291 



LOCAL EXPERIMENTS. 



"At the Experiment Station we have been making a number of 

 prehminary experiments which we hope w^ill be of use to the 

 rubber growers both here and elsewhere. One of these you have 

 seen this morning in the tapping of trees. There is still a great 

 deal more to be done and we are going ahead with it. 



"From what I have seen of the Ceara trees in this country it 

 stand's just as well and in some cases far better than anywhere 

 else. The treatment of the trees is a matter which can best be 

 worked out by those actually in charge of the work. The theory 

 is that one should get the most wood that is possible in healthy 

 trees which have, at tlYe same time, been grown in the shortest 

 length of time and at the least expense. That is, the trees should 

 be forced as much as is possible. I repeat that I believe that the 

 best way that this can be determined is through the efforts and 

 observations of those who come in contact with the actual work 

 here on the plantations." 



Dr. Waterhouse was now called upon to address the meeting. 

 His paper contained a comprehensive account of the cultivation 

 of rubber and is given here in full : 



The general sources of rubber are : 



I. WILD RUBBER. 



This has been and still is the main source of the world's rub- 

 ber supply. This rubber comes mainly from the Amazon region, 

 coming chiefly from the species Hevea Braziliensis, which, taking 

 its name from the port of Para from which it is shipped, is called 

 "Para Rubber" and is the standard rubber of the world. Also 

 much sapium rubber — an inferior grade — comes from |:his 

 locality. 



The "Ceara" wild rubber comes to the market in the form of 

 scrap, as the bark is shaved off the wild trees and the coagulated 

 latex removed from the sides of the trees. There has been no 

 attempt at collecting the latex from che wild trees, probably from 

 the fact that the latex coagulates so quickly on exposure to air. 



Next to South America, Africa produces the largest amount. 

 This is inferior to the South American product and comes chiefly 

 from vines ^ich as the Landolphias, and from root rubbers ; also 

 from the Funtunia elastica and Kihexia elastica trees. 



