35 



For paring the cuts there were many knives exhibited, and gold 

 medals went to the Bowman-Northway and Miller knives, both of 

 which are simple, keep sharp, and pare thin shavings without any 

 dragging of the cut edges. It is very important that the shavinsrs 

 should be thin, as the bark should be made to last about four 

 years before it is all cut away, in order to allow the renewed bark 

 time to ripen fully. 



The yields obtained on some estates have been phenomenal, but 

 it is probable that in many of these cases the bark has been too 

 rapidly cut away, and that a period of waiting for the renewed 

 bark to ripen will ensue. It is not as yet safe to count on more 

 than a pound a year a tree, if so much, but even this means 

 150-200 lbs. an acre, an amount sufficient at present prices to yield 

 an enormous profit. 



Hitherto the Ceylon rubber has mostly appeared upon the 

 market in the form of " biscuits "—flat pancakes about 10 inches 

 in fliameter. The Malayan has mostly been in "sheets" about 

 2 feet long. But both these forms seem destined to disappear in 

 favour of block — rubber prepared by blocking the sheets, biscuits, 

 or other form under high pressure. Some samples of block were 

 ■shown by Lanadron Estate, Johore, and similar samples have 

 lately been getting the highest prices on the market. 



The Ceylon and Malayan rubber has been obtaining higher 



prices per pound than any of the "wild" rubbers, even "fine 



Para," the standard of the market, but pound for pound of pure 



rubber is really getting lower prices, for the Para rubber contains 



about 20 per cent, of moisture. Why this should be so is one of 



the greatest problems before the investigation at the present 

 moment. 



Anyone comparing a sample of fine Para with one of any 

 plantation rubber — Ceylon, Malayan, or Mexican — can see at once 

 that the former is more springy, returning more readily to its 

 original shape when stretched. The higher price really obtained 

 for this rubber may therefore probably be explained on this 

 •consideration. 



Now is it because the trees are young that the rubber is weaker, 

 or because the rubber is not smoke-cured ? Is it because the 

 rubber is in biscuit or sheet instead of in blocks ? Is it that it is 

 too much dried (Para rubber contains 20 per cent, of moisture) ? Is 

 it that it is too pure and too much washed ? Or is it that it is not 

 coagulated in the best way ? All these, singly or in combination, 

 are possible explanations, and there may be others. 



There is no doubt that older trees give stronger rubber, but that 

 of even the oldest trees in Ceylon— 30 years old— is not equal to 

 South American rubber. Smoke -curing (without coagulation at 

 the same time) seems to strengthen the rubber, and block rubber, 

 besides its saving in cost of freight, and exposure of less surface 

 to oxidation, seems actuallv stronger than sheets or biscuits. 

 The great dryness of the plantation rubber may also have some- 

 thing to do with it, and experiments are now being tried by the 

 Peradeniya institution in the preparation of block from wet 

 biscuits. 



s 



