BASKET PLANTS.--Yet another and perhaps the most popular method at present is the germination and growth of seedlings in baskets specially constructed for the purpose. These plants are kept under observation until of the required age and growth. They are then conveyed to the field, and the baskets are planted in prepared holes. The baskets, being of vegetable material, are liable to be attacked by various diseases while in the nursery or after planting. It is considered advisable, therefore, to treat them by dipping into some disinfectant such as tar, or a mixture of tar and one of the common proprietary disinfectants. Otherwise a disease may be conveyed from the basket to the seedling. PREPARATION FOR PLANTING.--There can be no other opinion than that ideally all land required for planting should be perfectly clear of timber of every description. After felling and burning, under ordinary conditions a certain amount of clearing is effected, but in actual practice this amounts to comparatively little. Big logs and stumps are left because the cost of clean clearing is judged to be prohibitive and non-economic. Surface timber is gradually cleared in the course of development, and usually large stumps are the last to be tackled. The objection to this procedure is really not strong, but unfortunately an important point is generally overlooked. Granted that most of the dreaded diseases travel beneath the surface of the ground by means of buried timber, it is plain that as far as stumps are concerned, the chief source of danger lies in the existence of the roots. If these were carefully exposed and removed, the isolated stumps would then not be such potential infection points. It follows from this argument that the importance of removing buried timber cannot be too strongly insisted upon. It is not uncommon to find that some years after the opening of an estate, and after surface timber has been removed, a large number of trees are affected with _Fomes lignosus_ (formerly known as _Fomes semitostus_). Such cases are directly attributable to the existence of buried timber, and no local treatment will be successful unless the whole of the area is dug over carefully, and all pieces of timber removed. [Illustration: NEW CLEARING; SLOPES "HOLED" FOR PLANTING; FLAT AREA BEING DRAINED. (_By courtesy of manager, Membakut Estate, British North Borneo._)]