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The betel nut industry is now slowly dying out, 
owing to the native preference for planting rubber, 
although there is a fairly large number of betel 
palms growing in the Muar district in Johore. In 
a very few cases are the betel nut plantations under 
the control of the original owners or planters, who 
were mostly Malays; the common system is to hire 
them out on contract, usually to Chinese, who collect 
and sell the fruit. 
Cultivation . — Only virgin jungle land is suitable 
for the cultivation of betel nuts, and it is stated 
that, if planted on other types of land, the palms 
make poor growth and yield little fruit. The 
palms are usually planted about 8 ft. x 8 ft. apart, 
giving 680 trees to the acre. Very little weeding 
is done, and there is always a fairly thick under- 
growth of lalang and other weeds. The land is 
never manured or cultivated, in fact the plantation 
is allowed to look after itself until it reaches 
maturity. Fortunately, little trouble is experienced 
with pests and diseases. 
The palm bears flowers and fruit after the fourth 
or fifth year, and continues to yield for fifteen to 
twenty years. As each leaf dies and falls off, it 
discloses a swollen leafy sheath in the axil. This 
sheath quickly ruptures and sets free the inflores- 
cence, which is composed of a large number of small, 
pale-yellowish flowers. The fruit ripens within 
about six months after the first appearance of the 
inflorescence. 
The young palms bear from two to six bunches of 
fruit per year, while older palms bear one or two 
bunches a year and finally do not fruit at all. All 
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