Vol. XI. No. 271. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



299 



'BALATA' PROM NORTHERN NIGERIA. 



The sample of this product receivt-d for examination at 

 the Imperial Institute consisted of four large blocks of 

 'balata', which were very dirty externally and covered with 

 mould. Internally the material varied in colour from white 

 to pink, and contained a considerable amount of moisture 

 and vegetable impurity. The 'balata' was rather tenacious, 

 but deficient in elasticity, and was slightly sticky. 



The results of an analysis of the specimen were as 

 follows: — 



Per cent. 

 Loss on washing (moisture and impurities) 260 



Composition of dry washed rubber: — 



Caoutchouc 49-2 



Resin 47-7 



Protein 24 



Ash 0-7 



The material was valued in Liver[iOol at Is. 8d. per Bb. 

 (November 1911), the brokers stating that there is a good 

 market for black 'balata' of this kind, and that consignments 

 can be sold almost at any time. They added that it is 

 preferable to export the balata in the form of blocks rather 

 than to cut it into small pieces, as is sometimes done. 



The balata as received contained a large quantity of 

 moisture and impurities, losing as much as 26 per cent, on 

 washing and drying. The appearance and physical properties 

 of the material were greatly improved by its conversion into 

 crepe in tlie washing machine. 



The results of the analysis show that the 'balata' is of 

 very resinous composition, the dry material containing about 

 equal proportions of caoutchouc and resin. The isolated 

 caoutchouc was almost black, and exhibited very poor physical 

 properties. 



The 'balata' rubber from Northern Nigeria is usually 

 stated to be derived from Ficus Vogelii, and the results of 

 the analysis of this specimen agree generally with the figures 

 previously obtained at the Imperial Institute for specimens 

 of the product furnished by thi.? tree in the Gambia and 

 Gold Coast. {Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, \o\. X, 

 p. 209.) 



THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE AND 



THE INTERNATIONAL RUBBER 



EXHIBITION. 



An account of the exhibits to be sent to thi.s 

 exhibition by the Imperial Institute is contained in the 

 India Rubber World for August 1, 1912: — 



Great interest has been amused by the announcement 

 that the Directors of the Imperial Institute of London have 

 consented to send to the Rubber Exposition, to be held in 

 New York in September, an extremely fine collection of 

 rubber grown in every British rubber-producing country, in 

 charge of a special commission. 



The object of this exhibit is to illustrate the rubber 

 resources of the British Empire by means of specimens from 

 the collections of the Imperial Institute. The exhibit in- 

 cludes (1) herbarium specimens of the principal rubber yield- 



ing plants and (2) representative samples of rubber from the 

 following countries: India, Ceylon, Straits Settlements and 

 Federated Malay States, British North Borneo, Papua, Fiji, 

 Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Northern Nigeria, 

 Southern Nigeria, Anglo-Egyptain Sudan. Uganda, East 

 Africa Protectorate, Zanzibar, Nyasaland, Natal, Transvaal, 

 Rhode.sia, Seychelles, British Guiana, British Honduras, 

 Jamaica, Trinidad, Dominica, St. Lucia, and the Bahamas. 



The section devoted to each country will be provided 

 with a descriptive label giving general information regard- 

 ing the rubber-yielding plants which are indigenous to, or 

 are being cultivated in, the country, and statistics of the 

 rnbber production during the last ten years. 



The article includes further a list of the exhibits 

 and their places of origin. This shows that they are as 

 follows, as far as the British Possessions in tropical 

 America are concerned: Trinidad, Castilloa elastica rub- 

 ber — sheet, Para rubber — biscuits; St. Lucia, Castilloa 

 elastica rubber — biscuits: Dominica, Para rubber — bis- 

 cuits, Ficus elastica rubber — biscuits: Jamaica, i^or.s- 

 teronia fiorilmnda rubber; British Guiana, Sapiuvi 

 Jenmani rubber — biscuits, lump, balls, Miinusops 

 globosa — sheet balata: British Honduras, Castilloa 

 rubber; Bahamas, Gryptostegla grandiflora rubber — 

 biscuits. 



'Root-Cotton.' — An interesting fibrous material 

 occurring on the surface of the roots of a tree, Faijara 

 intefirifolia, has been described by S. Kusano in the Journal 

 of \he Colkije of Agrirutture, Tokio (1911, 4, 67). The 

 plant belongs to the natural order Rutaceae, and is found 

 commonly on the mountain slopes in Botel-tobago island, 

 Formosa, and in the northern half of the Philippine Islands 

 Archipelago. The fibre is produced in considerable cjuanti- 

 ties in the form of loose bundles, resembling masses of cotton, 

 which can be readily removed with the finger.s. It can be easily 

 cleaned by washing with water and drying. The actual 

 quantity present on any one root depends on its age, the 

 layer attaining a thickness of as much as 2 J inches on old 

 roots. The removal of the fibre does not appear to aflfect 

 the functional activity of the roots. The individual fibres or 

 filaments consist of rows of long, empty, thin-walled cells. 

 The fibre, or 'root-cotton', is lustrous, of a pale straw colour, 

 soft, exceedingly fine, and not very hygroscopic. It is so 

 weak that when rubbed between the fingers it is reduced to 

 a fine, waxy powder, and for this reason could not be used 

 for spinning. A remarkable property of the fibre is that it 

 is not wetted by water and will never sink, owing to the 

 cell- wall being highly suberized and thus rendered imper- 

 meable. The product is developed in the cortex of the root 

 bj' the cork-cambium, and is comparable with the ordinary 

 corky la)er produced on the bark of trees. 



The root-cotton is used by the natives of Botel-tobago 

 for caulking the seams of their boats, whilst the natives of 

 Mindoro island employ it for stuffing pillows. It is sug- 

 gested that the fibre might find an application for the latter 

 purpose among civilized communities, and that if pressed 

 into sheets it might serve as a substitute for plates or 

 sheets of cork. It seems probable, however, that the value 

 of the material for either of these purposes would be seriously 

 limited by its weakness and the ease with which it is 

 pulverized. (The Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, .July 

 1912.) 



