 
that it was to be used solely for “ Rubber” but giving him pcrmis-^ 
sion to take one crop of tapioca off the land and to plant 15 by 15 
not 10 by 10. I do not think that Government can but be pleased 
at their bargain, for what was 6 years ago, dense jungle, is now a 
well planted, healthy, rubber estate, with over 520,000 Para and 
Rambong trees, ranging from i| years old to ^ years. 
Arriving at Malacca Sunday morning at 4 A.M. as usual, with a 
squall on, and the old tub “ Malacca ” rolling like a cockle-shell, 
we proceeded ashore, and after a welcome brush-up, started in fine 
style in Chav Yan’s motor car for the older of the two estates, 
Bukit Lintang. This we went over, and thoroughly inspected the 
trees, buildings, and process of treatment of the latex, 
Everything we came across was most encouraging, the trees were 
well grown, healthy, and clean. The ground was clear of all rub- 
bish and growth, and the labour on the estate seemed thoroughly 
at home in their work. 
We saw the latex being tapped from the trees. Malay women 
were on this job, and it was carried out bv means of herring-bone 
shaped incisions in the bark of the tree from which the latex flowed 
and was collected in tin cans, in the form of a thick milky fluid. 
This latex is then treated with a little acetic acid, which coagulates 
the pure rubber, this is done in small China bowls, and the <l bis- 
cuits ” of rubber are in time taken from the bowl, rolled, and then 
hung up to dry, and in two or three months' lime, a biscuit is ob- 
tained containing from 92 to 94 per cent, of pure rubber. 
This Bukit Lintang estate has been, and is still, the experimental 
estate for Bukit Asahan, of 3,300 acres, which we went to see the 
next day, doing the 32 miles of road in good style. in the motor, 
notwithstanding the lumpy state of same after the first ten miles. 
Bukit Asahan can truly be described as a fine sight. Standing 
near the proprietor’s bungalow, one can see for acres around, noth- 
ing but undulating hills of healthy looking rubber trees, and the 
whole is made to appear to be one mass of green by reason of the 
tapioca which covers the estate as the catch-crop. Going through 
the estate we saw trees in every stage from i| years to 5I, and all 
were o-ood-Iooking, the point which most strikes the lay mind being 
the rapid growth which the trees make after the 3rd year, the two 
years after the 3rd year putting on a much greater girth, than the 
first three years. 
Tapioca has proved an excellent catch-crop, for it has given 
profits, although at the present low price it is unrenumerative, but 
greater than this, it has' prevented any secondary growth from 
giving trouble, and has kept in check that ‘‘bleeding” weed, lalang, 
which spoils the fertility of any land. 
The rubber trees, principally Para, are planted 15 by 15 through- 
out the 3,300 acres. Altogether there are 520,000 trees, of which 
80,000 could be tapped, but are prudently being left for another 18 
