108 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[J 



ANUARY I, 



1906. 



to the heartwood to a height of 6 feet, but the tree soon re- 

 covers ; a splash of tar keeps out fungus spores, anti the bark 

 gradually closes over the gaping wound. No tree is lapped un- 

 til it is at least of 20 inches girth at 3 feet from the ground, and 

 the older trees are from 50 to 60 inches or more in circumfer- 

 ence. 



The labor on the estate is plentiful, being all Tamils from 

 South India, and nowhere can there be found a better and 

 cheaper agricultural laborer. The Sinhalese in the villages 

 around are useful for felling and clearing jungle for new plan- 

 tations, always on contract work, but they cannot be depended 

 on and will take a few days' holiday whenever they feel in- 

 clined. The tapping system in vogue on Kepitigalla lor sev- 

 eral years is about the simplest and easiest imaginable, and is 

 in consequence the best for the Tamil coolies, who after a little 

 practice become very expert. Some of the best tappers are 

 youngsters of 12 and 15 years. 



TAPPING METHODS. 



Mr. Holloway has always been in favor of single short obtuse 

 V cuts, up and down the stem ; according to its girth each tree 

 carries 6, 8, or 10 cups at a single tapping. The trees are tapped 

 twice during the morning and there is no evening tapping. 

 This is very much in favor 

 among the coolies, whose reg- 

 ular day's work is over by 

 noon. At 6 a. .m. the tapper 

 starts his round and fixes the 

 cups ; at 8 to 9 o'clock he goes 

 a second round, re-taps and 

 affixes cups again ; by 10.30 to 

 II he is back at the factory 

 with the tins of latex. Each 

 gang of two coolies ha» 220 

 trees to tap, and taps no on 

 alternate days ; and, allowing 

 resting time for the trees, each 

 gang taps 440 to 500 trees per 

 annum. This allows to two 

 coolies 1]/^ acres per annum, 

 or rather less than one coaly 

 per acre, per annum. The Hol- 

 loway tapping knife is an im- 

 proved V cutting knife; it is 

 heavier than the old knife and 

 has movable blades ; the V blade head is fastened to the han- 

 dle by two small screws and nuts, and a blade when worn down 

 after four months' use is easily replaced. 



It is usual in Ceylon to tap only the first 6 feet of the trunk up 

 from the ground, except on very large trees. Mr. Holloway be- 

 lieves that the trunk may be profitably tapped to a much great- 

 er height; his trees, having their lower branches lopped ofT, 

 show tall straight stems from 25 to 50 feet or more and he is 

 experimenting as to how far up they may be tapped, going 

 higher each year. At present after a tree has been thoroughly 

 tapped for its first 6 feet for some years he goes higher and taps 

 up to 12 feet, and this year is going up to 15 and 18 feet, and 

 with excellent results. These are tapped once per annum with 

 a series of single oblique cuts 8 to 10 inches long. Light lad- 

 ders are used , and as many of the trees are on steep rocky places 

 the tappers find it easier to make single oblique cuts, when 

 clasping the tree with one arm for support, than the V cuts. 



The tapping coolies work in gangs of two — the tapper and 

 his assistant, who carries the cups and cans for latex and affixes 

 the cups to the tree. Each day 24 gangs of tappers are at work 

 on no trees, so that every two days 5280 rubber trees are 



A CORNER OF THE NEW FACTORY. 



Showing (i) Pans of Latex Coagulating into Biscuits ; (2) A Michie-Golledge 

 Coagulating Machine (with small hits of creamed rubber); and (3) Freshly 

 Maae Lace Rubber. 



[Photograph by Mr. Etheriiigton.] 



tapped. A gang brings in sufficient latex each day to make 

 about 30 biscuits and these being 8 or 9 to the pound, work out 

 at 35/ pounds dry rubber collected per gang every day. 



A RUBBER COAGULATING " FACTORY." 



The tapper on arriving at the factory with his latex has to 

 strain it, place it in the coagulating pans, and set these out 

 to coagulate. Each man's latex is kept separate and num- 

 bered, so that it can at once be seen if a man is doing his work 

 properly, and if not he is given a " halt name " for his day's 

 work. The coagulated biscuits are next day passed through a 

 mangle and then sent into the hot air drying room, with a tem- 

 perature of 100° to 105°. The rubber is practically dry after 

 one day there, and is then passed into the drying and store 

 room where it remains until several thousand pounds are ready 

 to be graded according to color and packed lor transport to 

 Colombo. The roof of the factory is corrugated iron and this 

 keeps up the temperature ; the biscuits are dried by hanging 

 on wires stretched along below the roof about 2 inches apart, 

 and the sight of the four store rooms, 72 X 24 feet, each liter- 

 ally canopied with rubber, and more round the sides and down 

 the middle on wire shelves, was an interesting spectacle. All 

 the rubber until the end of 1905 is sold on contract to a Col- 

 ombo firm at a price well up 

 to the London average for the 

 year, and that is over $1* per 

 pound. 



The new rubber factory is a 

 cement floored building fitted 

 with power for driving any 

 machinery. Stands are fitted 

 for holding the pans of coagu- 

 lating latex, and in it are a 

 " Michie-Golledge'' coagulat- 

 ing machine for making the 

 now fairly well known "worm" 

 rubber; a "Dickson" coagu- 

 lating machine, for coagulat- 

 ing by the smoke process ; and 

 a " lace rubber " machine of 

 Mr. Holloway's own invention 

 for turning out coagulated 

 rubber in thin lace form for 

 very rapid drying. A big rub- 

 ber washing machine is 

 shortly to arrive from the Malay States. 



A COAGULATING MACHINE. 



The Michie-Golledge machine is a rapid coagulating engine 

 the invention of two Englishmen in Ceylon — Mr. D. Michie, 

 head of the engineering department of a large Colombo firm, 

 and Mr. G. H. Golledge, manager of the large" Gikiyanakande 

 rubber estate in the Kalutara district. These gentlemen have been 

 working at it for a long time and now it is on the market al- 

 though improvements will probably be made. Cemented into the 

 factory floor the machine stands some4 feet high ; it is composed 

 of a large iron drum inside of which another drum, holding the 

 latex, is rapidly revolved. This inner drum has 4 blades run- 

 ning around the inside, and in the bottom is a waste pipe for 

 carrying off the " mother latex" or waste water after the rub- 

 ber is coagulated. A leather belt running from the axle of the 

 revolving drum to a large wheel gives the power, and the wheel 



* Our correspondent refers to the American dollar, and gives no other figures for 

 values. Mr. Holloway wrote sometime ago to The Times 0/ Ceylon \\i&\ r-Mti^x 

 could be delivered in Colombo under 50 rupee cents [=16.4 cents, gold] per pound 

 and was then selling in Colombo at 4. 15 and 4.20 rupees [=$1.34 to $1.36 per pound], 

 since which time higher prices have been obtained in that market.— Thb Editor, 



