40 
It will be remarked that in the Kuala Pilah District the estimated extent of rice 
land under cultivation is 10,300 acres. In the Tampin District the acreage is from 
six to seven thousand acres; both these amounts are approximate. The production, 
however, is reliable and the average padi assessment shows for 1890, 3,600,000 gan- 
tangs, or 1 .80,000 pikuls of padi, which, converted into rice, amounts to 108,000 pikuls ; 
thus showing that the native population, on the average, should have just sufficient 
rice for its support. I he amount per head of men, women and children would be 
three pikuls or live gantangs per month. The State cannot and can never be expected 
to supply swamp rice to its foreign population, as it possesses no lands on which 
rice could be produced for sale. 
The high price of rice during the last six months happens to have been severely 
felt here, the crops last year having failed in most Districts of the State. It is hardly 
necessary to state that the planting of hill padi is altogether discouraged. There is, 
however, a valuable form of rice cultivation on the slightly undulating flats above 
Kuala Gemencheh on the Muar River, and also below Kuala Gemencheh at Awat, 
and I have never ceased impressing upon the people, where such undulating flats 
exist, the desirability of extending and opening up further acreages. These fields 
are called in Malay pa dang tenggala (ploughed fields), and "are cultivated by 
Pahang Malays who have settled in the State. It is a very usual form of rice culti- 
vation in Pahang, the ploughed fields in the neighbourhood of Pulau Tawar being, 
I remember, extensive. The system is roughly as follows: — Land being found to be 
suitable is felled and cleared. The land is ploughed and a particular variety of dry 
padi seed is planted, one crop is taken. The planter then prepares another adjoin- 
ing field in the same way and plants his next year’s crop on this land leaving the 
original field to fallow. the third year the same process is gone through of opening 
another field. Thus to each holding there are three fields, and these three fields are 
ploughed and planted permanently in rotation. It can be seen, however, that only 
rich lands on the banks of large rivers where there are considerable extents of slight- 
ly undulating dry lands can be cultivated in this way. Steep hills could not be 
worked with the buffalo plough. Buffaloes also are a sine qua non to the cultivation, 
though this must be said also in regard to the successful cultivation of swamp rice. 
I regret to say that, in the only case in which I was able to persuade a native of 
this State to open a ploughed field for rice on the above system, he obtained a very 
poor crop the first year, and refused to continue cultivation, falling back upon swamp 
rice instead. No doubt the system requires to be learnt especially in the experience 
of some years, though this applies to all planting. 
In connection with this report, I propose, as soon as I have been able to re-visit 
Sereting, Rembau and Gemencheh, to report on some system of development and 
encouragement of rice cultivation after full discussion with the Chiefs and people. 
I will now pass to dhoti and ragi. The native population here plants a consi- 
derable amount of Indian corn, which they are very fond of. This they plant on the 
secondary growth attaching to tho»ir garden or kampong lands, and thus no virgin 
forest is destroyed. I do not think that they would adopt the cultivation of dholl 
in preference to Indian corn, and Mr. Cazalas is right in saying that they do not 
like h as food. From what I have heard of ragi, I should say it would prove a most 
undesirable form of food here, being only suited to colder districts. 
The District Officer, Kuala Pilah, draws attention to the encouragement in his 
District of planting Liberian coffee and pepper in the Malay garden lands. Arabian 
coffee exists in nearly every Malay garden here. The small amount of coffee that 
it bears is sold, as the leaves only aie used by the Malays. They are scorched over 
a fire and dried, and an infusion is made as in the case of tea. The elevation is insuf- 
ficient to expect good crops. I have already referred in previous reports to the 
cultivation of Liberian coffee, and already some plants have been distributed, and a 
large nursery \s now being made at Kuala Pilah for the distribution of' plants 
amongst the tribes. Only a few plants will be given to each household, in order to 
secure their careful cultivation. I should like to see encouragement extended in this 
direction, as also in the introduction of sheep and cattle. No doubt it would be most 
beneficial, and it has always been my wish, as soon as revenues allowed, to make 
some systematic proposals on this subject, especially for the introduction of sheep, 
which I have done myself successfully. It would not require a very large sum to 
introduce sufficient sheep here to make a mark in the Immediate neighbourhood. As 
the numbers increased they would no doubt be purchased further afield. The map 
accompanying Mr. Chevaluer’s Report will assist considerably in referring to the 
places mentioned. 
MARTIN LISTER, 
British Resident „ 
