HERBARIUM VERANDAH 
Rubber 
Ridley was the “father” of Malaya’s rubber industry. He had 
great faith in the future of rubber and developed the modem tap¬ 
ping technique, discovered that the trees could be tapped regular¬ 
ly, showed how to prepare the rubber for the market, and then 
persuaded reluctant coffee-planters and others to grow the crop. 
For his efforts he was called ‘ ‘Mad’ ’ Ridley, but he persevered and 
saw the results of his labour in the establishment of Malaya’s rubber 
industry and the rubber boom in 1910. In this exhibit can be 
seen rubber seedlings in Wardian cases, methods ol tapping, 
samples of rubber prepared by Ridley, a chart showing how seed 
was distributed from this Department throughout the world and 
also a chart showing the history of the development of the rubber 
industry. 
Other Economic Crops 
As early as 1889 Mr. Ridley said that cocoa could be grown 
profitably on the better Malayan soil, while in 1907 he drew 
attention to the future of oil palm as a plantation crop. He ex¬ 
perimented with all the known and potential economic crops 
for the area, while his economic garden was the main source of 
planting material for the country. He despatched seeds to many 
countries including the West Indies, Pacific Islands- all parts of 
Africa, China, India, Australia and many other countries. By 
1906 he reports “This part of the Gardens is steadily increasing 
in usefulness and importance, not only to the local community, 
but to all tropical parts of the Empire and indeed it would be 
difficult to over-estimate its utility.” 
Some of the economic crops with which Mr. Ridley experi¬ 
mented are shown in this exhibit. 
