192 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, 1903. 



PREPARING "PARA RUBBER" IN CEYLON. 



^ I " O THE Editor of The India Rubber World : I have 

 I much pleasure in complying with your request for full 



particulars as to the method of collecting and coagu- 

 lating rubber, up to the time of despatch for market, 

 employed on the Kepitigalla estate [at Matale, Ceylon]. After 

 considerable experience, with several methods employed in 

 other parts of the globe, 1 think there is none other equal to 

 the one adopted in Ceylon, and if this were used in other coun- 

 tries it certainly would mean a rise in price of at least 6 pence 

 a pound for rubber. 



The tool employed for tapping rubber trees on this estate is 

 not equalled by any other in use, for its clean cut and absolute- 

 ly safe incision, the tree not being damaged in the least. The 

 shape is indicated by an accompanying cut. 



In practice both hands are 

 used to hold the wooden han- 

 dle. Placing the corner of the 

 angle B at the start of the cut, 

 the tool is pulled downward 

 two or three times in the same 

 incision, care being taken not 

 to cut into the wood. Though this may seem difficult at the 

 beginning, a little practice will soon make the work easy. After 

 two cuts have been made, converging in the shape of the letter 

 V, another laborer places a small tin cup at the lower point of 

 the V. Care should be taken that at this point the two cuts do 

 not run together, but that a small space be left between them. 

 The incisions should be about 4 inches long, with a space of at 

 least 3 inches between them at the top. The same space (3 

 inches) should be left before beginning the next pair of incis- 

 ions in going around the tree. This is absolutely necessary, 

 for if the cuts join, the flow of sap to the tree will cease, and the 

 tree will die. The first series of incisions should be made as 

 far up the tree as a person standing on the ground can reach. 

 Every second day a new band of incisions may be made lower 

 down, as indicated in the drawing. About twenty rings or 

 bands of incisions can be made around a tree within a distance 

 of six feet from the ground. About five V shaped mcisions 

 may be made around a tree 40 inches in circumference. 



The tin cups used are about two inches 

 in diameter and two in depth. As the 

 late.x flows immediately after the cuts are 

 made, the tapper's assistant at once presses 

 the edge of a tin cup into the bark, no 

 nails or putty or wax being required to 

 hold it in place. A third laborer follows 

 with a pail of water, putting a small quan- 

 tity into each tin to prevent the latex from 

 coagulating — a very necessary precaution, 

 especially on a hot day. The tapping as 

 above described is done early in the morn- 

 ing, and in this way three men can place 400 cups in a half 

 day, and attend to the rubber obtained. 



The contents of all the tins are stirred once or oftener, besides 

 which the laborers must see to it that none of them overflow. 

 Work is started about 6 a. m. and by 11 A. M. all the tins have 

 been taken oflf and emptied into a pail. While one coolie car- 

 ries the pail of latex to the factory, the others wash out the 

 tins and at once replace them under the same cuts. The tins 

 are again emptied, in the same manner, at 3 P. M., which com- 

 pletes the yield of latex from a given set of incisions. In 



INCISIONS WITH 

 TIN ATTACHED. 



the meantime, after the tins are washed, the coolies pick off 

 any rubber that may have dried in the wounds made on the last 

 round, which is called scrap. So much for the collection of the 

 latex ; we come now to the curing of the rubber, which is sim- 

 pler still. 



As the latex is brought to the factory in a liquid state (mixed 

 with water, which is necessary to enable the /a/ifjr to go through 

 the process by which the rubber is preserved), it is strained 

 through a very fine wire mesh — a mifk strainer, for example — 

 into shallow tin pans, 7 inches square by 2 inches in depth, in 

 which it is left to stand overnight. By morning the rubber will 

 have coagulated naturally, without the use of any chemicals, 

 and most of the water will have become separated from the pure 

 rubber. The lump of rubber is then taken out and placed on 



a table and gently pressed with 

 the hand to exclude the water, 

 after which a wooden roller 

 worked by hand is passed over 

 it, back and forth, until more of 

 the water has been expressed, 

 leaving a flat sheet of rubber 

 about 8 inches square and ^s inch thick. The lumps of rubber 

 thus made are placed on caned trays or frames about 6X3 

 feet, caned like the bottom of a chair, though not so closely 

 woven. After the rubber sheets have remained on the trays for 

 four or five days, they are hung to dry on wires stretched 

 across the room, after which they will require frequent atten- 

 tion to prevent mildew, a man being detailed to rub off all 

 mildew spots with a rag. About two months are required for 

 the rubber to become thoroughly dry and free from white 

 patches. So long as these patches appear, it is an indication 

 of dampness and further drying will be required. 



When thoroughly dry the sheets of rubber are ready for 

 shipment, and are packed in boxes about 18X18 inches square 

 and 8 inches deep — usually about 50 pounds to a box. The 

 secret of the high prices obtained for rubber from Ceylon lies 

 (i) in the straining of the latex, 

 by which every particle of dirt is 

 kept out, and (2) in the thinness 

 of the sheets of rubber, which 

 permit any one to see that they 

 are free from dirt, sand, etc. No 

 chemicals are used, and no heat- 

 ing is required. On the whole 

 this is the simplest method, when 

 one knows how, that could pos- 

 sibly be adopted. The rubber 

 from most countries now comes 

 to market in large pieces, and can 

 conceal any amount of impurity, 

 while in other cases the latex is 

 allowed to dry on the stem of the tree and when pulled off 

 contains a large percentage of bark and dirt, which mean loss 

 to the buyer and extra work in the factory. 



The last sales of rubber from this estate have brought prob- 

 ably the highest average price of any rubber sold in the world 

 during the same period, and this is saying a good deal, namely : 

 an average of 3^. \\d. per pound. The total output for Ceylon 

 for 1903 will be about ten tons, of which this estate will send 

 two tons. FRANCIS J HOLLOWAY. 



Kepitigalla Estate, Matale, Ceylon, January 8, 1903. 





H\' ■■ ''■'■ '■-.;■-'-.■ .^'k.'j'Jt. .'17 



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RELATIVE POSITION OF 

 SERIES OF INCISIONS. 



