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ing of rubber on the plantations, and which is generally called 
‘‘washing.’’ I think too much stress is put on the word 
‘“washinge.’? We do not treat our rubber with the idea of 
washing it at all; it is more with the object of producing it in 
a useful form for handling and putting on the market. I do 
not think it could be called ‘‘ washing’ in any sense of the 
word from a manufacturer’s point of view, although incident- 
ally the rubber does receive a certain amount of washing. I 
should like to say that recently I met a manufacturer who 
claimed to have had twenty-five years’ experience in one of 
the largest producing factories, and I asked him that question 
as to the excessive ‘‘ working ’’ on estates, and ‘his reply was, 
*T cannot conceive how rubber treated by machinery on the 
estate can have the amount of damage done to it which is 
stated, when I compare that machining with the machining it 
will get when it goes through our works.” 
The question of pale crépe has already been clearly put 
before you by previous speakers. The palest crépe is not our 
cheapest way of producing rubber, and we have always had 
our own opinion with regard to the lower grades, the darker 
crépes. The latter are cheaper and easier to produce, but, 
unfortunately, they do not command the same price in the 
markets. Personally, I do not think that it is possible to 
standardize our first latex. but my expertence is that you can 
if you like produce pale crépe, of exactly the same kind, from 
a number of divisions. It has nothing to do with the colour of 
the water or the amount of water you add to it. 
Perhaps I may bring out one point with regard to bisulphite, 
because it is mostly used in the Malay States and hardly at all 
in Ceylon. I understand from Dr. Stevens that so far as the 
cured article is concerned it is not affected in any way by the 
use of bisulphite. I wish to bring that point out as of interest 
from the Malay point of view. 
Sir Epwarp Rostinc: Mr. President and Gentlemen—I 
came here to-day as a planter to listen and not to talk, and I 
very greatly regret that I arrived too late to hear Mr. Williams, 
because, after all, the manufacturer is the final arbitrator in 
the matter of rubber. It does not matter very much to us 
whether the chemist disagrees with the manufacturer or vice 
versa. The chemist’s duty is to assist us to produce a rubber 
that meets with the approval of the manufacturer. 
The position with regard to rubber to-day reminds me of our 
position in regard to tea twenty-five or thirty years ago. When 
we first started producing Ceylon tea, we were sending in small 
lots of five and ten chests. The trade said, ‘‘ We don’t want 
these little lots; send us three or four thousand chests like we 
get from China.’’ That difficulty was got over by resorting 
