The Introduction of Rubber to Malaya

The introduction of rubber to Malaya has had such important consequences that the story of the early seedlings has often been told.The first phase was a botanical experiment with a view to possible economic results. The initiatite came from the head of the geographical section of the India Office, Sir Clements Markham,and the Director of the Botanical Gardens at Kew,Sir Joseph Hooker.Two expeditions were sent to the Amazon from the India Office.The second of these expeditions,led by Mr.H.A. (later Sir Henry) Wickham in 1876,obtained a collection of 70,000 seeds,and these were despatchedto Kew Garden for germination in the artificial heat of the conservatories. from Kew about 3,000 seedlings were sent to British colonies in tropical regions,most of them to Ceylon. From Ceylon twenty-two plants reached Singapore in 1877; some of these were planted in the Botanical Gardens in Singapore,others were taken by the Curator to Perak and planted in Hugh Low's Residency Garden at Kuala Kangsar .Thus, as a botanist, Low was linked with the experiment,and in Singapore and Kuala Kangsar the Malayan rubber industry was born.