282 
of trees has not proportionately increased so much, is that the 
number of trees planted per acre during 1906 was not so many 
as previously. 
That all the plants, young and old, should be alive and vigo- 
rous in 1906 is practically impossible, even with skilled care and 
perfect conditions .there must be among plants as among all other 
living things a percentage of deaths continually going on. 
Drought, excess of moisture, sudden winds, insect, fungal, and 
, bacterial pests and many accidental causes are responsible for a 
certain number of deaths of plants at various stages of growth on 
every estate. 
Every Superintendent endeavours to reduce the number of 
these casualties as far as possible, but if one in every 300 trees 
dies each year this need not be considered a high percentage in 
trees of 5 years and upwards, and the mortality is greater before 
that period. So that we may expect that of the 10 million trees 
something between 9 and 10 million will be alive and flourishing 
in 1912, and this at 1 lb. per tree will give about 4,250 tons or 
^rd of the probable world’s consumption in 1912. 
Rubber Statistics, Federated Malays States, up to the 
31ST December, 1906. 
j Selangor. 
Perak. 
Negri 
Pahang 
Total. 
Sembilan. 
No. of estates .. 
ng 
89 
25 
9 
242 
Total acreage 
44,821 
29,612 
10,663 
483 
85.579 
Opened during xgoG^jres 
19,063 
17,678 
4.945 
468 
42.154 
No. of trees planted up to 
the 31st December, 1906 . . 
5.477.390 
3,990,462 
1,196,150 
81,000 
10,745,002 
No. of trees tapped 
364.638 
67,710 
i 91,410 
. . 
441,488 
Dry rubber extracted lbs. . . 
620,033 
94,841 
146,891 
3.645 
861,732 
The Future of Plantation Rubber. 
Accurate estimates of the world’s rubber consumption are 
not easy to make, the only reliable data available are found in 
the crude rubber export and import returns of the five large 
rubber consuming countries, viz., Great Britain, United States, 
Germany, France and Belgium. 
The gross import returns include rubber which is afterwards 
exported from these five countries to each other, but also includes 
all the rubber which is exported to other countries whose import 
returns are not available. 
The nett import returns, i.e., the import minus the export — 
do not give a correct figure of the world’s consumption, and it is 
probable that the gross imports of these five countries are much 
