109 



Mr. W. Harris, Superintendent at Cinchona, made some experi- 

 ments on three trees at Pleasant Hill just below the Hill Garden, by 

 kind permission of Messrs Balguy and Turner. Incisions were made 

 in the bark of the trunks, branches and one large root, but nearly the 

 whole of the rubber was obtained from the trunk of the oldest tree. 

 When any part of the bark was punctured, the milk appeared imme- 

 diately, but the flow quickly ceased, though it could be prolonged by 

 removing the milk as it flowed from the incision. Only about one-fifth 

 of a pint of milk was obtained each day for three days from the three 

 trees, making in all three-fifths of a pint. The following method was 

 adopted in preparing the rubber : the milk was kept in the tins in 

 which it had been collected until the following day in each case. 

 Through evaporation of the water, it had become thick, but in order 

 to hasten coagulation, boiling water was added. The milk readily 

 mixed with the water and was easily removed from the tins. The 

 whole was poured into saucers, and placed on the top of a cooking 

 stove. The rubber soon coagulated, was removed and pressed out into 

 flat pieces. This is a sufficient indication of the plan that might be 

 adopted on a large scale. The total amount of rubber thus obtained 

 amounted to 4 ounces, which shows that this rubber tree would not be 

 profitable at an elevation of 3,500 feet. 



Preparation of the rubber in Assam. — Collins states that the prepara- 

 tion on a commercial scale is to pour the milk into large wooden bins, 

 6 feet square, and partly filled with water, the caoutchouc after a time 

 floating on the top. The caoutchouc (being still fluid) is then taken 

 out and boiled over a slow fire in iron pans, 4 to 6 feet in diameter, and 

 2 to 2 \ feet deep, 2 parts of water being added to the caoutchouc, and 

 the whole stirred constantly. As soon as the caoutchouc coagulated 

 into a mass, it was taken out with iron forks and pressed, and again 

 boiled and pressed, and then dried in the sun, and finally washed over 

 with lime. 



Jamaica Kubbee. 

 Forsteronia floribunda, Don. 



Jamaica rubber is not as yet known in commerce, though attention 

 was called to it in the Annual Reports of the Department of Public 

 Gardens and Plantations for 1883, and 1884, and again in Bulletins, 

 No. 10 (January, 1889) and No. 21 (January, 1891). 



Source. — It is derived from the juice of a climber known locally as 

 the "Milk Withe" {Forsteronia floribunda), which is generally as 

 thick as a man's wrist, sometimes much thicker. This withe is found 

 in the woods, climbing to the tops of the highest trees ; but it also 

 grows over rocks fully exposed to the sun. 



Soil, fyc — The Geological formation is the " White Limestone". 

 The surface of the ground is exceedingly rough and difficult to tra- 

 verse on account of the sharp and jagged edges of the hard crystalline 

 limestone. The soil is lodged in hollows of varying extent and depth 

 between the projecting limestone blocks. 



Collection of Milk. — When a cut is made through the bark of the 

 Milk Withe a milky juice flows out for about two minutes, but a num- 

 ber of incisions are necessary before sufficient fluid is collected to 

 fill a four-ounce bottle. Care should be taken not to cut into the bark 



