to the warehouses where it is again sorted. Grading 
is done on the basis of colour, length and diameter 
of internodes, and uniformity. The canes are next 
packed for shipment in the form in which they 
come to the market. The best grades are sent to 
Europe and America, and the inferior grades are 
used locally or sent* to China for the manufacture 
of furniture. Other kinds of rattan may receive 
a less elaborate treatment, but nearly all kinds are 
washed and dried in the sun before being shipped. 
Generally speaking, the canes of small diameter are 
of more value than the coarser ones. 
There are considerable numbers of Chinese in 
Singapore engaged in the preparation of the canes 
for shipment. There is a good deal of wasted effort 
in the numerous handlings which the rattan receives 
both before and after it reaches Singapore. A 
better organization of the collecting and handling 
would result in securing more material and of a 
more uniform quality. There has been a general 
tendency toward reduction in quality of the average 
supplies, during the past fifteen years. This is in 
part due to exhaustion of the supply of the better 
sorts in some neighbourhoods and in part to careless 
methods of collecting and handling. 
The names used for the rattan shipped from 
Singapore are often different from those under 
which it was collected, and several kinds of rattan 
are often included under one trade name. 
III.— SPECIAL KINDS OF RATTAN. 
Many of the rattans of British Malaya are very 
little known. The following is a brief account, com- 
