(G 33) 
Minute paper No. 
Sheet No. 
AGRICULTURE AND PLANTING. 
Turning to agriculture the principal feature 
of the year has of course been the very 
severe and unexpected fall in the price of 
rubber. The cultivation of rubber does not 
as yet appear to have suffered any serious 
set back. While it is true that few applica¬ 
tions for Crown land are now being received, 
new land already granted is still being plant 
ed in all the Settlements, and where estates 
have had some other form of cultivation to¬ 
gether with rubber, whether it is coconuts, 
gambier or tapioca, the tendency to remove 
the second crop shows few signs of diminu- f 
tion. Sugar also in Province Wellesley has I 
suffered a loss of interest in favour of rubber. 
The estimated yield of rubber estates | 
closing their year between June and Decern- ; 
ber is in almost all cases being fulfilled or j 
exceeded. In Malacca the export which for ! 
1912 totalled 5,648,266 lbs. valued at! 
#10,353,914 amounted in the first six months | 
of 1913 to 4,226,933 lbs. valued at #6,308,827. ; 
The first half of the year being the lean half j 
the next six months should show even 
larger figures, the quantity being further 
swelled by more trees arriving at the tapping 
stage. The total export for this year is 
likely to be over 9,000,000 lbs. 
With regard to other products, about 82,000 
piculs of tapioca were exported from Malacca 
in 1912 at an average price of #8 to #8.25. 
For the first six months of the current year 
production and export have been on a smaller 
scale, about 35,000 piculs at a reduced average 
price of #6.70. Ten thousand four hundred 
and forty piculs of gambier valued at #115,740 
left that Settlement between January 1 and 
June 30, 1913. 
The cultivation of coconuts in the Bindings 
continues to attract attention. The large 
estate opened at Bruas is being rapidly 
planted up and another estate of 3,000 acres 
is being opened chiefly in coconuts by a 
Chinese owner. 
The coconut crop has been good at Singa¬ 
pore in spite of the fact that even mature 
trees have in many cases been cut down to 
make way for rubber. 
There are, however, no signs of coconut j 
cultivation being taken up on a large scale in 
Malacca. 
The reports of padi cultivation are, I re 
gret, generally discouraging. In Province 
Wellesley it is reported that even with a fair 
harvest the Malay planters are compelled to 
sell or hand over the greater part of their 
crop to meet the demands of the lessors of 
the padi fields or the claim of the money 
lenders. F J<> / a j 
Government appreciates the advantage of 
persuading the raiat to use their own hand- j 
milled padi instead of buying the polished' 
rice in the market. Efforts are also being 
made to prevent or keep down the scourge 
of rats and other vermin by measures directed 
against the owners of land left uncultivated. 
In Malacca persuasion was last year 
brought to bear upon the raiat to try 
to induce them to cultivate, and 
this year the district officers have again 
received instructions to exert influence in 
the same direction. Last year for the first 
time the dates for clearing and planting were 
fixed by mukim councils and a number of; 
recalcitrants have now been summoned • 
Progress, however, is but slow as the Peng- 
hulus intensely dislike taking summons 
against the men of their kampongs, and it 
seems likely that the remedy must lit hi for¬ 
feiture of land not regularly cultivated. "With 
this end in view an amendment to the Malac¬ 
ca Lands Ordinance is now under consi¬ 
deration. 
Pineapples widely planted in Singapore, 
often asa catch-crop under young rubber, have 
fruited in abundance so that the price of the 
fruit at the tinning factories fell to 50 cents j 
per hundred. 
Fruit trees in Singapore island have not 
yielded freely and there is a growing tenden¬ 
cy towards the importation of the necssary 
supply from a considerable distance. The 
market price of vegetables in Singapore 
grows higher owing to the insufficient area 
of land near the town suitable or available 
for their cultivation. Supplies are in large 
portion drawn from remote parts of the island. [ 
The Lstate Labourers Protection of 
Health Ordinance referred to in my address 
last year has been the subject of protracted 
consideration and it is only recently that an 
amendment which it is hoped will meet the 
views of many has been drafted and placed 
before the Legislative Council. In the mean¬ 
time the medical department has continued 
to press improvements in water supply and 
sanitation for the coolies’ benefit, The ap¬ 
pointment of an officer to visit estates in the 
Negri Sembilan and Malacea was made 
some months ago and has been of much use 
in increasing the supervision of estates em- j 
ploying Tamil labour. * :: > > 
