258 



KINDS OF RUBBER. 



Rubber is the latex of a plant or tree. There are 40 or 50 

 known varieties of rubber-giving plants ; but only five or six of 

 these are exploited commercially, the chief being Hevea hrasiliensis 

 (the true Para rubber tree), Castilloaelastica (the Central American, 

 or Mexican tree), Ficus elastica or Rambong (an Indian tree ; this 

 is the plant often grown for ornamental purposes in rooms), 

 Landolphia (a vine, or creeping plant, found in tropical Africa), and 

 a few others of less importance. Half the supply of the world 

 comes from Brazil, and is the product of Hevea brasiliensis. It 

 grows along the Amazon, and being shipped from Para, is called 

 Para rubber. The rest of the world's supply is derived from 

 Africa (East and West Coast), Central America, Madagascar, 

 India, and the other-side South American States. The world's 

 demand apparently doubles every twelve or fourteen years, and 

 the export from Para, which is the chief source of supply, was 

 13,000 tons in 1886, 22,000 tons in 1896, and 30,000 tons in 1904. 

 At present the world's consumption is about 6o,000 tons, which, 

 reckoned at 5s. a pound, is worth over £33,000,000. 



Plantation rubber has been tried for a great number of years ; 

 but it is curious that the present boom in rubber-planting, which is 

 just breaking out in our Eastern tropical possessions (chiefly 

 Ceylon and the Malay States), should for the first time be tackling 

 the true Para tree, viz., Hevea brasiliensis. This, however, is 

 easily explained. The seed has only recently been obtainable in 

 these countries, as it was impossible, on account of its quick 

 germination, to bring it from Brazil to the East whilst steamers 

 and communications were slow. The Government, however, 

 managed, some years back, to get a few hundred plants to grow 

 out of 70,000 seeds brought over by Mr. Wickham, and these were 

 at first nursed in Kew Gardens and subsequently shipped in glass 

 cases to Ceylon where there is probably the best botanical garden 

 in the world. No notice was taken of these trees until quite lately, 

 however, as the first experiments of trying to turn the milk into 

 rubber were failures. On the Amazon this is done by dipping a 

 sort of paddle into the milk, and toasting the same over a smoky 

 fire in which a certain nut is burnt, which gives off an acrid 

 smoke, that evaporates the moisture and sterilises and congeals 

 the milk. Successive layers are thus put on, and the resultant 

 ball cut off. In Ceylon they did not possess this nut, and it was 

 at first thought, after every nut in the island had been tried, that 

 the nut tree would also have to be imported and grown. However, 

 a few years ago Mr. Parkin discovered that if the milk was put 

 into a basin and a few drops of acid added, the rubber congealed, 

 and to-day an article is produced, called a Ceylon biscuit, which 

 is fetching 8d. or lOd. per pound more than Fine Para. Latterly, 

 even the acid has been dispensed with. The higher price obtained 

 is not because the rubber itself is any better. The trees being 

 identical, it follows that the rubber is the same ; but the Ceylon 

 article is free from moisture, and contains no particle of other 



