The first issue of The Planter appeared in August 1920. It remained in print continuously with the single exception of the years of the Japanese Occupation from 1942 – 1946. The Planter was priced at $1 but free to members (it was circulated in The Federated Malay States, the Straits Settlements, Borneo, the Dutch East Indies and adjacent territories).

The Planter was a great success since the beginning, mainly due to Charles Ward-Jackson, who was the ISP’s first Secretary and the editorship of Wilfred B. Bussy, an ex-journalist Planter in Negri Sembilan.

The Planter was well received in seven English language newspapers and the advertisements that occupied every alternate page in the second and subsequent issues ensured the future success of the magazine. As the only publication devoted to planting then, there was a steady stream of articles on agricultural principles, rubber, coconut and oil palm cultivation, as well as the lighter vein of cartoons, humour, social and general news.

One of the main objectives of the founders of the Incorporated Society of Planters – even in the troublesome days of the Estate Staffs Association – was the publication of a journal “devoted to instructional articles on the science of those tropical agricultural products exploited in Malaya, and give all and sundry free scope to discuss new methods and ideas, as well as protect the interests of planters when required”. These objectives have changed very little in the century of the ISP’s existence.