Chapter 1 The Establishment of the Farm

Having a farm in retirement were many people's dream.For many this was only a dream,a dream that was not easy to achieve.A local wealthy man too had that same dream and with his fortune in hand that was easy,so he enrolled the services of his retiring friend to locate a suitable piece of land for him.The planter's name was Mano,a man in his late sixties.

Mano also harbored the same ideas to develop a farm in his retirement but he was not so sound financially so he shelve the idea,but when his friend seek his aid,he without any difficulties recommended a property he had in mind.The business man brought it without much consideration as it was recommended by Mano.

The proposed farm was on a piece of land 50 acres in size.It was a beautiful piece of undulating land very suitable for a farm.The new Owner,a rich business from the city.He had intended to present that to his wife,on condition she allowed him to take a second wife.

When he brought over the property it was filled with very old rubber stand and very bushy.He engaged a Manager to do all the clearing and establishing the farm for him.The man involved was an experienced man who had experienced in clearing of old rubber stand and in replanting.

He was his old friend,the one who recommended him to buy that estate,his name was Mano,a retired planter in his late sixties.An extremely experienced rubber planter who had rose up from the rank of conductor to Plantation Manager of a well established company.The Boss knew him well to provide him a job on his retirement from the plantation.

However he resided in the town and had to travel daily to the new farm,but assisting him was a young man in his early twenties.The assistant was made to stay on at the residence provided in the farm.Being a bachelor,there was no problem for him.

He enlisted a contractor to clear the rubber stand.All uproot of the old rubber stand were to be dug up and burnt away together with those branches not removed from the field.However the contractor reserved the rights to remove all rubber timber within a stipulated period of time.The contractor apparently was supplying rubber wood to brick kiln nearby,and the bigger girth of logs were sold to some sawmills.In return the contractor will also give a round of plowing without any further charges.

On clearing he drew up a rough plan of what he planned for the farm.The front of the land was a swamp which had been drained previously for planting of rubber.The rest of the land were undulating.So he suggested that the swamp be deepened for a fish pond to breed Talapia and others.Following he suggested to breed ducks with that pond and the nearby streams.The nearby streams and its surrounding also provide a lot of food for the ducks such as snails and tiny shrimps.

For a start he had a boundary drain about two feet deep were to be dug round the farm.The earth so dug up were to place back on to the farm side of land and leveled to be a small road,thereby more accessible all round even on any vehicle.Along the dug up stretches were planted with various varieties of pineapples.The inner side of that boundary paths were planted with sugar cane.Sweet potatoes were planting with cuttings in between those.

He also established long rows of dragon fruits,this he hope can provide some fruits and also prevent intruders from easy crossing into the farm.Thee were a number of varieties of dragon fruits.He had no intention of turning that into a major crop of the farm.The Boss wanted that to exist in the farm that was all.

On the land he planned to raise chickens."Kampong" chickens were highly priced and he planned to multiply them in stages.The Manager had his assistant to look for them from the market of the local village.Not a difficult task as the villagers had many to spare so at a good price the target was soon overcome.Ducklings were from the town's hatcheries.

With the land properly cleared,a large variety of Malaysian fruits were to be planted around the land.He drew up a plan as to where the fruits were to be planted for the Boss.Of course the plan were to have the Boss's approval,however the Boss was delighted with it but not his lovely wife.She therefore made many suggestions and had to be adhered to without failed.

Within months many chickens were seen running around,"kampong" chickens fetched a very good price those days.There were also ducks a huge flock of them and some geese.Geese made fantastic guards against vandals and thieves.Turkey also made up the numbers of farm animals.

Two dogs were around the farm,barking at the slightest present of intruders or strangers.Amazingly these dogs do not attacked the other birds around the farm.Surrounding the farm were two huge canals providing good play ground for the ducklings.

Some bananas of good varieties were also planted in the inter-rows of the durian planting points as a crop that also provided sheds for the durian.The D 24 and the "Thai clone called Gan Yau" species were grown along the ponds and streams.All durian required plenty of sheds during its initial stage of growth.Large vegetable baskets were utilized to cover the young plants. A piece of jungle sticker was planted near the young durian to prevent the basket from being removed by wind or by others.

A large number of varieties of bananas were selected for the planting in the inter-rows.Near the young plants were also established some papaya trees,the types acceptable in the market.Both types of fruits has ever ready market but the Rosie wanted the fruits solely for own consumption,only when there were extra then only to be sold locally.

The basket covering the young plants of durians were to be raised from time to time as the plants gain height.Many other varieties of fruits such as mangoesteen,mangoes,sour sops,rambutans,avolcados,Nangka,Chempadak,oranges,pameloes were also planted scattering all round the farm.

Visitors to the farm definitely will grasp in amazement of the large varieties of fruits presented by this farm, besides it was a fantastic sight to behold.
Teddy Cheng was the assistant to Mano of the farm,a young full of enthusiasm and hard working.Under him were three workers,all locally recruited from the nearby villages.All of them were Malays.Somehow these guys never stayed long with him before they all left.So he resorted to employing Chinese females workers.Women were somehow more reliable,less troublesome and stayed longer in the farm.

