932 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Seitember 1, 1921 



Sheets with light streaks across the center, due to insufficient 

 turning of the sheets in the smoke house. 



The fact that good appearance of rubber does not guarantee 

 good quality was demonstrated by several lots of the best pale 

 crepe. One lot containing .02-gram of copper sulphate added to 

 late.x will deteriorate within two years, .\nothcr crepe of the 

 same appearance containing .2-gram of copper sulphate will be- 

 come a sticky mass within a year. Another lot coagulated with 

 hydrochloric acid, a very slow-curing rubber, will soon become a 

 sticky mass. There were sheets coagulated with alum — as is the 

 case on most native estates — and very clastic and strong on hand 

 pulling but showing abnormal vulcanizing properties. 



Latex coagulated by electricity without acid was hardly satis- 

 factory, as a part of the coagulum — 15 to 20 per cent, precoagu- 

 lated — has the appearance and properties of lump crepe and the 

 remainder although of appearance and quality of average fine pale. 

 shews no improvement over acetic acid coagulation. 



A display of rubber prepared by various methods included : 

 slab rubber coagulated by acetic acid and cut into blocks giving 

 good tensile tests ; rubber prepared after the fine hard Para 

 method (There were several balls of this type displayed which 

 were of the same appearance as Brazilian Para. The Nether- 

 lands Government is attempting to get all native estates to pre- 

 pare their rubber after this method rather than the usual alum 

 coagulation, as the equipment necessary is inexpensive.) : unsightly 

 alum-coagulated native sheets prepared after the usual native 

 fashion ; rubber of the appearance of clean unsmoked sheet pre- 

 pared without acid by slowly revolving a large broad drum, the 

 bottom portion of which comes in contact with a pan of latex, 

 the upper portion passing through a current of warm air. 



Next came several illustrations of bark and root diseases and 

 their cures, such as pink disease, mouldy rot, white ants, boring 

 insects, etc. Following this was a display of Hevea tree trunks 

 showing various ideas in tree tapping from the old "herring-bone" 

 method to the present method of one-third or one-quarter alter- 

 nate-day tapping allowing six or eight years bark removal. 



.Another exhibit was a bale of rubber packed in straw matting 

 sewed together with a coarse twine and bound with metal straps, 

 the total cost including labor being given at S/3. 



At one side was a display of gutta percha of excellent quality 

 with a chart showing the relative values obtained from various 

 methods of production, the most approved method being that 

 of obtaining the gutta percha by grinding up the leaves and sub- 

 jecting them to an extraction process. 



The exhibit of the Government of Malaya, while fairly ex- 

 tensive, did not compare to that of the Netherlands East Indie: , 

 and consisted of samples of pale crepe, ribbed smoked sheet, 

 and slab rubber both in slab and crepe form. There were dis- 

 plays of root, bark and leaf diseases and pests of the rubber 

 tree, and various methods of tapping were illustrated by sections 

 of tree trunks. 



The Government of Ceylon's exhibit was similar to that of 

 Malaya, showing samples of thick Ceylon crepe and scrap grades. 

 Several rubber tree stumps and trunks were in evidence, illustrat- 

 ing the effect of various diseases as well as methods of tapping. 



The next government exhibit in the order of interest from the 

 standpoint of crude rubber, w'as that of Brazil. Although an 

 extensive exhibit, rubber held only a minor place, consisting of 

 displays of fine hard Para in form of "Pigs" and "Knapsacks." 

 The remainder of the exhibit displayed all of the principal 

 products of the country, including cotton, coffee, sugar, tobacco, 

 timber, hides, wool, meats, minerals and manufactured goods. 



Among the exhibits of estate agents those of Harrisons 

 & Crosfield. Limited, Francis Peek & Co., Limited, and Guthrie 

 & Co., Limited, were of great interest. These exhibits dis- 

 played samples of fine pale, ribbed smoked sheet, and scrap crepes 

 from their various estates, which were of prime appearance. 

