SMOKING RUBBER 211 



With regard to methods of rubber manufacture we shall 

 doubtless see many changes in the near future. Rubber in the 

 form of crpe although clean and dry and generally of fine 

 colour has many disadvantages, and is not likely to be the 

 permanent form in which plantation rubber will come to the 

 market. While it may suit manufacturers of rubber solutions, 

 and be perhaps freer from moisture than any other form of 

 rubber, it is expensive to manufacture and is not so strong and 

 does not store well. Rubber solutions are, after all, a very 

 small portion of the requirements of the rubber industry. 

 There has been in the past too much emphasis laid on colour by 

 Mincing Lane buyers and too little on strength and keeping 

 qualities. Time will change all this, and time will change this 

 soon. Already some of the very largest manufacturers of 

 rubber goods make no secret of their personal preference for 

 smoked rubber. They state that they find crepe-rubber 

 requires to be very carefully stored, kept at certain tempera- 

 tures and away from sunlight, and this entails expense. 

 Even when all such precautions are taken it does not always 

 keep well. 



On the other hand, they state that well-smoked rubber can 

 be stored almost anyhow and improves by keeping. Stocks 

 can therefore easily be laid in and kept any length of time till 

 required for manufacture. These views, representing as they 

 do views of large consumers, demand serious and careful 

 consideration. 



The demand which has set in for smoked sheet with a well- 

 defined diamond pattern is due to the fact that this style of 

 sheet is less likely to become mouldy when packed, and generally 

 arrives in a good condition. When the sheets are smooth, little 

 air gets in between them when packed in chests, whereas the 

 diamond pattern, when deep, sharp and well defined, permits 

 of a circulation of air and the sheets are less ready to adhere to 

 each other. The sheets are, therefore, less readily affected by 

 damp during the voyage. 



For this style of rubber sheets it is best, after roughly form-- 

 ing the sheets on the macerator or creper although the use 

 of these mills can be dispensed with to pass them through a 

 sheeter with smooth rollers once or twice. When the smooth 

 and regular surface has been secured, the sheets should then be 



