Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 156, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1917 — The Rattan Cane. [ARTICLE]

The Rattan Cane.

One of the most important exports of Singapore is rattan, although it does not make a large showing as to value, being a comparatively cheap article compared with Its bulk. Singapore Is probably the leading export market for rattans in the world, although practically none of the raw product is produced in the Straits Settlements and very little in the Federated Malay states, most of it being collected from the Islands of Sumatra, Borneo, the Celebes and smaller Islands. Ordinarily cut from the jungle by natives under the direction of Chinese merchants doing business in the interior, it Is bought up by large dealers in the principal towns and eventually sold to Singapore buyers tn bundles as it comes originally from the jungle. The buyers In Singapore take the rattan in this form and put it through a process of selection and cleaning, after which it is bundled together according to grade and shipped direct to various parts of the world.