June i, 1908.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD • 



291 



tista, Chiapas, who claim to buy and sell nothing but cultivated 

 rubber, their purchases and sales averaging about 10,000 pounds 



DhALEKS IN AIexICAN CULIlVATliU KuBBEK. 



(Store in San Juan Bautista, Mexico, of llaiburyer & Stack. New ^'o^k 



Merchants.] 



per month - - - a matured tree yielding from i to 4 pounds of 

 crude rubber per tree. Their business increases with the in- 

 crease of matured rubber trees." 



NEW APPARATUS FOR PREPARING RUBBER. 



That the great rubber plantations in Mexico are soon to be 

 producing rubber on a large scale is growing more an'd more 

 evident. Perhaps nothing points to this more definitely than the 

 production of practical tools and receptacles for tapping and 

 gathering and the designing of plants for straining, coagulating 

 and preparing rubber for market. An illustration herewith 

 shows the ground floor of a preparing plant patented by Leslie 

 Radclyffe and Dr. Pehr Olsson-Seffer. In brief, this covers a 



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Apparatus for Treating "Castilloa" Rubber. 



[Key. — 'A. Receiving Tank for Latex. B. Centrifugal Strainer. C. 

 Steam Jacketed Coagulating Tank. C-. Centrifugal Screw Conveyor. 

 D. D. Settling Tank. E. Mother-liquor Separator. F. F. Ordinary two- 

 roll Washer. H. Vacuum Pump. G. Vacuum Chamber. J. J. Block 

 Press. 



receiving tank for latex, a centrifugal strainer, a steam jacketed 

 coagulating tank containing a screw conveyor, a settling tank, 

 and second centrifugal separator, washing rolls, vacuum drier and 

 block presses. The inventors speak of mixing the latex in its 

 primary stage with formalin, or other preservatives, and with 

 an equal volume of water. The centrifugal strainer is lined with 

 muslin, canvas, or perforated metal, and after passing through 



it the strained latex is raised to a temperature not exceeding 

 115° F., and a small quantity of preservative such as an alcoholic 

 solution of creosote, salicylic acid, or carbolic acid is added. 

 From the coagulating tank the partially coagulated latex is passed 

 into settling vats, and allowed to stand for two hours, when the 

 mother liquor is drawn off from the bottom into a separator, and 

 the coagulated latex is washed in the same tank by a stream of 

 water which is forced upward from the bottom. A conveying 

 belt then carries the coagulated rubber to a washing machine, 

 where it is run in strips which are placed in a vacuum drier, 

 partially dried, and then put into the press and forced into blocks. 



In actual practice it is altogether probable that this process will 

 be somewhat simplified, although much of the arrangement is 

 excellent — for example, the arrangement whereby the late.x from 

 the first tank (A) goes by gravity through the strainer, the 

 settling tanks and the centrifugal. 



With half a dozen such plants at work on the great plantations 

 in Mexico, the minor discrepancies will correct themselves, and 

 it will be along some such lines as this that the problem of han- 

 dling latex in quantity will be solved. 



PROGRESS ON PLANTATION "RUBIO." 



"T^HE investors in the Tehuantepec Rubber Culture Co. chose 

 •*• for the last annual inspection of Plantation "Rubio" Captain 

 Charles A. Bcnham, who visited the property on the isthmus of 

 Tehuantepec in February. His report, which has now appeared 

 in pamphlet form, gives details of interest regarding the progress 

 of the company's growing rubber (Castilloa), with figures com- 

 paring present conditions with those noted by earlier inspectors. 

 On the whole, the plantation seems to maintain the high standard 

 of condition which has marked it from the beginning. A number 

 of good photographic views are included. Incidentally, it is 

 stated that extensive operations in oil have been started by S. 

 Pearson & Son, Limited, the English engineering firm, in the 

 neighborhood of Plantation Rubio, and it is probable that in the 

 near future the rubber company will derive considerable benefit. 



A NEW TUBING MACHINE. 



■y HE firm of Bertram's, 

 ■*• Limited (Edinburgh, 

 Scotland), manufacturers 

 of rubber machinery, have 

 patented an improvement 

 to tubing machines which, 

 aside from the slight 

 change in the form of the 

 [ screw and the cylinder, 

 centers chiefly about the 

 cored portions of the 

 cylinder head. This is so 

 arranged that the parts 

 close to the die by means 

 of hollow chambers and 

 quadruplex valves may be 

 heated or cooled more ef- 

 fectively than at present. 

 A study of the patent 

 would seem to indicate 

 that it is designed to do 

 away with the gas flame 

 often used below the die 

 to make the tubing flow 

 more easily, particularly 

 when refractory stocks are 

 Valve Mechanism Used with BER-in process of being 

 tram's Tubing Machine. "spewed." 



