266 



season, until most of the watery portions have either evaporated 

 or sunk into the wood. After being kneaded and pressed together 

 the rubber thus obtained has a dark, brownish colour, with the 

 inner portions of a slightly lighter colour. Such rubber is known 

 locally as " silk rubber." 



" The heat process is the one generally adopted by the natives 

 of Lagos. This is much simpler in working, as it disposes of all 

 the milk collected at the close of each day. After being strained 

 the milk is placed in a vessel and boiled. The rubber begins to 

 coagulate almost directly the heat is applied, and after the boiling 

 is over is removed in a somewhat sticky condition, owing to being 

 burnt, and of a blackish colour. It is pointed out that the heat 

 process, though simpler, impairs the quality of the rubber, and is 

 calculated to injure the industry. It is probable that if the heat 

 process were somewhat modified the results would not be so inju- 

 rious. An experiment was tried at the Botanic Station to coagu- 

 late the milk by heat, but not applied directly to it. The result 

 was much more satisfactory. The rubber came off of a milky 

 white colour, and after being pressed it was clean and firm 

 without being sticky." {BitU. R. Gardens, Kciv, 1895, pp. 245-246.) 



Value of the rubber. "The (luestion of making West African 

 rubber more marketable is now exercising the minds of merchants 

 engaged in that trade. The rubber that comes from Para (South 

 America) fetches on the English market double the price of that 

 product from West Africa. The only reason for this is the different 

 method of curing the rubber when taken from the tree — a very 

 simple process . . . The difference between Para and African 

 rubber is similar to that between a loaf of bread just made up 

 into dough and a loaf that has been through the oven and been pro- 

 perly baked. In other words while the substance is the same, the 

 one is an imperfect article ; the other a finished one, so far as the 

 production of rubber is concerned." (Agricultural Neivs, 1904, p. 343.) 



It appears that in Lagos, owing to the wholesale destruction of 

 the trees in the hinterland, a most promising and valuable industry 

 has been practically ruined. In 1894 the exports of rubber shipped 

 from the colony amounted to 5,867 lbs. valued at £324 6s. 4d. In 

 1895 these figures rose to no less than 5,069,576 lbs. of a total 

 sterling value of £269,893." 



"There is, unhappily, reason to fear that the usual result may 

 follow this sudden discovery. Already there seem to be grounds 

 for the belief that, in so far as the term 'rubber industry' implies 

 the intelligent growth and cultivation of the plant for profit, it 

 conveys a false impression of the methods in vogue in the interior." 



" Judicious tapping with due regard to the life of the tree, and 

 its future usefulness, is the exception ; rubber-bearing trees are 

 ruthlessly sacrificed by irresponsible seekers after wealth, and 

 dead trunks are becoming a too familiar feature in the landscape 

 of the productive districts. Sooner or later a purely destructive 

 policy of this kind must exhaust the richest country ; adventurers 

 will have to stray further afield, and the cost of transport will 



