290 



Mr. M. Kelway Bamber (Goverment Chemist, Ceylon), and 

 Mr. G. H. M. Hyde (Machinery Expert), judged rubber machin- 

 ery, tapping knives and other classes. I also attended the lectures 

 and discussions and contributed a lecture on rubber in the Malay 

 Peninsula. A full account of the proceedings have been published 

 in the official account of the exhibition entitled " Rubber in the 

 East," it is therefore not necessary to describe fully the many 

 points of interest which the show possessed. The more important 

 lessons which the exhibition and conferences taught were :— That 

 the quality of plantation rubber can be improved by making it in 

 block form instead of crepe, sheet or biscuit. The block form is 

 preferred by buyers on account of its being more like the 

 Brazilian Para, which they consider the best rubber for manu- 

 facturing purposes. It has in comparison to crepe, sheet or 

 biscuit, hardly any surface for the attacks of moulds and bacteria 

 and consequently travels better and with much less deterioration, 

 it is less bulky for storing and shipping. Also that the rubber 

 trees will grow vigorously and produce high quality rubber at 

 considerable elevations above the sea. This was clearly shown 

 by the fact that the prize of the show was carried off by rubber 

 made trom trees growing at 2,500 feet above sea-level. 



Preparation of Rubber for the Market. 

 ? u J, kn °wledge of the best methods of preparation of planta- 

 tion rubber for the market is still in the plastic and changeable 

 anv n„ * 1S + CUltS f h T had their day, and on all estates producing 

 abi y elff ntl , ty ° f mbber the >' have been abandoned as unpractic- 

 ? '7 n lar quantities of latex are to be treated. Sheet or 

 tn ?L V6 7° , their ^vantages and the manufacturer has learnt 

 rubbe^T f thdr fine qualities. But the goal to which the 

 profet^ 13 makin S b relation to the improvement of his 

 fZZ ' P^P^ion of a rut 



facturer will consider as <r Qod 

 Brazilian Para. b 



rhurl^ - qual i tie s of resilience, elasticity and durability which 

 rubber TnH.K ^ raZlHanrubber must be Produced in plantation 

 rubber, and the discovery of rh P means by which this end can be 

 isideration, experiment 



of B^l! C add uf d creos °te, which in the case of the preparation 

 ian rubber are added by submitting the latex tn smoke 



and oWrvS; u ? e , Sub J ect of much consideration, experin 

 useiwiuon both herp n^r,i nn 



the -t substan ces, have been introduced in the case of 



KbStiiZ mixing smaI1 quantities of these 



is .n^f ad( ? P r °duces quick coagulation, and the creosote 

 wh3,^Sf nt a " tlS6ptic and^revents the growth of bacterid 

 which produce "tackiness" or other outrefaction of the df> 



