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comparable, in many respects, to low grades of plantation crepe from 

 the East. Despite the advance made and good reputation earned 

 while in its infancy, plantation rubber is now finding much more diffi- 

 culty in competing with wild Para on problem^ of utility. That 

 plantation supplies are comparatively weak very few will deny; 

 increased age alone will lead to improvements in that respect. It is 

 the far more serious problem of variablity befi>re and after vulcaniza- 

 tion that is troubling growers and manufacturers alike. Mr. D. 

 Thornton, of the Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company, Limited, 

 Montreal, has appealed again to our growers on this difficulty, and 

 we, recognising his position from the manufacturing point of view, 

 gladly give publicity to the statements he now makes. Mr. Thornton 

 has sent us two samples of " biscuits " from an estates well-known in 

 Ceylon ; the name of the estates is on each biscuit, and is, in itself, a 

 guarantee of high quality. These were taken from the same case, and 

 yet they vary in colour, elasticity and time of vulcanization. They 

 have the appearance of first class rubber, one being the dark colour of 

 smoked rubber, and the other pale amber. Any broker would class 

 them as being almost equal in value ; nevertheless their variability 

 renders their extensive use impossible. Mr. Thornton states that 

 while he does not object to the shade as a shade, he does object to 

 differences in colour, because parallel differences prevail all through 

 the process of manufacture ; he even goes so far as to state that it 

 represents differences in actual composition which lead to confusion 

 in the factory. The objections raised are so important to growers 

 that we think it will be necessary to effect grading, according to colour, 

 on a much finer scale than has been customary in the past. This is 

 not very expensive work, and is warranted by the necessity to main- 

 tain the support of manufacturers, who find that though fine hard 

 Para is not uniform, it is reasonable and so can advantageously be 

 used instead of plantation lots. 



We are not quite sure whether the same variability has been ex- 

 perienced when dealing with crepe, sheet or block rubber. Perhaps 

 Mr. Thornton will give us some information on this point. 



Attention should also be called to the communication from 

 Mr. Henry A. Morss, published in our issue of November 14th. Mr. 

 Morss made definite comparisons between plantation crepe purchased 

 in Singapore and fine hard Para, and concluded that for use in cover- 

 ing wires and cables plantation rubber was not satisfactory. He states 

 that acid-cured rubber will not stand the searching electrical tests 

 applied, and advises us that only smoked rubber can be used for these 

 special purposes. Mr. Parkin followed this up with some sound 

 advice on the abuse of acetic acid on plantations. We are hopeful 

 that the publicity given to the variability of plantation rubber will 

 awaken the minds of all who have planting interests at stake. It is a 

 serious problem, and the sooner it is approached by planters and 

 chemists the better. 



