11 
The Report on the samples of Ceara rubber from Zanzibar by 
the India Rubber and Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works 
Company, Limited, dated the 7th February, 1884, was as 
follows :— 
“ The appearance and general physical properties of this rubber 
ir John Kirk's letter above referred to *that trees only begin to 
yield when five years old, and no doubt these are even then too 
small to be remunerative,’ is conflicting. 
“ The quantity of ash obtained from the sample collected from 
the trunk of the tree amounts to 3°64 per cent., which, together 
with its composition, are ae corroborative of its being 
obtained from the Ceara p 
* Of the two samples of this rubber which have been received, 
the one which had fallen on the ground, and had become mixe 
with sand, was so deteriorated and decayed as to require no 
f iew. 
promising appearance that sel anin behaviour under the 
vulcanizing process was somewhat disappointing ; the SA 
available for experiment was s too small to determine the cau 
of its becoming spongy and por 
* [ts loss on drying and tiet was 23°46 per cent.; this 
shows that the rubber contains a arge amount of soluble 
matter. Ceara rubber ied page in Ceylon gave onl 
loss of about 7 per ce inder similar circumstances, but 
obtained from plants Kuna two TOU D 
* [t is by no means improbable that the Wire of samples 
from younger plants may lead to more favourable results 
* The india-rubber collected from the trunk of ‘he tree bes 
be at the present time commercially worth about ls. 9d. to 2s 
per lb. The sample collected from the ground we can put no 
value to. 
Sir John iem wo (Dec. 16th, 1885) as follows in regard to 
the above 
“As to t 3s yum rubber doses, on, which proves so unsatis- 
factory when worked, it is certainly the product of trees I first 
received from you as Manihot Glaz ziovii. lam quite satisfied the 
tree is here of no use to a private planter. Some trees yield a 
watery juice with almost no rubber, and at best the amount is 
small. I have, however, had the seed widely scattered "er the 
mainland over 300 miles of coast, and as it seems to grow so well 
and propagate so freely, it may be a resource to the tere Sud 
repay them the trouble. Perhaps inland, in less moist climates 
iss Lang may be better, but I have condemned the tree as 
ess to a European planter, and a troublesome weed where once 
fiióiacod into a plantation." 
NATAL. : 
The Kew Report for becas (p. 18) records : oe 
* Mr. Keit, th e Curator of the Botanic Garden, reports that the oe 
Ceara rubber even Ad from seed obtained from Ceylon in — — 
1878 have grown Pieces and had flowered, but had not : 
