Type Now Used on Plantations. 



Though in the types of factories now used on plantations there 

 is considerable variation, there is some ground for hoping that stan- 

 dardisation will ultimately be recognised. If rubber plantation fac- 

 tories were standardised, the cost would be appreciably lessened, and 

 additions more easily made. A width of forty feet, with bays ten 

 feet, has been suggested (Davidson, Souvenir, I, R.J.) as the standard 

 to adopt. 



On Eastern estates the factories are either : (I) entirely on ground 

 floor, (2) two-storeyed (or more) throughout, or (3) two-storeyed only 

 in the curing section. They are provided with a space for the 

 engines inside the factory, or a separate building adjoining the 

 factory is reserved as the power station. 



Materials Used in Construction. 



Most factories are steel-framed and covered with galvanized 

 corrugated-iron sheets. Where the roof is not provided with a 

 timber ceiling, the air is apt to get very warm in the tropics. The 

 sides, or walls, are usually made of corrugated-iron sheets, similar 

 to those used for the roof. On some estates timber is sometimes 

 favoured, in which case it is advisable to use wood which has been 

 impregnated with creosote, in order to preserve it against the 

 attacks of white ants. Brick walls, between the iron columns, 

 are not often erected, though they are always cool, durable, and 

 neat. 



Ventilation of Factories. 



Apart from health reasons, there are many others why rubber 

 factories should be well ventilated. Rubber contains a proportion of 

 putrescible matter, and if the air is not kept pure, bacteria may 

 appear in large numbers and lead to deterioration of the rubber 

 during curing. Furthermore, drying is, even in dry weather, expedited 

 if a good draught of fresh air is maintained through the building. 

 The majority of factories rely upon open windows and doors, together 

 with a fan, for their supplies of fresh air; expanded metal, which 

 is so constructed as to allow of air currents, is now used, near the 

 eaves or floor level. 



Floors of Factories. 



The ground-floor is, for durability and cleanliness, usually made 

 of cement. It is, however, not unconmion to find white ants boring 

 their way through thin layers of cement, and it is therefore necessary 

 to see that this work is properly executed. In order that water may 

 be carried rapidly away from the washing machines and drip racks, 

 channels should be freely provided. The floor requires washing at 

 regular intervals (preferably with water containing some cheap 

 disinfectant) and it is therefore necessary to construct it with a slope 

 of, say, one in eighty, to hasten drying. • 



