Notes on economic plants, Straits Settlements
Nathaniel Cantley, Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens in Singapore, published these notes in 1886 as an appendix to his Annual Report on the Forest Department for the Straits Settlements, reprinted in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society for wider circulation. The work constitutes a systematic colonial agricultural survey aimed at identifying and promoting “minor industries” that could diversify the colony’s economic base beyond its dominant exports of pepper, gutta-percha, and coffee (p. 295).
Summary
Cantley’s notes are organized by product category—fibres, oils, fruits, beverages, spices, roots and vegetables, dyes, rubber and gums, drugs, and miscellaneous crops—and for each plant he assesses growth performance in the Experimental Nurseries, market prices in London, and the practical conditions under which profitable cultivation might be achieved. The underlying historical problem is one of economic diversification: the Straits Settlements in the 1880s remained heavily dependent on a narrow range of export commodities, and the colonial administration sought to identify supplementary crops that could absorb surplus labour and underutilized land. Cantley explicitly frames his work as preliminary, acknowledging that “sufficient time has not yet elapsed since the establishment of the Experimental Nurseries to obtain complete information” (p. 295), and positions the notes as showing “the tendency towards results” rather than delivering definitive conclusions.
A recurring theme is the gap between botanical suitability and commercial exploitation. Cantley repeatedly observes that plants grow with vigour in the Straits climate yet remain uncultivated for want of enterprise, proper technique, or market knowledge. He argues that several apparent failures—castor oil, tobacco, cotton—resulted not from inherent climatic unsuitability but from the use of inferior varieties or incorrect cultivation methods (pp. 298, 308). He also draws attention to the conservatism of local markets, noting that Chinese buyers cling to inferior varieties (such as the “Mauritius” pine-apple, which is not actually known in Mauritius) with a persistence that resists the introduction of superior alternatives (p. 300). The sugar cane section, drawing on Mr. Morris’s data from Jamaica, provides the most detailed quantitative assessment in the work, tabulating trash and juice percentages, juice density, and Arnaboldi/Beaume readings for over twenty varieties (pp. 311–315).
The notes are supplemented by a systematic index of plants listing scientific names, local names, and countries of origin (pp. 317–328), and a taxonomic treatment of palms (pp. 329–334), which together serve as a reference tool for planters and administrators. The work is prefaced by W. E. Maxwell, Recorder of Penang, who contextualizes the publication within a longer tradition of colonial agricultural writing, tracing it back to Colonel Low’s 1836 “Dissertation” on Agriculture in the Straits (p. 294).
Key Findings
- Mauritius hemp fibre commanded approximately £28 per ton in London; Manila hemp fibre fetched £30–£40 per ton; common plantain/banana fibre was valued at about £15 per ton (pp. 295–296).
- A gutta-percha tree (Dichopsis gutta) planted in 1879 had reached 25 feet in height and 12 inches in circumference by 1886, yielding an average annual growth of approximately 3.5 feet in height and 1.25 inches in circumference (p. 307).
- White pepper was selling at $41 per picul in 1886, a price Cantley judged sufficient to stimulate large-scale European planting (p. 304).
- Patchouli leaves were selling at $17 per picul, and the plant required “but little care” to grow freely (p. 309).
- The best sugar cane varieties tested in Jamaica (the source of Cantley’s data) yielded juice densities ranging from 1.055 to 1.084, with the highest Arnaboldi reading of 28 (Beaume 11.5) recorded for the Mamuri variety, which produced 30–40 canes per clump at 10–12 feet height (p. 315).
- Sago palms (Sagus rumphiana and S. lævis) required rich swampy ground and became productive in approximately six years after planting from seed; on non-swampy land the seed seldom matured (p. 309).
Conclusion
Cantley’s definitive historical takeaway is that the Straits Settlements possess a far wider range of economically viable tropical crops than is currently being exploited, and that the principal barriers to diversification are not climatic but administrative and entrepreneurial—specifically, the absence of reliable cultivation knowledge, the use of inferior plant varieties, and the inertia of local markets. He envisions a future in which the colony’s forests themselves become productive assets, proposing that indigenous trees yielding wood oil and gutta-percha be planted as pepper supports so that “the supports would become a source of considerable revenue, probably greater than the pepper crop” (p. 299).
Context
- Cantley wrote in his official capacity as Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens and a senior officer of the Forest Department; the notes were originally appended to his Annual Report submitted to the Legislative Council, and were reprinted in the JSBRAS at the suggestion of W. E. Maxwell to give them “wider publicity” (p. 293).
- The work draws on the holdings of the Singapore Experimental Nurseries and the Botanical Gardens, supplemented by data from Kew Gardens, the Jamaica sugar research station (via Mr. Morris), and Cantley’s own inspections of tea estates in Ceylon and coffee plantations in Johor.