April i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



225 



RUBBER PLANTING IN CEYLON AND THE MALAY STATES. 



As Seen by The Editor of " The India Rubber World." 



FIRST LETTER. 



Crossing the Atlantic. — English Manufacturers and Ceylon Rub- 

 ber. — On Board the Himalaya. — Stromboli. — Port Said and the 

 Suez Canal. — The Red Sea and Aden. — Beautiful Ceylon. — At the 

 Galle Face Hotel. — Singalese, Tamils and Chinese. — Quaint Cus- 

 toms. — Director Willis, of Peredeniya and Meneratgoda.— The 

 Oldest Plantations of Hevea.— In a Bullock " Hackery" to Hene- 

 ratgoda Gardens. 



TO those who are interested as to why I chose the Leyland 

 liner Devonian to carry me across the Atlantic at the 

 beginning of my journey toward the Far East, I beg to 

 explain that she is a big, roomy, seaworthy craft of 11,- 

 000 tons, that there were only six passengers all told, and 

 although she carried some 800 cattle, they did not appear on 

 deck, or at table, nor would one have dreamed of their exist- 

 ence, once they were driven aboard. The ten days that were 

 occupied in crossing, spent chiefly on the promenade deck 

 playing quoits with the ship's doctor, put me in fine trim for 

 the brief view of Liverpool and London that I had before the 

 alleged train de luxe bore me to Marseilles, to join the P. and 

 O. steamship, the Himalaya. My stop in England was only long 

 enough to allow me to see a few of the leading rubber manu- 

 facturers, and get their ideas as to the value of the new Para 

 rubber that Ceylon planters are sending to that market. 



One who has probably used as much of this rubber, or more 

 than any other, summarized his experience as follows : " It 

 shrinks on an average about 1.4 per cent. I use it successfully 

 in all grades of fine work, including cut sheet, but do not like 

 it for cements. It stands all tests after vulcanization — com- 

 pression, stretch and return, oils, etc., just as well as fine Para, 

 and is perfectly satisfactory." 



Another detailed the results of his own experiments thus: 

 " This is a general summing up of the practical results, ob- 

 tained from approximately 2 tons, from about 2odifferent plan- 

 tations. The irregularity in quality is very great, varying from 

 tough elastic gum, apparently equal to Manaos Pard, to soft 

 sticky, short rubber, with little more elasticity than recovered 

 rubber. This irregularity I find in all the forms of pancakes, 

 whether thick or thin, translucent or opaque, except so far 

 those which have been smoked ; which, whether owing to the 

 smoke or some other reason, have in the lots (from 3 separate 

 plantations) which I have tested, proved even in quality 

 throughout. I have been favored by one plantation with un- 

 smoked samples (separately treated and marked) from 18 year 

 old trees, and from young 5 year old trees. Each of these sam- 

 ples proved regular throughout, but the quality was very differ- 

 ent, that from the old trees being tough and very elastic, while 

 that from the young trees was soft and green. It appears to 

 me, therefore, probable that the irregularity I have noted in 

 the quality of shipments may arise from the varying ages of the 

 trees, and that until the trees have reached absolute maturity, 

 the latex of one season's planting should not be mixed with 

 that of younger or older trees, but that each year should stand 

 on its own merits to attain regularity in quality. The smoked 

 samples may have come from old trees only, and the smoke 

 perhaps had nothing to do with the quality. This want of 

 regularity utterly shuts out Ceylon rubber from fine work, such 

 as thread, cut sheet, bladders, etc., and as the strength of a 

 chain is but that of its weakest link, it cannot at present for 

 general work be classed higher than the good mediums. For 



the special purpose of making cement, however, it has found a 

 place for itself on account of its extreme cleanliness, and the 

 very convenient form of the pancakes in which it is shipped, 

 practically ready for the naphtha bath. I believe in a great 

 future for rubber planting, properly carried out. It might be 

 done by the government forest department, and the trees 

 rented when old enough." 



Thus the only " out " about the rubber from the viewpoint 

 of the user seemed to be the presence of immature, or partly 

 cured gum, something to be expected when the fact is remem- 

 bered that the plantations are young and the planters without 

 long experience in gathering or preparing for market. The 

 added fact that about 40,000 pounds are expected from the East 

 this year, and that it readily brings the highest price in the 

 market, led me to believe that I had before me a most interest- 

 ing series of plantation visits once I should reach Ceylon and 

 the Federated Malay States. 



As I said, therefore, I took train to Dover, crossed the chan- 

 nel, landed at Calais (so called from the way they handle one's 

 luggage), shivered all the night in the absurd little French 

 train de luxe, and finally, arriving at Marseilles, stepped aboard 

 the steamer that was to be my home for nearly three weeks. 

 In due course we left the granite quays, the shipping, and the 

 splendid limestone cliffs of the French port behind, and settled 

 down to the Mediterranean trip. We passed through the 

 straits of Bonifacio in the night, so that I had no chance to ob- 

 serve, or photograph, and the next morning were out of sight 

 of land. The day following we all started in to get acquainted. 

 I was the only American aboard, the major part being English 

 people who had interests in India, Ceylon, or Australia, and 

 some even were going beyond to Hongkong and Yokohama. 



I had thought to do some writing on this voyage, but some 

 kindly soul put me on the " amusements committee," and what 

 with tournaments for deck quoits, cricket, ball, needle and 

 cigarette races, etc., not to speak of two concerts, my time 

 was pretty well taken up. My revenge came with the 

 concerts, however. I made a speech at each, relating various 

 well known American stories as personal experiences, and they 

 were most enthusiastically received. As the British are firmly 

 convinced that all Americans are speech makeis, it is well for 

 those who propose to travel with them to prepare to be called 

 upon. 



On the night of November 21 we had a splendid view of the 

 volcano of Stromboli, which gave us a veritable special exhi- 

 bition. The night was moonless, and the sea as smooth 

 as glass. About 9 o'clock we caught the first red glow 

 of the crater, and two hours later were near enough to dimly 

 discfern the outline of the cone shaped island mountain, and 

 to see plainly the red lava torrents that tumbled down its sides 

 and were quenched in the sea. We all staid up until the island 

 was lost to sight, and left the deck only when a faint reflection 

 on the gathering clouds was all there was left to us of one of 

 the most impressive of sights. 



We passed the straits of Mycenae so early in the morning 

 that none of us were up, and on Monday saw Crete dimly in 

 the distance. By this time the boat had developed a pretty 

 fair roll, but few were ill, and the deck games went on — that is, 

 for the men. On Tuesday noon we were behind the breakwa- 

 ter at Port Said and surrounded by coaling scows, crowded by 



