3i8 



APPENDIX IP 



The interests at stake are so great that I may be permitted per- 

 haps to put in condensed form the advantages of the use of a 

 washing machine in preparing rubber: — 



1. The rubber produced will be as purr as it possibly can be 



without costly chemical treatment. 



2. The rubber being pure will be of uniform quality. 



3. The rubber being washed will be ready for immediate use 



by the manufactures, it will therefore have an enhanced 

 value from the manufacturers' point of view, and with 

 open competition must command a higher price. 



4. It will effect a saving of labour to the planter by eliminating 



the petty hand labour involved in coagulating rubber in 

 small plates, rolling the sheets by hand and manipulation 

 of the small biscuits produced. 



5. There will be an enormous saving of time in drying the rub- 



ber, this will involve a saving of storage room and labour 

 in looking after the rubber when drying. 



6. There will be no possibility of putrefaction of rubber in dry- 



ing or discoloration by the growth of mould, the substances 

 which putrefy or which feed mould being eliminated. 



7. The machines will clean and deal efficiently and economi- 



cally with scrap. 



8. Rubber from Ficus elastica can be prepared efficiently and 



economically. 



9 The washed rubber can be turned out of any length or thick- 

 ness required, it will be easier to handle and pack. It 

 keeps better than the best of the biscuits prepared in the 

 old way. 



APPENDIX IIP 



The following objections have been made to the 1 use of a rubber 

 washing machine : — 



1. The initial cost is considerable — against this must be ba- 



lanced the direct saving of gear which is required in the 

 coagulation and preparation of rubber in the biscuit form, 

 and the indirect saving of time and money consequent on 

 the advantages of using the machine. 



2. The manufacturers will not appreciate the rubber in the 



washed state : — 



The answer to this lies in the fact that the manufac- 

 turers themselves turn all the rubber they buy into washed 

 sheets, they more than any, know the value of washed 

 rubber 



