Ladang Geddes was the world's largest estate for 'experimental block budded rubber planting' in conjunction with the Rubber Research Institute in Malaysia around early 1930, known for its rubber plantation. Mr M Burkill the Director of Botanic Garden, Singapore had visited Ladang Geddes Estate in early 1938 for his contribution. The estate was founded by Dunlop Malayan Estates, Ltd, Mr Fred Ascoli was the head of Dunlop Malayan Estates office in London at that time.In 1935,the plantation manager in charge was Mr E M Hawes and assistants were : V Bolton, W. Wall,J N Huges and T McAlpine.
Ladang Geddes Rubber Estate was about 22,035 acres (34.430miles² ) of which 13,247 acres were planted, ref : Singapore and Malaya 1935 Directory( 22 blocks planting x 800 acres (3.2 km2) per block ) in area and was situated between 10 and 12 miles (19 km) from Bahau, Negri Sembilan. It was next to the Bahau, Rompin Malay and Sebaling estates. At its centre was ‘Centre Village’ (or Kongsi in Chinese) containing the main administrative office. It had 15 plantation managers' houses, a club house with swimming pool for senior managers and another swimming pool for middle management. Three of the plantation manager houses have been destroyed since it was sold in 1966. The senior management club house has been used as a shooting club since 1970.
The estate had a rubber collection factory and DC electricity power house half a mile away from the office. Along the way from centre administration office to "E Village" there were about 80 to 100 houses for factory and clerical workers, a hospital with three doctors and five nursing quarters at its peak. The estate hospital provided a good standard of care broadly in line with British hospitals. Clean water was supplied by a power plant in "C3 Village". There were also a few sundry shops for provisions, laundry, bus and lorry company depot, Chinese school (primary Chung Hua established in 1937, some of the Chinese students extended their tertiary education at local universities and also in Great Britain,Australia, USA,Canada and Taiwan, and qualified as Engineers,accountants etc. ) and a Tamil school at the Centre Village. There was a football field in front of the small Police station.
At the peak of the production from the 1930s to 1966, the plantation was divided into villages. A Village (half of the village was destroyed), South Village (it was destroyed in 1974 by KOK FOH Estate), B Village (removed by National Land and Finance Co-operative Society), E village, Centre Village, D Village, Coconut Village, C1 Village, C2 Village and C3 Village where fresh water was supplied to the plantation. Each village housed about 200 to 300 workers who were mostly Chinese except in Centre Village where a number of Indian workers lived. Sungei Tebu ran through the plantation and its source was South Village.It is a misery why it was called South Village where other villages were in alphabetical order!
Each Village produced about 6,000 to 8,000 kg of latex a day. It produced about three million kg of rubber a year from 1930 to 1966.
The plantation was sold in 1966.