338 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1905. 



But the enforcement of the decree of the Congo Free State 

 prohibiting the crushing of rubber //««« was suspended for the 

 benefit of the Kasai company, and this law cannot, therefore, 

 be held responsible for the diminution in the rubber output of 

 the Kasai region. It must be attributed to the fact that the 

 exploitation has been conlined to the previously worked terri- 

 tories and that the opening of new sections has not been at- 

 tempted. La Chroniijue concludes: "The Kasai company is 

 certainly living on its capital which, considering the future, is 

 much to be regretted." 



•• SIROCCO " DRIERS FOR CRUDE RUBBER. 



THE problem that more than any other has been interest- 

 ing the rubber planter of late has been the quick and 

 thorough drying of the water filled discs of crude rubber. In 

 the far East, and particularly in Ceylon, machinery is very gen- 

 erally used on the great plantations. In tea lor example a 

 factory is a part of each, and machinery for withering, rolling, 

 drying, and packing is a part 

 of the regular planting equip- 

 ment. It is therefore most 

 reasonable, when the tea plant- 

 ers turn to rubber culture and 

 have a drying problem to 

 solve, that they should test 

 the tea driers. This they 

 have done, and successfully. 



The accompanying illustra- 

 tion shows a 20 tray " Siroc- 

 co " drier, smiilar to the tea 

 drier in general use, but in 

 this instance built for cinch- 

 ona bark, cocoa, and coffee. 

 The trays are of the end slide 

 type, and are loaded at one 

 end and discharged at the 

 other. The trays are 6 inches 

 deep, and run on small rollers. 

 The machine shown has sepa- 

 rate air and smoke chimneys 

 but the two can be combiner! 

 in one, as in the case of tea 

 driers, if desired. The heat- 

 ers are either " vertical " or 

 " multitubular " and when it 

 is desired an electric alarm thermometer is supplied with the 

 machine so that the heat may be regulated with exactness. 



Speaking generally of the " Sirocco " drier, they make use of 

 a self acting upward cur^^ent of heated air. This current is reg- 

 ulated within by air valves or by the operation of the smoke 

 and air chimney, so that the greater the heat the stronger is 

 the hot air current, which passes over all of the drying trays. 



In practice, where rubber is the material to be dried, the wet 

 pancakes are first dried in the machine described, for about 3 

 hours, at a temperature of 150' F. They are then taken to a 

 room above the drier where the warm exhaust air is collected 

 and spread on wire mesh trays where the drying is finished.' 

 Manufactured by Davidson & Co., Limited, Belfast, Ireland, 

 with branches at Calcutta and Colombo. 



PLANTING NOTES FROM THE FAR EAST. 



The area planted to rubber in the Federated Malay States is 

 estimated, in a note in The Tropical Agriculturist (February 

 I, 1905) at 25.551 acres. It may be mentioned here that the 



-'''^:'!i^^immuit^ 



SIROCCO" DRIER FOR C"UDE RUBBER. 



administration report for 1903 of the state of Perak alone says 

 that there must be 25,000 acres under rubber in that state. The 

 report states: "There are over 18,000 acres in Lower Perak, 

 and about 4000 acres in Krian. Of this acreage the area 

 owned by Europeans may be set down at about 7000 acres." 

 = The Singapore Straits Times (April 28) reports having 

 seen exceptionally fine specimens of cultivated llevea rubber 

 from Bertram estate. Province Wellesley (Malay peninsula), 

 which embraces 300 acres planted to rubber, of which 3 acres, 

 covered with 7 year old trees, are now being tapped. Bertram 

 estate is owned by Bim Eow Hong, Ouah Beng IIo, and T. 

 Gawthorne. 



= It now appears that the Grand Central Ceylon Rubber Co., 

 Limited (Colombo), will not be organized on the lines indicated 

 in The India Rubber VVoki.d of June i [page 300], on ac- 

 count of the failure to complete negotiations for acquiring the 

 Sabaragamuwa lands of 15,000 acres. The company will, how- 

 ever, proceed with the acquisition of the Urumewella estate, 

 alre.ifly partially planted with rubber, and a new prospectus is 



expected to be issued. 

 NEW COMPANIES. 

 RlTBBER Estates of Ceylon, 

 Limited, registered in Lon- 

 don, April 1 1, 1905, with /loo,- 

 000 [=$486,650] capital, to ac- 

 quire the Muwankande estate, 

 in the Kurunegala district of 

 Ceylon, and the Mousava es- 

 tate, in Galagedara district, the 

 two estates comprising 968 

 acres and the latter contain- 

 ing at last accounts 10,000 

 rubber trees planted in cacao 

 — and other properties in Cey- 

 lon and elsewhere, and to 

 plant rubber and other pro- 

 ducts. 



= Palniadulla Rubber Co., 

 Limited, registered in London, 

 May 23, 1905, with ;£6o,ooo 

 ; =$291,990] capital, to acquire 

 the Geragama tea estate, in 

 Central Province, and other 

 properties in Ceylon, and to 

 grow tea, India-rubber, and 

 other products. H.K.Ruther- 

 ford, mentioned hitherto in these columns in connection with 

 various Ceylon plantations, is one of the original directors, 

 and a holder of 500^1 shares. Registered offices : loii.Lime 

 street, E. C, London. 



= Kuala Selangor Rubber Co., Limited, registered in London, 

 May 12,1905; capital, ;£i2,ooo [ = $58,398], in £\ shares; to 

 adopt an agreement with L. T. Bonestead and VV. A. Horn, and 

 to carry on the business of rubber planters in the Federated 

 Malay States. 



= The Malay Peninsula Agricultural Association recently in- 

 vited the submission of essays on rubber to be forwarded not 

 later than [uly i to the secretary at Penang. A gold medal, 

 with $50 in cash was to be given for the best essay on Para 

 rubber, its cultivation, methods of tapping, and manipulation 

 of the latex, and a similar prize for the best essay on Gutta- 

 rambong {Ficus elastica). 



RUBBER PLANTING COMPANY PUBLICATIONS. 

 The Tehuantepec Rubber Culture Co., New York. = Report of the 

 Official Inspector [Theodore M. Bates]. i8 pages. 



