Published on The Brunei Times (http://www.bt.com.bn/en)
Rubber in Malaya began with Hugh Low
Rubber cultivation: Rubber processing unit; rubber mangle rollers; tapped rubber trees. Although rubber has been in Southeast Asia for more than 150 years, the tree originates from the South American continent.Picture: Liz Price
Sunday, January 18, 2009
RUBBER is one of the most important commodities in Southeast Asia and is an important natural resource for export. Rubber has been in the area for more than 150 years, however the rubber tree is not indigenous as it originates from the South American continent.
If you ask people about how the rubber industry arrived in Southeast Asia, they will probably mention the name Ridley. Henry Nicholas Ridley (1855-1956) is often called the "father of Malaysian rubber industry". Although Ridley well deserves the credit for promoting the cultivation of rubber as a commodity, it was actually Sir Hugh Low Jnr (1824-1905) who introduced South American rubber to Malaya some ten years before the arrival of Ridley.
Low had a distinguished career in government service, but is also remembered for many botanical achievements. His father, Hugh Low Sr, ran a nursery near London and in 1844 sent his 19-year-old son to Malaya and Borneo to collect plant seeds. This was the start of extensive botanical studies, beginning with orchid collections from Johore.
Low Jr then went to the Riau Islands where he collected Pitcher plants (Nepenthes) as well as nutmeg, mangosteens, butterflies and animal skins. From Riau, he moved on to Borneo where he discovered many new species of Nepenthes, orchids and rhododendrons. Because of Low's efforts, orchids became a specialty in his father's nursery.
In 1847 Low was made Governor of Labuan and became Consul-General for Borneo. He stayed in Labuan for 27 years. Then, following James Birch's assassination in November 1875, he became British Resident in Perak in 1876. He remained in Perak until 1889 when he retired and returned to England.
During his years in Malaya, Low maintained a keen interest in economic horticulture, conducting experiments with coffee, cinchona, pepper, tea, sugar, rice and rubber. He is remembered for the introduction of the Balinese pomelo, and Jersey and Alderney cattle into Malaya. And of course rubber.
There are differing stories about how rubber left Brazil. One says that in June 1876, 70,000 seeds left South America — about 1,900 of those plants went to Ceylon, others went to Singapore but were dead on arrival and the rest went to Low's nursery. The following year more went to Singapore, where they did well.
Another report says that in 1876 the first seeds of this tree were smuggled out of Brazil by Henry Wickham and brought to Kew Gardens in London, where they were planted. About 22 seedlings were sent from Kew to Singapore. It was probably Low himself who took the 1877 batch to Singapore. He had gone to England in 1876, soon after the seeds arrived there and began to germinate.
In October 1877 Henry Murton of the Singapore Botanic Gardens took 10 Hevea brasiliensis plants which had been obtained from Ceylon to Kuala Kangsar in Malaya, and 9 of these were successfully planted in the Residency garden. Low probably accompanied Murton, as it is Low who is accredited with introducing and planting the first rubber in Malaya.
The seedling flourished, grew into healthy trees and in their turn produced seed. In February 1879 Low reported his trees to be 12 to 14 feet tall. In 1880 a tree flowered, aged two years. From then on, Low continued to collect and propagate the seedlings, and make test plantings in different parts of the state.
He obviously saw the economic importance of the new crop. The vulcanisation of rubber had already been discovered, in Brazil in 1839.
Whilst in Perak, and even before that in Labuan and Borneo, Low had been looking into indigenous Asian rubbers, but the South American type turned out to be much better. Low visited England in 1884-1885 and left his stand-in, Swettenham, with 400 seeds to plant out. It was these seeds which ultimately produced the trees for the rubber plantations of Malaya.
Ridley meanwhile had arrived in Singapore in 1888, where he took up the post of Director of the Botanic Gardens, from 1888-1912.
He was proud of the small collection of rubber trees and continued the planting of rubber and initiated the first really successful tapping in 1889.
Ridley was the first man to conceive the possibilities of plantation rubber as a prosperous industry, and he used to visit the coffee-planters and urge them to plant his seeds. One of his first recorded visits to Malaya was in 1889 when he went to Batu Caves and the nearby coffee plantations.
Some planters took them as curiosities. Few planters however took Ridley seriously, and among the planting community, he was generally referred to as "Mad Ridley".
Ridley acknowledged Low's work in horticulture when he wrote in 1911, "Sir Hugh Low was indeed a great agriculturalist and must rank next to Raffles as the greatest man we have had there".
