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over seventeen and a half thousand metric tons, 
exported mainly to the United States of America, 
Holland, Australia and England, Thus in 1921 Java 
received about one and a half million pounds sterling 
for kapok supplied to other countries. Other ex- 
porting countries are the Philippine Islands, Ceylon, 
India, and Venezuela. The standard kapok comes 
from Java and is known as Prime Samarang. The 
prices vary from 4 d. per lb. for Indian kapok to 
15 pence per pound for that originating from Java. 
The interesting point in the production of kapok in 
most countries is that practically in every case the 
cultivation is in the hands of natives, the foreigner 
managing the marketing. 
A census of the trees in the Federated Malay States 
and the Straits Settlements has been made, with the 
result that it is ascertained that, although almost all 
districts contain trees, -the amount of kapok obtained 
is insufficient to meet the local demand. The ex- 
ceptions to this were in Lower Perak, Kuala Kangsar 
and Krian Districts, which together contained about 
sixty thousand trees. The purchase of kapok by 
Chinese has yielded such poor returns to the Malay 
growers that the latter sell but a small proportion 
of their crop, and much of the kapok is allowed to 
rot in situ. 
Kapok will flourish in a wide range of soils, but 
those of a light friable nature, allowing easy deve- 
lopment of the somewhat sparse root system, are 
preferable. In this country, the alluvial soils along 
river banks give the best returns, after which a 
sandy loam is suitable. In Java, the finest crops 
are obtained from the well-weathered volcanic soils 
of Samarang. Whatever be the soil, the drainage 
should be good, although occasional floods over the 
