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plantation rubber is, in my opinion (and when I say my 

 opinion I refer to experimental evidence; I do not merely 

 express a pious opinion), superior to the best grades of wild 

 rubber, as they are used, and can be used, at any rate, by 

 practical men. Here again we come to the question of 

 " working," and 1 must confess that I prefer to have the 

 rubber rolled or machined while still soft and in a "cheesy" 

 state rather than to have it treated when it is hard and set, 

 as in the case of all wild rubber. I think that if manufacturers 

 would work towards using plantation rubber without washing, 

 if they would make liberal experiments in that direction, they 

 would learn a very great deal. I know a number of factories 

 in this country and in America which use the best grades of 

 plantation rubber without any washing, and I think that 

 therein lies a very great secret. If you do not wash plantation 

 rubber and it is not necessary to wash a great deal of it, with 

 all respect to certain manufacturers who express a different 

 opinion you will find that the premier grades of plantation 

 rubber, if you are in a position to select those which are the 

 best, if you are in a position to test their advance or decline, 

 you will find that you get a better result than with the average 

 fine Para. But if you proceed to re-wash your plantation 

 rubber, or if you do not get the best grades, you will find that 

 as a whole the average is not so good as that of the finest wild 

 rubber. Now, Sir, this is a point which I think should be well 

 borne in mind, not only by the manufacturer, but also by the 

 planter. I agree with Mr. Brett that it would be a most retro- 

 grade step to send home rubber which is wet, and possibly 

 dirty, which has got to be washed and dried, and treated as all 

 the wild rubbers of the past have been treated. I think there 

 is no greater asset in the plantation industry than the fact that 

 it can produce clean, dry rubber ready for use by the manu- 

 facturer. I will go so far as to say that if the rubber 

 manufacturing industry had been founded at the same time as 

 the plantation industry, there would have been no such thing 

 as a washing machine in the manufacturer's plant. I see no 

 reason why every grade of plantation rubber should not be 

 sent home in such condition that it can be used directly. Much 

 more might be done in the way of efficient straining, machin- 

 ing, protecting from dust and dirt than is done. The question 

 of packing, again, is a very important one. We have an 

 article like tea, which is sold down to 4jd. per lb., packed care- 

 fully in lead foil ; yet we have an article like rubber, which is 

 still selling at appreciably over 2s. per lb. for the best grades, 

 simply thrown into a box and left to take care of itself, the 

 sides of the box consisting of soft wood liberally supplied with 

 splinters; and when it arrives at the docks, as likely as not it 



