RUHI;I:I: 



INDIA-RUBBER 



UHCEOLA ELASTICA 



v . 



j v 



it. aa'i in dry rubbers. [G'/. Wright, JtMer Cult, in Brit 



js. | 



Rhynchodia Walllchll, B,-nth. , AI-OCYNACJEA:. A lofty evergreen -limi,r of 

 the. Siklvim Himalaya at altitudes of -_',,"iiHi !'..(, U!KH m<-t unli in .W.un. Sylln-t 

 .,1.1 r.iirin.i. Altriitii.ii I HIM recently been direel.-d to this pi.. 



..i' rubber by Mr. n.-.n .> ..i the K..re-t Ser\ i<-,., Hurma. A. Mraplo of the rubber 

 i-nished iii August l!iu:i by the Reporter oil Economn- I'n.dtn t-, i., i 



1> nistun fur examination. The report, dated Ma\ I'.iui, xhowM tho 

 nililnT t.i contain 89-0 per coat, caoutchouc, f, 7 per cent, rosin, 4-3 |.< i 

 dirt, and n ."> 1 per cent. asli (included in the dirt). It is thuH of good quality, 

 I. ut about 1-5 per cent. <>f tlo caoutchouc was insdlnblo in the usual solvents. 

 Tlic brokers' report on the sample was to the effect that, at pre.,,-iit pricon, it 

 \\ould realise :!.. ;./. per Ib. Dunstan then adds that if supplied <>f .similar 

 Duality to the sample examined, it would always sell readily. 



Sapium biglandulosum, MUM. , EUPHORUIACB^C. Yields Colombian Scrap or 

 Rubber from British Guiana and also Bolivian Rubber. [Of. Keto Mua. 

 . l'.H)7, 189.] 



Urceola elastica, fioxb., and U. esculenta, Benth. (Chavannesia esculenta, A. DC.) 

 An.cvNAi I:.K. These climbing shrubs yield caoutchouc <>f food quality. Tho 

 former oeeurs in Malacca and Punang and the latter in Burma; common all 

 ..ver I't-^u and mot with in Martaban and Tavoy. It is known as Tcyetpanng 

 ma) tvnd tophet (Karen). 

 This rubber appears to have been first described by Dr. Thomson in I - 

 subsequently by Mason (18(50), and in 1874 Strettell wrote a special illustrated 

 pamphlet on the subject (The Caoutchouc obtained from Chavannesia eaculenta). 

 Sir \V. T. Thiselton-Dyer, as in the case of all the other rubber-yielding plants, 

 ntributed largely towards the development of our knowledge of the present 

 species. The Forest Administration Reports of Burma contain, almost yearly, 

 numerous brief references to it and its rubber. In 18978, for example, mention Burma Supply. 

 is made of 2,342 plants being in the Palon and Kimpadi Plantations of Rangoon, 

 which were started in 1874. Perkin (Circ. R.B.O. Ceylon, 1899, 102) observes 

 that " the latex from the thin stems, such as bear the leaves or have recently 

 shed them, forms a sticky substance when moulded between the finger and 

 thumb. The plant resembles t'HHtuioa in this respect. The latex botli from 

 the pith and the cortex of the young stem is sticky, hence it looks as if the true 

 caoutchouc is only formed in the secondary bast." Manson (I.e., reprinted as 

 Comm. Circ., 1901, No. 4, 12) gives many useful particulars. 



In the Proceedings of the Government of India (Forests, Juno 1904, No. ">, 

 18-9) a collection of official communications has been brought together. 

 extending from May 1903 to January 1904, that gives the most recent ex- 

 perience and results in tapping the rv>of plants in the special plant at ions Results. 

 of this species. They can hardly be regarded as conclusive, though highly 

 instructive. On March 21-5, 1900, 469 creepers were tapped, each with 

 thirteen cuts, and the yield came to 11-454 Ib., which was not weighed till 

 April 20, 1903. This cost Rs. 29, or Rs. 2-53 per pound. Tho second tapping 

 ok place on December 14-24, 1900, of 508 creepers, each receiving 30 cuts 

 nd yielding 9-853 Ib. of rubber, which was weighed on January 25, 1901, and 

 itimated to have cost Rs. 51-4 or Rs. 5-20 per Ib. The writer of the report 

 ordingly comes to the "conclusion that the cost of collection of the rubber 

 f Chavannesia is prohibitive, and that no profitable industry can over be 

 developed in connection with it." But as if to show that the experiments con- 

 ducted and the conclusions drawn from these cannot be regarded as final, he 

 odds that in the Mon Valley in Minbu district the monopoly of collecting rubber 



from Chavannesia is sold annually by auction for Rs. 250. It is thus clear 

 that better results can be and are obtained than in the special plantation of 

 this plant near Rangoon. Subsequent experiments seem to show that (ho 

 tappings mentioned are not necessarily conclusive of what can bo done at the 

 plantation. 



Dunstan, reporting in May 1903 on samples of this rubber. furnisluHl Valu.iU<*i 

 t him for that purpose, observes that this plant yields "a rubber \\hieh 

 promises to be of some commercial importance, especially if it can bo for- 

 warded in largo consignments of the quality represented by the sample now 

 reported on." The analysis showed caoutchouc 81-8 per cent., rewin 7-5 per 

 cent., dirt 10-7 per cent., and ash (included in dirt) 1-8 per cent., calculattsl on 

 dry rubber. Tho commercial exports consulted compared the rubber \\ith 



659 



Indigenous 

 Production. 



