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LALLANG GRASS POSSESSING GOOD PAPER- 
MAKING QUALITIES FOUND ON 
RUBBER PLANTATIONS. 
By Clayton Beadle. 
Lallang (or lalang) grass has come to my notice, more particularly 
during the last few years, on account of the clearing of rubber estates 
i n the Malay Peninsula from this grass for the purposes of the 
plantations of rubber trees. It is, of course, regarded by the 
planter merely as a weed which has to be eradicated. It probably is 
not known to planters that the utilisation of this grass prior to the 
introduction of rubber trees formed the subject of a concession fifteen 
years ago- The idea of cultivating this grass, or even collecting or 
harvesting it, as a source of profit to the rubber planter would no 
doubt be scouted ; in fact, catch crops generally may be set aside as 
being hardly worthy of consideration, at least for the present. 
But it is as well to look ahead, and the time may come in the 
East when such products as Lallang grass can with advantage be 
turned to good account. The East will no doubt grow, m fact is 
growing as a field for the papermaker. The utilisation of bamboo 
as a papermaking material in British Burma is receiving serious con- 
sideration at the hands of the Government. I do not wish to suggest 
that the time has yet come to consider the utilisation of Lallangm the 
same direction, but the time may come when such a material will have 
to be used to meet the increasing demands. All I seek to do m this 
article is to place on record that which has already been attempted m 
this direction. ^ 
The Johore Malay Peninsular Papermaking Concession was 
granted by H. H. the Sultan with the object of utilising Lallang grass 
for the manufacture of all classes of paper, and in 1902 a pamphlet 
was published containing a synopsis of this Concession, with reports 
of the experiments made. The opinions expressed, as set forth m this 
pamphlet, would lead one to conclude that this grass is superior to 
esparto as a papermaking material. The date of the granting of the 
Concession was February 20th, 1891, wherein H. H. the Sultan of 
Johore conveyed “ to the Concessionaire, or to whomsoever he may 
assign it a monopoly to utilise for the manufacture of paper, Lallang 
Grass and all fibrous plants that are indigenous or can be cultivated 
in the territory of Johore for the term of fifty-five years, free of rent, 
taxes or import duty of any kind, in consideration of establishing the 
papermaking industry in the territory, and turning Lallang Grass, 
known as the pest of the country, into a valuable commercial product.” 
The concession also covered the right to make use of any clay suitable 
for paper manufacture, “ of which class of clay there is abundance 
throughout the territory.” The Concession provided for grants of 
5.000 acres of Government land to be taken up in blocks, not exceeding 
1.000 acres each, for the cultivation of the plantain tree, or other 
fibrous plants or grasses (other than Lallang) that could be utilised in 
the manufacture of paper ; a grant of 50 acres of land as a factory 
