August 1, 1911.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



413 



The product of this drum is sixty pounds of dry rubber per day. 



Mr. Markley has had three more of these drums made, which 

 are now on the way and will be set up and running by July 1, 

 I understand. 



These new drums are made ten feet in diameter, thus producing 

 a strip of rubber thirty feet long by three feet wide and making 

 the entire plant capable of producing 300 pounds of dry rubber 

 daily. As this property has a sutlicient number of eight and nine- 

 year-old trees to keep such a plant running, I believe that at 

 last we shall have one Mexican rubber plantation producing 

 regularly a quantity and quality of rubber to command the in- 

 terest of our large rubber mills. 



• Regarding the quality of rubber produced by this process I 

 may mention that I divided this consignment into four parcels 

 and sold it to four different mills at a price close to the Up-River 

 Fine Para, one lot being sold on Jamiary 16 at only 5 cents per 

 pound less. I received very favorable comments from the trade 

 on this lot of rubber, one buyer saying that this lot of rubber 

 was the closest approach to Amazon Para that he had ever seen, 

 both in appearance and strength of fiber. 



Samples of this lot, now on file in my office, after nine months 

 of age. show no deterioration from decomposition of vegetable 

 albumens and resins, which obtain in all Castilloa rubber ; in fact, 

 they have hardened and toughened similar to Para grades and 

 quite unlike the native Mexican and Centrals. 



I believe Mr. Markley deserves much credit for working out 

 this process on such a practical basis, that the Mexican Planta- 

 tion Company will derive much benefit by preparing their rubber 

 for market by this process and that other Mexican plantation 

 companies and also the consuming rubber mill will all be able to 

 profit by this process. Respectfully yours, 



\V. L. Wadleigh. 



Boston, July, 1911. 



INTERCONTINENT.XL RUBBER CO. 



The various plants of the Intercontinental Rubber Co. are 

 again running full capacity, and the shipment of rubber is being 

 resumed as rapidly as possible, a very favorable condition when 

 the strenuous occurrences in connection with the recent uprising 

 are considered. The company paid its regular quarterly dividend 

 of 1 per cent in June, and a dividend of a similar amount has 

 just been declared for August, so that the 4 per cent, basis on 

 which the stock has been kept for some time past is thus main- 

 tained. 



NON-SMOKING OF PLANTATION RUBBER. 



INDIA-RUBBER GOODS IN COMMERCE. 



EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES. 



/^FMCIAL statement of values of exports of manufactures 

 ^^ of india-rubber and gutta-percha for the month of May, 

 1911, and the first eleven months of five fiscal years, beginning 

 July 1 : 



Belting. Boots All 



Months. Packing and Other Tot.^l. 



and Hose. Shoes. Ruliber. 



May, 1911 $179.S27 $75,406 $720,130 $97.i.363 



July-.'Xpril 1.742,&S3 1.894.282 5,198,295 8,835.260 



Total, 1910-11 $1,922,510 $1,969,688 $5,918,425 $9,810,623 



Total, 1909-10 1.7.S4.0S2 1.792.691 4.622,560 8.169.333 



Total, 1908-09 1.371,586 1.208.473 3.468.945 6.049.004 



Total. 1907-08 1,225.618 1.486.9.S9 3.443.465 6.156.042 



Total. 1906-07 1. 1.^5.116 1.082,003 3.358.459 5.575.578 



The above heading. ".Ml Other Rubber." for the month of 

 May, 1911, and the last eleven months of the fiscal year, includes 

 the following details relating to Tires: 



For All 



Months. .Vutomobiles. Other. Tot.m,. 



May, 1911 ralucs $310,346 $59,194 $369,540 



July-April 1,528.136 479.213 2.007.349 



Total. 1910-1911 $1,838,482 $538,407 $2,376,889 



By Joseph T. IVicks. 

 A T the commencement of a new departure, like the prepara- 

 *^ tion of plantation rubber in Ceylon and the Malay States; 

 it is very important to consider how it should be conducted to 

 suit the requirements of rubber manufacturers of .-Xmerica, 

 England and the Continent. 



Now the less the rubber is handled the better will be its quality. 

 Why should buyers be called on to pay something extra for a 

 process of smoking which is useless, and no doubt initiated by 

 men who are not rubber men, and who know not what is required. 

 A buyer may be asked to pay a few cents per pound more for a 

 smoked lot of plantation rubber, the rubber being to this extent 

 poorer in quality. Therefore, we practical experts say to the 

 planters, don't handle the prepared plantation rubber merely 

 for the sake of handling it ; be content, let well alone, only see 

 that you get clean and air-dried rubber. 



Rubber cultivators should not attempt to imitate the native 

 Indian manufacture on the banks of the Amazon. Here is a case 

 where what is good and suitable for the region of the Amazon, 

 South .'\merica, is absolutely worthless and harmful for Ceylon 

 and Malaya. The conditions, as between East and West, are 

 entirely diiiferent. We might all start to bind our feet because 

 the Chinese do theirs. Ireland might just as well attempt to 

 initate British Columbia in canning salmon ; or London attempt 

 to rival Chicago in packing beef. 



The native Indian manufacture of hard cure fine Para rubber, 

 the production of hams and balls and biscuits by dipping, pour- 

 ing and smoking is unique and excites the admiration of practical 

 rubber experts who are accustomed to see through the nature of 

 things. 



Between the years 1840 and 1850 the American manufacturers 

 induced the Indians of Brazil to ship to New York un- 

 smoked, or as it was then, and is now, called Virgin rubber. 

 The Indians forwarded some cargoes, but as the Virgin rubber 

 was not properly dried, the whey or watery portion of the 

 rubber milk turned sour and on arrival in New York the rubber 

 was in a stinking condition. At that time the manufacturers of 

 coats, pillows, beds and air-proof cushions could not use highly 

 smelling rubber. This happened just prior to the great discovery 

 in America of vulcanization. 



As soon as the Indians found that they were not to be paid for 

 Virgin rubber, they quickly reverted to the smoking process and 

 have adhered with great tenacity to their long tried and approved 

 process of dipping and smoking ever since. 



The wonderful skill displayed by the native Indians in their 

 waterproofing of cloaks, the making of shoes, balls, syringes and 

 toy animals, is an object lesson that we rubber experts can appre- 

 ciate and marvel at the Indian's farsightedness. 



What manufacturers and practical mill managers in the United 

 States and England should demand of planters, cultivators and 

 gatherers in the following: 



(1). Plant and cultivate with all speed. 



(2). Cleanliness in collecting Plantation rubber. 



(3). Let the rubber be fresh air-dried. 



(4). Avoid sunlight and exposure to the sun's rays. 



(5). Avoid artificial heat. 



(6) Eliminate the smoking process. 



(7). Eliminate the pressing or blocking process. 



(8). The fewer the processes the greater the strength, there- 

 fore, better quality. 



(9). Rid yourself of fads. 



fWe do not wholly agree with the writer nor does he prove 

 his case. If he has facts and figures to prove that plantation 

 smoked is inferior to air-dried plantation rubber we should be 

 glad nf them. The mere assertion of inferiority is not convinc- 

 ing. — TI-c Editor. 1 



