June 1, 1921 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



695 



is held tliat Uie case of rubber is exceptional, for the welfare of 

 Malaya practically hinges on its rubber prosperity. 



While the Government is taking its time to announce its policy, 

 more companies are closing down or dismissing members of their 

 European staffs and discharging coolies. The market, too, as 

 might have been expected, is in a pretty uncomfortable state ; it 

 is said that there have been about nine big failures in the rubber 

 market at Singapore within the last six months, and it is further 

 reported that two more hrms in Singapore are in financial diffi- 

 culties. 



Of course present conditions are making people grumble about 

 everything, and not without some reason. The indifference of 

 the Government has been duly criticized, the Rubber Growers' 

 Association got its share first of all, now the Planters' Associa- 

 tion of Malaya has been condemned as futile and inefficient, while 

 finally the Incorporated Society of Planters is practically asked 

 to give an account of its activities, particularly as far as concerns 

 aidin.g unemployed planters. 



The manner of handling the coolie problem by many estates is 

 also strongly disapproved of. It is feared that the wholesale dis- 

 charge of coolies, resulting in the return to their native land of 

 large numbers of unemployed with discouraging tales of condi- 

 tions in Malaya, will create much difficulty when better times re- 

 turn and more labor will be required. It is foreseen that such a 

 situation would help to maintain coolie wages at the high level 

 reached before the slump and thus needlessly add to the cost of 

 production, while the present really offers the best opportunity 

 to lower wages to a suitable level. 



SOUTH INDIA 



A correspondent of tht Indian Scientific Agriculturist points out 

 the necessity for a wider use of all kinds of improved machinery 

 in Indian agriculture. On rubber estates tractors, ploughs, and 

 harrows could be used to advantage and would replace the large 

 numbers of coolies now required and incidentally diminish the 

 worries and anxieties which the employment of large numbers of 

 coolies entail. 



Concerning the effect of the slump on local rubber estates, it is 

 stated that while certain concerns are faring badly, since yields 

 are lower here than in other rubber-producing centers, yet so far 

 none have closed down and it is hoped that this step will not be 

 necessary. 



The new rubber mycologist. If. T. Ashplant, is exiiccted to 

 arrive shortly. 



It is reported that the rate on tea and rubber from the Malabar 

 Coast (southwest coast of India') to London has been further 

 reduced to 65.f. per shipping ton, less the usual rebate of 10 per 

 cent. 



NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES 



Under present conditions, when the press in Ceylon and Malaya, 

 and particularly in the latter region, is urging the need of more 

 thorough and scientific rubber research, it is interesting to note 

 what is being done in this direction for the rubber industry in 

 Java. 



First there is a well-stafifed Department of Agriculture, In- 

 dustry and Commerce, at Buitenzorg, Java, besides a Phytopatho- 

 logical Institute (under a highly qualified director) with entomo- 

 logical and mycological laboratories, .^t the head of each of 

 these laboratories is a chief assisted by three entomologists, or 

 mycologists, and the institute also has an experimental garden 

 with an expert in charge. Then there is a General Agricultural 

 Experiment Station with a staff of twelve experts, of whom 

 three are analysts and three rubber experts. Two of the six 

 experiment stations which provide scientific information for the 

 Dutch rubber industry arc devoted exclusively to rubber. Each 

 of these stations has an able staff of experts, from three to 

 eight in number. There is also a physiology fund for scientific 

 research on the physiological role of latex in Hevea with a 

 research officer in charge. The expense involved is borne partly 



by the Government, partly by the planters' associations and partly 

 by the producers. 



It is quite evident, therefore, that in the Netherlands East 

 Indies rubber research is taken very seriously and, as might be 

 expected, is ahead of its Malayan and Ceylon neighbors in this 

 respect. 



CHANGES IN PLANTATION RUBBER AFTER STORAGE IN THE TROPICS» 



This is a topic ni which interest has of late revived owing, of 

 course, to the present condition in the rubber industry. The 

 general opinion is that plantation rubber and particularly crepe is 

 not stable under tropical conditions. Dr. de V'ries admits that 

 the external appearance of the rubber loses on keeping; thus the 

 color of pale crepe darkens decidedly and takes on a grayish 

 or brownish yellow tint ; smoked sheet becomes dull and loses 

 its brightness. However, the internal qualities on the whole 

 seem to be unaffected. Thus, in samples kept from 2 to 4 years 

 in locked cupboards, and lots kept for two years packed in 

 chests in a godown, tensile strength and slope remained un- 

 changed; the rate of cure generally showed a small increase, 

 while viscosity was the only property that showed a marked 

 change. Samples kept for a short time showed a decided in- 

 crease in viscosity, while keci)ing for a longer time resulted im 

 a decrease in viscosity, often markedly so. Both first-grade 

 and the better kinds of second-grade rubber showed nothing 

 more than these slight changes after having been stored for 

 varying lengths of time. 



Crepe from matured rubber behaved in general in a manner 

 similar to that of first-quality crepe, tensile strength and slope 

 remained approximately the same, but the rate of cure generally 

 decreased somewhat instead of increasing as in the case of first- 

 quality rubber. The viscosity lost its high values and came down 

 to normal or low ones. Here it is interesting to note that while 

 rapid-curing rubber loses in rate of cure when stored, it was 

 found in the case of several samples of abnormally slow-curing: 

 rubbers, that storage had the effect of increasing the rate of 

 cure. Abnormalities in rate of cure, therefore, in many cases tend 

 to return somewhat to normal when rubber is kept for some time, 

 which is to say that storage helps to lessen the variability of plan- 

 tation rubber. 



Samples of ill-prepared native rubber from Borneo and Djambi 

 deteriorated markedly on keeping and lost appreciably in tensile 

 strength and viscosity. 



CEYLON 

 NEW USES FOE SCRAP CR£PE 



In two Colombo office buildings rubber carpets have been laid 

 on the staircases by way of an experiment. The carpets are 

 made of refuse rubber, the center portion being of black lower- 

 grade scrap crepe and the white borders of better quality scrap 

 crepe. The rubber is not vulcanized or treated in any way and, 

 it is understood, the strips of which the carpet is made are 

 hammered together after having been heated. 



It now remains to be seen how they will wear and whether 

 the rubber will become tacky. Owing to the fact that the grade 

 of rubber used in the carpets has now no commercial value, 

 it is difficult to give any idea of their commercial cost. However, 

 one of the two planters who have made these carpets, claims 

 that he can manufacture the carpet at a cost of 34 cents 

 (normally about 11 cents in United States currency) per square 

 foot. 



It is held that the success of this experiment might lead to a 

 big local industry. One or two of these locally made mats have 

 been sent to the Rubber Exhibition in London. Meanwhile, it 

 is gathered that the Rubber Control Committee might raise ob- 

 jections if the sale of such carpets and mats was placed upon a 

 business footing, because under the Rubber Growers' .Association 

 restriction scheme the grade of rubber from which these carpets 

 are made should be destroyed. 



'Dr. O. de VnVs. in the Archief voor de Rnbbcrciilluur in Ncderlandsch- 

 Indic, 5lh year. No. 3, March, 1921. 