 Other displays consisted of tree diseases and cures, illustrations of 



tapping, implements and tools used on estates, models of estate 

 bungalows and smoke houses, estate machinery, etc., and various 

 otntr tropical products. 



Much interest is being shown on the part of crude rul)ber 

 producers in the development of rubber roadways. .An exhibit 

 showing the methods of paving and the progress made was the 

 subject of much discussion, as it is the hope of rubl)er planters 

 that some new and extensive use of rubber will soon be found to 

 insure the consumption of the large output now being produced. 



FOREIGN TARIFFS 



FRANCE 



FURTHER tariff increases which apply to the importation of goods 

 into France have been recently made, and the "coefficient" 

 plan has again been made use of. 



The coefficient is the figure by which the original rate of duty 

 must be multiplied to find the new rate of duty. For example. 

 the original rate of duty on belting, hose, and other mechanical 

 rubber goods was 70 francs per 100 kilos. The revision of July, 

 1919, applied the coefficient of 1.5 to this making the total rate 

 70 times 1.5^105 francs per 100 kilos. The fresh revision applies 

 the coefficient of 4.0, raising the rate to 280 francs per 100 kilos. 



The following includes the most important items of interest to 



the rubber industry: 



Tarifl 



Duty. Coefficient 



Xo. in too of Increase 



French Kiks N. , * -, 



Tariff .\rticle Francs Fcrmer Present 



ex C20 India rubber and gutta itercha manufactures; 



Sheets of india rubber, pure, not vulcan- 

 ized ?0 1.1 1.7 



Threads oi vulcanized india rubber more 



than 3 mm. in thickness or diameter.. 20 1 .j 2 



Elastic tissues 200 1.7 2^ 



Rubbered tis'-i^es in pieces 1.^5 1.9 3.3 



Made-up articles c^f rubbered tissues weigh- 

 ing 400 grams or less per square metre 

 and having 4-1 threads or more in warp 



and v.eft in a scjuare of 5 mm. side.... 450 1.7 2 



Oothing, accessories of clothing and made- 

 up articles rther than those includeil 

 in the following paragraphs: 



Dress shields 250 1.4 1.8 



Braces, garterr. strcking rr sick svis 

 pendeis, belts of threads of textiles. 



other than natural cr artificial silk... 250 1.4 1.8 



Of threads of natural or artificial silk. 



combined or not with other materials 3O0 1.4 3 



Other .• 250 2 3 



Special rubbered tissues for cards, without 



the teeth 70 2,4 2.6 



Footwear 100 2.1 2.6 



Treads, air tubes, or pneumatic tires, 

 blocks, solid tires for vehicle wheels 

 rough, worked, or finished............ 80 1.3 1.5 



Treads air tubes, or pneumatic tires, 

 covers for cvcic wheels, rough, worked, 



or finished 220 1.3 Same co- 



efficient 

 as for 

 detached 

 cycle parts 

 Belting, hose valves, and , tlier articles of 

 india rubber or gutta percha. pure ( r 

 mixed, flexible i:*r hard, combined or not 



with tissues oi other materials 70 1.5 4 



620 bis Manufactures of asbestos or amianthus; 



Paper or beard 50 2 2.7 



Threads and cords, combined or not with 



other materials 60 2.3 3.3 



Plaits, tissues and otiier manufactures with 



or with-^ut additions of other materials. 75 2.3 3.3 



Lace of asbestos 2.3 Same co- 



eflicient 



as for 



cotton lace 



Articles not elsewhere mentioned, of asbestos, paper, or tissue 

 of asbestos, namely, tissue of rubbered asbestos, articles of rub- 

 bered asbestos, gloves, clothing, caps, masks, boots and shoes, 

 cushions of asbestos tissue (and also rubbered), all these articles, 

 even combined with other materials, are dutiable under Xo. 620 

 bis, unless they become liable to higher duties by reason of such 

 combination. 



ITAXY 



The new customs tariff of Italy, which went into effect July 1 

 last, is based on the law submitted bv a Royal Commission in 1913, 