So in fact both Low and Ridley contributed hugely to setting up the rubber industry in Malaya, and both should be remembered for their respective roles in making this natural resource such an important part of the area's economy.
The Brunei Times
If you ask people about how the rubber industry arrived in Southeast Asia, they will probably mention the name Ridley. Henry Nicholas Ridley (1855-1956) is often called the "father of Malaysian rubber industry". Although Ridley well deserves the credit for promoting the cultivation of rubber as a commodity, it was actually Sir Hugh Low Jnr (1824-1905) who introduced South American rubber to Malaya some ten years before the arrival of Ridley.
Low had a distinguished career in government service, but is also remembered for many botanical achievements. His father, Hugh Low Sr, ran a nursery near London and in 1844 sent his 19-year-old son to Malaya and Borneo to collect plant seeds. This was the start of extensive botanical studies, beginning with orchid collections from Johore.
Low Jr then went to the Riau Islands where he collected Pitcher plants (Nepenthes) as well as nutmeg, mangosteens, butterflies and animal skins. From Riau, he moved on to Borneo where he discovered many new species of Nepenthes, orchids and rhododendrons. Because of Low's efforts, orchids became a specialty in his father's nursery.
In 1847 Low was made Governor of Labuan and became Consul-General for Borneo. He stayed in Labuan for 27 years. Then, following James Birch's assassination in November 1875, he became British Resident in Perak in 1876. He remained in Perak until 1889 when he retired and returned to England.
During his years in Malaya, Low maintained a keen interest in economic horticulture, conducting experiments with coffee, cinchona, pepper, tea, sugar, rice and rubber. He is remembered for the introduction of the Balinese pomelo, and Jersey and Alderney cattle into Malaya. And of course rubber.
There are differing stories about how rubber left Brazil. One says that in June 1876, 70,000 seeds left South America — about 1,900 of those plants went to Ceylon, others went to Singapore but were dead on arrival and the rest went to Low's nursery. The following year more went to Singapore, where they did well.
Another report says that in 1876 the first seeds of this tree were smuggled out of Brazil by Henry Wickham and brought to Kew Gardens in London, where they were planted. About 22 seedlings were sent from Kew to Singapore. It was probably Low himself who took the 1877 batch to Singapore. He had gone to England in 1876, soon after the seeds arrived there and began to germinate.
In October 1877 Henry Murton of the Singapore Botanic Gardens took 10 Hevea brasiliensis plants which had been obtained from Ceylon to Kuala Kangsar in Malaya, and 9 of these were successfully planted in the Residency garden. Low probably accompanied Murton, as it is Low who is accredited with introducing and planting the first rubber in Malaya.
The seedling flourished, grew into healthy trees and in their turn produced seed. In February 1879 Low reported his trees to be 12 to 14 feet tall. In 1880 a tree flowered, aged two years. From then on, Low continued to collect and propagate the seedlings, and make test plantings in different parts of the state.
He obviously saw the economic importance of the new crop. The vulcanisation of rubber had already been discovered, in Brazil in 1839.
Whilst in Perak, and even before that in Labuan and Borneo, Low had been looking into indigenous Asian rubbers, but the South American type turned out to be much better. Low visited England in 1884-1885 and left his stand-in, Swettenham, with 400 seeds to plant out. It was these seeds which ultimately produced the trees for the rubber plantations of Malaya.
Ridley meanwhile had arrived in Singapore in 1888, where he took up the post of Director of the Botanic Gardens, from 1888-1912.
He was proud of the small collection of rubber trees and continued the planting of rubber and initiated the first really successful tapping in 1889.
Ridley was the first man to conceive the possibilities of plantation rubber as a prosperous industry, and he used to visit the coffee-planters and urge them to plant his seeds. One of his first recorded visits to Malaya was in 1889 when he went to Batu Caves and the nearby coffee plantations.
Some planters took them as curiosities. Few planters however took Ridley seriously, and among the planting community, he was generally referred to as "Mad Ridley".
Ridley acknowledged Low's work in horticulture when he wrote in 1911, "Sir Hugh Low was indeed a great agriculturalist and must rank next to Raffles as the greatest man we have had there".
So in fact both Low and Ridley contributed hugely to setting up the rubber industry in Malaya, and both should be remembered for their respective roles in making this natural resource such an important part of the area's economy.
The Brunei Times
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