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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February i, 1883 



all respects fully equal to that collected from the wily 

 trees in their native districts. 



3. As so great an interest is being taken in the 

 caoutchouc experiment in the East, I would suggest 

 that copies of this report on the first samples of Paia 

 and Central American rubbers produced under culti- 

 vation be sent to the local newspapers and also to 

 the Secrctaiics to the Governmeuts of India and Foit St. 

 George. — I am, etc., Henky Tkimen, Director, 



The Indiarubber, Guttapeicha and Telegraph Woiks 

 Company, Silvertowu, Essex, London, E. , 8th Dec. 

 1882. 

 Matthew Gray, Esq., 106, Cannon Street, E. C. 



Dear Sir, — As requested in yours of •29th Nov., 

 enclosed I hand you report on the two samples of 

 indiarubber from Kew. I also enclose the foUowiug 

 samples ; — 1, washed ami dried Herea ; 2, vulcanized 

 Hevea ; 3, washed and dried CastQloa ; 4, vulcanized 

 Castilloa. The present market value of these rubbers 

 we estimate as follows : — Hevea about 4s per lb. and 

 Castilloa about 2s 9d to 3s per lb. — Yours, &c., (Sgd.) 

 Jno : Bailey, liesidenl Manarjer, 



Bcport of Examination of 2 samples oj Indiaruhhe.r 

 from S. W. Silver, Esq., accompanying letter from W. 

 T. Thiselton Dyer, Esq., with enclosure from Dr. 

 Trimen : — 



The two samples referred to in this report are 

 identified in accordance with the coiTcspondence above 

 and will be described as "Hevea" and "Castilloa" 

 rubber respectively. 



" Hevea ruhher. " — As far as chemical examina- 

 tion goes, this rubber differs in no respect 

 from the better descriptions of Para bottle rubber, 

 except perhaps in having a little more water im- 

 prisoned in it than is usual with well-seasoned Para. 

 The method of pieparation, as each layer in Para 

 bottle rubber is partially dried when held over the 

 fire as practised in Para, may explain this. A portion 

 of this rubber well washed and dried gave a loss of 18 

 per cent. The amount of asli obtained on incinerating 

 a portion of the unwashed sample is 0'7 per cent, 

 which is about one-half that from the Brazil- 

 ian product. There is a great similarity in the 

 the composition of the aeh of the " Hevea" and ihe 

 "Para bottle rubber". — The ash from the washed and 

 dried "Hevea" ie 0'6 per cent. 



This sample is almost entirely, free from extrane- 

 ous matter. On digeetion in alcohol it yields only 

 a slight coloration. Like Para rubber its fresh cut 

 surfaces shew a slight a'id reaction easily removed 

 by washing. The washed product is free from taste 

 and .smell and turns a dark color on drying, similar 

 to ordinary Para rubber. As far as can be determined 

 on so small a sample there is n-ason to believe that 

 us regards strength and elasticity it would be fully 

 equal to good Para indiarubber. When mixed with 

 the suitable proportion of sulphur and vulcanized it 

 possesses gi-eat strength and elasticity. 



Castilloa Itiibber. — Uu washing and drying a portion 

 of this sample the loss is \2-Z per cent; .^o it is 

 necessary to use warm water in washing this rubber. 

 It becomes on drying much darker and shorter than 

 Para rubber. 



It bus a bitter taste whicli is not removed on 

 washing. The unwashed sample yields 1'9 per cent 

 ash ; the washed sample gives 1'2 per cent. The 

 shortness of this rubber would restrict its use to some 

 slight extent where tensile strength or tenacity is 

 required. When mixed with the usual proportion of 

 sulphur and heated, it vulcanizes well, but imper 

 fectly, and is devoid of strength — characteristics of the 

 better kinds of rubber. 



Nicaragua rubber is not at present met with in this 

 country to any great extent, but there is no doubt 

 that the purity and general qualities of this sample 



would gain for it a favorable reception, even if our 

 supplies from present sources were more adequate to 

 our demands. 



The chemical analysis of the aeh of the Castilloa 

 shews that there is no verj marked difference in the 

 mineral constituents of the pieces of the Hevea and 

 Castilloa under the present system of cultivation. 



Siivertowu, Dec. 8lh, 1882. 



Vine Culture in Manitoba. — Last spring Mr. 

 Acton Burrows, Secretary and Treasurer to the Board of 

 Agricidture for M initoba, distributed some grape vines 

 for experimental purposes among t'armers in Manitoba, 

 and he is now collecting information as to Ihe result-of 

 the trial of them. In his suggestions for tlieir future 

 treatment be points out. that it is important that great 

 care be taken to winter the vines, and he recommends 

 that as late as iiossible in the fall, but before the ground 

 is too much frozen, all the growth excepting three or four 

 eyes should be pruned off, and the plants covered with 

 uot less than six inches and not more than twelve inches 

 of soil. It is not advisable, he adds, to cover with straw 

 or manure, but should the latter be used, great care must 

 be takeu not to allow it to come into contact with the 

 plants. Ouly two eyes should be allowed to grow in the 

 spring, when it will be interesting to know how the 

 plants have stood the winter. 



Our Madras Cinchona Plantations. — The budget 

 estimate of the Nilgiri Cinchona plantations for 1883-4 

 has recently been de.ilt with by Government. Mr. 

 Rowson having resigued his appoiutmept, Mr. H. A. 

 Gass is now in charge of the plantations. The estimate 

 for 1883-4, as amended by the Government, and includ- 

 ing the sum of RS.OUO as salary for Professor Lawson, 

 is as follows : charges Kl, 00,500 ; receipts R4, 10,000. 

 It wiU thus be seen th.at it is expected that there will 

 be a decrease in the receipts and an increase in the 

 e.xpenditure. The Government, struck out an item of 

 K70,000 expected to be realized by local sales of bark. 

 Does this mean that all the bark is to be sent home ? 

 There will be no objection to its being sent home if 

 it is to be mauufaoturod into febrifuge and other pro- 

 ducts to be sold in India at a low price for ths benefit 

 of fever-stricken natives. There can be no doubt that, 

 as a mere money speculation, tlie cinchona enterprise 

 of the Madras Government has been a success, while 

 the gain to humanity has been incalculable. — Madras 

 Mail, Jan. 25tb. 



The Oluest Cinchosa Teees in Ceylon,— As 

 we fully anticipated, the wild statement that 

 the late Mr. John Armitage had introduced cinchona 

 plants from South America to one or other of his 

 Udapussellawa estates in the " forties " has proved to 

 be incorrect. Mr. G. A. Dick, so long Manager of 

 Kirklees and Gampaha, is quite certain no cinchona 

 was planted there before 1862. Mr. Dick writes : — 



' ' There was no cinchona on Kirklees when I took 

 charge of it. I made frequent visits to the Hakgala 

 Gardens in 1802. Mr. McNicol was then in charge, 

 and he urged me to plant out on a large scale, and 

 it was my wish to plant along the roadsides on 

 both Gamijaha and Kirklees. My ideas were not ap- 

 proved of by tile proprietors of the estates ; so our 

 planting was limited to a few dozen trees, which were 

 put out round the bungalows. These old succirubra 

 trees are a sight now, 1 believe. I think that other 

 story must be a myth altogether." 

 (. inchona plants first reached Ceylon in 1860, so that 

 if any of the original plants still exist at Hakgala, 

 they attained their majority in 1881 and are now 23 

 years old. 



