AGRICULTURAL BULLETIN 
OF THE 
STRAITS 
AND 
FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 
No. io.] OCTOBER, 1903. [Vol. II. 
COTTON. 
As some Interest has lately been shown in the Cultivation of 
Cotton in the Malay peninsula a few notes on the subject may not 
be out of place. Attempts have been made at intervals for many 
years to cultivate the different species and varieties of Cotton plants 
in many parts of this region, not only by Europeans but also by 
Malays, and in Sumatra by the Battaks. It has also been cultivated 
experimentally in the Botanic Gardens at Singapore and Malacca. 
In the latter gardens the first crop was fairly good, but the soil was 
too poor and the next attempt was a failure. 
In 1889, a sample of Cotton received from Jelebu was forwarded 
to the Royal Gardens Kew, for examination and was submitted by 
the authorities there to Messrs. John BradOCK & Co. 11 Com- 
mercial Sale rooms, Mincing Lane, who reported May 7, 1889 : 
“ The sample of Cotton submitted to us shows a very good style, 
white, clear, free from seed with fair staple. It would find a ready 
market at from 6| to 7d. per lb. It appears to be handpicked from 
the pod but to make the article profitable it would we think re- 
quire proper machinery to extract the seed and otherwise to clean 
the Cotton ready for market to be able to compete with American 
and other Cotton growing Countries”. 
Mr. (now Sir) D. MORRIS of Kew Gardens notes on this: “ This 
report is very satisfactory as far as it goes and if labour is cheap 
it might be well worth while growing it”. 
In 1900, Mr. H. C. Rendle of Petaling Estate wrote: u i have 
just sent home a few pods of Cotton which l believe is more or less 
indigenous to South America and have received a very good report 
on it. I first noticed it growing in a Malay garden at Klang. I 
planted the seed near my bungalow and in about 6 months got 
ripe pods. The Cotton was valued at 3d to 6d per lb. and the seed 
^5.10 per ton”. 
An interesting series of letters as to the cultivation of Cotton in 
Deli, Sumatra, was received from Mr. J. A. TAYLOR in 1892-1893. 
His first letter runs as follows : 