Initially when establishing the farm which was about fifty acres,Teddy relied on a Contractor to supply the work force.Such tasks such as clearing the farms for planting were all given on contract,so were the planting of fruit trees etc.etc..When all these were done, in maintenance only a tiny labor force will suffice.

A comfortable small house was constructed next to a fast flowing small stream flowing right through the middle of the farm.The two bedrooms and sitting rooms were slightly raised above the ground,while the ground level floor was utilized as a store and kitchen,cum office.Teddy had to stayed there by himself.For his daily food etc.he had to provide for himself.In any case there were food stalls in the village which provide good meals.So it was quite convenient for him.

A piece of higher land was flattened to construct another beautiful bungalow for the proprietor of that farm.The owner a very wealthy man of the farm wanted it to be presented to his wife,Rosie.Work on the bungalow will commenced as soon as his wife had seen the plan and approved of it.Of course his wife was very fussy so the Contractor was made to re-draw the plan over and over,and have presented to her for approval.With much difficulties the plan was finally finalized and construction began.

A tube well was drilled near the small house where Teddy reside after a series of trials to locate the water source.The tube well provided sufficient crystal clear water for the small household and hopefully sufficient for the bungalow,too.Water from the nearby stream were piped to water tank,where the water will be conserved to provide the young durian for watering in time of need especially during the dry season.Durian requires a lot of water for its growth and at least 500 lits, daily when matured.

Chickens bred were initially kept in a chicken coup but as time went by these chickens abandon their coup to perch on the low branching of the fruit trees during the night.Chickens residing outside the chicken coup appeared to be healthier and its feather prettier than those caged birds.The chicken coup also provided with boxes for the hens to lay eggs and to hatch them in due course.

While the ducks were provided with only a rough shade,with old zinc sheets supported by a few stakes acquired from the nearby jungle.When matured sufficiently these ducks laid their eggs all round the farm.Plenty of river sand were laid out in places where ducks were feed.This serves to keep the ground condition drier all the time.

Catching these chickens will be a problem and almost impossible tasks,but Teddy had evolved an ingenious method in fencing of a small area with wire netting all round the area.The birds were fed at regular intervals.So coming catching the chicks came all he had to do was to lure the chickens into this place by feeding them,then when most were in he closed the door and the chickens were thereby trapped inside this enclosure.


Many a time wild chickens,wild boars,pythons ,iguanas,"musang" or fox,squirrels were trapped within as well.
All these can be captured caged and be sold away generating extra revenues for the farm.There were ready buyers for them even though much of such pests were protected animals.

The chickens ready for the markets were caught selectively,the mothers of chicks and some old beautiful cockerels were released.Every week chickens and ducks were selected for the market,thus making the farm very productive and profitable.
all year round.

The fenced area also provided the farm with extra income,for beside the normal catches,this also provided a trap for wild chickens.At feeding time wild chickens also joined in to devour the free food provided to the chickens especially when the feeder had left after putting out all the food for the chickens.

Trapping wild chickens were illegal and there was apparently a season for trapping them and only trappers with the required permit can catch or hunt them.What ever it was under the counter all things happened and where got time to secure the permit.It definitely has a better market value and there were ready buyers everywhere.Wild chickens can never be captured and bred as pets as these being wild birds will definitely killed themselves in captivities,whether adult or young chicks they never survived the ordeal in cages.It is the same with all other wild animals for that matter.

Come rainy days very big pythons coming into the farm from nearby jungle to prey on the chicken and ducks were also caught,they were easily captured as they come for the chickens and ducks at night.These pythons can not escaped especially after they had swallowed a duckling or two.Then there were the iguanas which were easily trapped like a fish,hooked with only a small baits usually a piece of meat.
Both these animals can be sold easily locally for it skins and meat

The orchards were established but yet to fully matured.Despite of that those which yielded early were already fruiting,like guava,star fruits,"jambu Air" (Indonesian Honey Varieties),papayas and sour sops.

The farm also boasted a huge varieties of vegetables mostly for local consumption planted by the assistant Teddy.After three years or so the farm was almost fully established the Manager Mano resigned due ill health and Teddy Cheng was thus promoted to over full control of the farm.

In full management of the farm Teddy recruited a few more workers mostly women folks from the nearby new village.Initially he tried out five of them and found them more hard working.By and by the male workers all left and he further replaced them with females.

He appointed a "kapala"or leader from among them to help in allotting and supervising of work.A tall,strong, good looking was selected among his workers.Of course she had to be a hard and honest worker to be selected. Ah Chan a commanding figure among the workers was his choice and the Boss Rosie approved of her.

Very soon under him the farm was making some profits from sales of ducks and chickens.There was not much fruiting of fruits then.That pleased the Boss Rosie very much as she came in weekly to view her farm with her family.Her gorgeous figure was well known among all the workers always wandering how a young mother of three children can be so fit - voluptuous and beautiful.

The young Teddy was actually infatuated with the gorgeous Rosie and was always admiring her whenever she was at the farm but he kept his distance because she was his Boss.The Boss in the mean time had side glanced him many a times and had noticed that his young and handsome manager was eying her.So whenever she was at the farm she always wore dark glasses to cover up her wandering eyes.Yes,there were little doubt that she was slowly and surely falling for her younger admirer.It was only a matter of time the bubble burst.