2 ft I 
Ot course, I do not wish in this connection to 
I never have been, as I think it is a great mis- 
ordinary rapidity, 
be over sanguine. , 
take to hold out too rosy prospects about anything. WVwho have 
been engaged in tropical agriculture know that these sanguine ex^ 
pec tat ions have been so often falsified ; so it is better to regard 
things in a calm way. a 
the 
At the same time, there is one feature in connection with tne 
rubber industry of Selangor which is very striking, and that is that 
alt the men who are engaged in it, and who are putting capital into 
it, are men of some considerable shrewdness — men who are usually 
in the van when there is anything good going. A great manv of 
the men in fact, nearly all of them— are Ceylon planters, who 
.... H.V..U — cue v.ryiun pianrers, wnc 
lave been going round quietly, picking up land, planting it, and 
floating companies. I may tell vou that the £\ shares of one 
rubber company in Selangor, which is approaching the producing 
stage, are difficult to procure at the present moment at £3 This 
will give you some idea of what certain people think of the pros, 
peels. We hope on our property at Selangor to arrive at the pro, 
during stage somewhat earlier than they do in Ceylon. The trees 
at Kondesella are ten years old, and the results obtained are ex- 
ceedingly satisfactory ; but I hope that in Selangor we shall be able 
to get a considerable yield from our trees as soon as they are eight 
years old. if not sooner, owing to the very much more rapid growth 
of the trees. [ hope that during this year we may b£ able to take 
a small amount of latex from the smaller trees, and that from 
thence onwards I trust that the rubber produced will be quite a 
substantial factor each yoar. In a very short time now we shall 
be abie to show you a profit on your investment there. Meanwhile 
the Liberian coffee, which is being planted amongst the rubber 
trees, and also the coconut trees, which latter will take longer before 
they come into considerable bearing, are doing very weTl. As to 
the Liberian coffee, we can only regard that as being in the nature 
. , a le 5 1 l J0rar y benefit, as when the rubber trees grovv more densely 
tlie coffee plants will succumb. In the meantime, however, we are 
receiving a very substantial income from the yield of coffee, which 
gjoes a long way towards paying our current expenses. I therefore 
think, without being too sanguine, that the stockholders of this 
company have every reason to congratulate themselves upon having 
had a c«t into this new industry. I think, also, that the price a~t 
which this property stands in the company's books is a very safe 
one and, in conclusion; 1 may say that f do not think the 'stock- 
holders will have any reason to do other than congratulate them- 
seives on having embarked in this rubber industry in the Protected 
Malay States. 1 now have pleasure in seconding the adoption of 
the resolution moved by the chairman. 
The resolution was carried. 
Straits Times , August //, 1 goj . 
