( 4 ) 
plants, but these are less aggressive than those of 
some other species and are very likely to be hindered 
or delayed in development by other trees. It is 
often the case that a few scattered trees of this 
kind are to be found in a large forest. It seems 
that individuals are able to persist in places where 
the conditions are not favourable for quantity 
development. 
2. Area Occupied. 
There is known to be, in the Federated Malay 
States, an area of as much as 300,000 acres which 
can be considered as getah taban merah forest. 
There are also considerable areas of such forest in 
the Unfederated Malay States, Sumatra, and Borneo. 
There are also still further areas in which occasional 
trees are found. The estimate of 300,000 acres in 
the Federated Malay States refers to forests within 
which it would be possible for gutta percha to be 
made the principal crop, although it is not so at 
present. Most of the area in the island of Singapore 
which originally bore gutta percha trees has been 
cleared, but there are still remaining on the island, 
on Pulau Jerajak near Penang, and in the settlement 
of Malacca a few spots where the tree is found. 
III.— EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES. 
The Forest Department of the Federated Malay 
States has for a number of years carried on ex- 
perimental work with gutta percha trees. The 
Netherlands East Indies Government has carried 
on a larger amount of work in Java and Sumatra, 
and for a longer time. The following notes are 
gleaned from different government reports and have 
reference to getah taban merah ( Palaquium Gutta 
Burck), unless otherwise stated. 
