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tion of timber and fire wood, that the cultivator was unable 
to procure enough posts for the pepper plants, and wood to 
make burnt earth, to manure it or firewood to boil the 
gambir. When they had used up what was easi ly accessible 
to their plantation, they shifted the plantation and so went 
on till there was no suitable ground left, then the cultivation 
disappeared, and the land abandoned became a wretched 
desert of laJang, and in many cases has begun, slowly to 
come back to secondary scrub. 
The Chinese method has been described in the first 
series of the Bulletin. It was wasteful apd reckless. The 
product was very wet, and though at one time there was a 
considerable profit on it, it might have been made much 
higher* if the (Iambi r had been turned out in a dryer and 
cleaner condition. 
In 1894 I being on leave in England visited Leeds 
the centre of the tanning industry apd had an opportunity 
of seeing the Singapore Gambir being used in the tanneries 
and was quite surprised to see how much dirt and rubbish 
came from it when put through the washing machinery and 
also my attention was called to the very large proportion 
of- water in the product. On my return to the East I made 
enquiries about this, and attempted to induce planters to 
turn out a dryer and better product. I was informed by 
one that chemically dried gambir had been sent home by 
him on one occasion, but that unfortunately when sold the 
brokers did not appreciate the value of the product, and it 
sold for the same price as gambir which was very wet in- 
deed. He did not attempt any further work in this direc- 
tion. 
Some few years ago we had at the Agricultural 
Exhibition in 1906, some very fine samples of dried 
gambir, in the form of powder produced at Lanadron in 
Muar, but we have not heard of this manufacture since. 
From Prof. Dunstan 1 heard lately that gambir was 
being manufactured in Indragiri, Sumatra, by modern 
methods, and Mr. Burchard of Indragiri has kindly given 
some information on the matter. The leaves are boiled by 
steam and the decoction passes into a vacuum chamber, by 
pipes there it is treated by steam, till it is of a consistency 
sufficient to be run off and cooled in cases in which it is 
shipped. The whole factory is fitted with steam power, 
leaf cutters, and elevators, electric light, ice works and 
saws. The factory works day and night and turns out 80 
piculs of Gambir a day. The buyers at first did not appre- 
ciate the product and would not pay more than 16$. per 
