xvi INTRODUCTION 



In the factory, as in the field, improved methods are much 

 required. The discrimination in price in favour of fine hard 

 Para as against plantation rubber, amounting in the aggregate 

 at present to over a million pounds sterling per annum, 

 proves this beyond discussion. In the case of rubber, like all 

 other products, quality tells and will always tell. 



To assist in obtaining better results than have been secured 

 in the past, to achieve these on more economical lines and 

 with a greater regard than has hitherto been shown for the 

 future welfare of the rubber-growing industry viewed as a 

 permanent investment, is the object with which this book has 

 been written. 



The words, then, used by the famous old Roman historian, 

 Pliny, in the preface to his Natural History, appear to be appro- 

 priate: " It is a difficult task to give newness to old things, 

 authority to new things, Nature to all and all to Nature. To 

 such, nevertheless, who cannot attain to all these, it is greatly 

 commendable and magnificent to have attempted the same." 



