On such properties, sites which are swampis liable to flood, or un- 

 healthy, should be avoided. It is often much cheaper to select a site 

 at some altitude, and pump water up to the factory, than to choose a 

 place convenient only for water and transport. In considering the 

 site in relation to transport, it should be borne in mind that carrying 

 the latex — which may contain more than 50 per cent, of water — to 

 the factory is more expensive than subsequent transport of dry rubber 

 to the nearest cart road. The selection of a site is also partly deter- 

 mined by the accessibility of the area for passengers and cart traffic, 

 proximity to a good, clean supply of water, exposure to wind, and the 

 character of the subsoil. 



One difficulty frequently experienced, especially when artificial 

 heating apparatus is not employed, is that ot getting a good supply 

 of cool air through the building. This defect is often due to the site 

 not being at a sufficient altitude and to the building being closely 

 surrounded by forest trees of the Hevea type. 



Types of Factories Required. 



The type of factory to be erected depends upon many conditions, 

 sucTi as the amount of the crop and the methods ot curing and 

 washing. 



In order to meet crop requirements, care should be taken to 

 ensure that extensions can be easily and economically made from 

 time to time. This is particularly the case where small and similar 

 acreages come into bearing regularly each year for many years in 

 succession. Where the whole of the area is in bearing, the building 

 need not provide for extensions to the same degree, though an annual 

 increase in yield rer acre must be allowed for. 



The meth(;d of curing also has a bearing on the type of factory 

 required. If vacuum driers are used, the size of the factory can be 

 reduced. If artificial heating apparatus is provided the rubber is 

 dried more quickly, and less space is therefore required in the curing 

 section. The installation of heating apparatus, fans, etc., generally 

 necessitate the erection of a two-storey building. Smoking must also 

 be considered, though in many cases a separate building is erected 

 for this phase of the curing process. Frequently, however, the rub- 

 ber is smoked, while being cured, in a part of the factory permanently 

 set aside for this work. 



The kind of washing machine and position of shafting must also 

 be considered in the erection of the walls and floor of a factory. 

 There are some washing machines which have double or treble the 

 working capacity of other?, and which demand comparatively less 

 space. Shafting, if overhead, may require wall brackets, which fre- 

 quently necessitate an entirely different construction. Floor shafting, 

 on the other han I, may be erected more or less irrespective of the 

 materials used in the construction of the building. 



