92 



The Supplement to the tropical Agriculturist 



erials, wild fibres, jungle ropes, specimens of 

 bark cloth dried and green, etc. The judging did 

 not take place till late as the judges were else- 

 where engaged. 



Cut Flowers. 



There were exhibits of roses, vic lets, gladiola, 

 carnations and other Upcountry flowers. The 

 specimens were good, but were woefully battered 

 by the journey, and also showed signs of decay 

 from rain. 



The Silk Hodse. 



The special show made by the Salvation Army 

 was very attractive. There was an exhibition of 

 worms, how they feed, and spin cocoons fe d« 

 ing worms and the eri worms. When the 

 cocoons are made they are reeled to a mach- 

 ine which is placed at hand and then they 

 are spun into thread. After this process the 

 thread is made into skeins and is ready for 

 exportation. A Loom for weaving cloth was 

 also on the premises, and cloth weaved at the 

 place was exhibited. Another little quick run- 

 ning machine for spinning eri cocoons was 

 also shown as well as a little machine for puri- 

 fying the eri cocoons. On a table in the 

 centre there were arranged samples of the Ben- 

 gal variety, the Mysore variety and the "cross- 

 breeding" variety of silk thread. The medals 

 won by the Association were also on view. The 

 collections consist of a gold medal for the loom, 

 and four silver medals also for the same loom. 



CEARA RUBBER NOTES FROM 

 SOUTH COORG 



Pollibetta, June 29.— Both coffee and 



rubber present a most luxuriant aspect. Borer 

 is not severe this season. Estates are fairly 

 well supplied with labour for the time of year 

 and most seasonal works are well in hand. The 

 supplying up of vacancies in the rubber has 

 in some cases been finished and in others is in 

 progress. Myriads of rubber plants grown from 

 dropped seed cover the ground, and in parts 

 form the only growth beside the Ceara trees. 

 Rubber trees still continue to succumb to what 

 is popularly attributed to "stump rot." Num- 

 bers of them are being removed and burnt, 

 " supplies" taking their places. In a year these 

 in turn succumb. Too luxuriant growth is a 

 menace to the well-being of the trees. They de- 

 velop a heavy head of branches and foliage the 

 weight of which splits their stems down to the 

 ground. The judicious lopping of branches 

 might prevent this. The habit of growth of 

 Ceara trees varies widely, indicating that a num- 

 ber of varieties are extant. Some branch out very 

 near the ground and are unsuitable for tapping 

 others have long straight stems. Some have a 

 weeping willow appearance, while others throw 

 their branches upwards in candelabra fashion. 

 These are said to be the most productive. The 

 undesirable kinds will be gradually eliminated. 

 The placea are being got rid of undesirable 

 growth and in some cases digging has been com- 

 menced,— M. Mail. 



COMMERCIAL SYNTHETIC RUBBER. 



PROFESSOR PERKIN'S DISCOVERY. 



Considerable interest had been roused when 

 last mail left London over the reported produc- 

 tion of Synthetic Rubber by Professor Perkin 

 and the flotatation of a Company to carry on its 

 manufacture. Later news by cable intimating 

 that Professor Perkin's new synthetic rubber was 

 to be produced on a small scale at first, and that 

 the necessary shares for allotment had been 

 taken up in the new Company, gives no inti- 

 mation that there has been an enthusiastic re- 

 sponse to the flotation ; further, the steady, 

 though not active, market in plantation rubber 

 shares ever since the announcement of the dis- 

 covery, indicates that those who are handling 

 and investing in raw rubber accord little weight 

 to the so-called scare. The fullest, though of 

 course the most technical, report of the meeting 

 of June 17th at Burlington House, when Pro- 

 fessor Perkin described his discovery to the 

 Society of Chemical Industry, appears in the 

 Chemist and Druggist of Jane 22nd, and in view 

 of its importance we reproduce it in full. We 

 notice that our contemporary's representative 

 extracted from Sir William Ramsay the 

 statement that growers of rubber need have 

 no fear that the market would be affected 

 for many years, and that the production 

 of synthetic rubber was quite a side issue 

 for the present compared with the manufacture 

 of acetone and fusel oil ; but he did not state, 

 either then or at the lecture, whether any quan- 

 tity had been produced sufficient to be tested 

 in those essential qualities of natural rubber, in 

 which it had so constantly been stated that 

 synthetic was almost perennially doomed to 

 failure. We refer to "elasticity," "resilience," 

 and "tensile strength," three qualities in the 

 raw product which the buyer and manufacturer 

 invariably examines it for, and from which he 

 makes up his price. We, therefore, take the 

 view that the prominence given to the produc- 

 tion of synthetic rubber, as if it were any- 

 thing likely to compete with plantation rubber, 

 is unwarranted. To take only one authority, 

 viz., Mr. Hermann Gardner, f. c. s., who writes 

 in the Financier on June 20th that the great 

 weakness of all synthetic rubber products 

 hitherto is their readiness to unite with atmos- 

 pheric oxygen in the presence of light, and 

 consequently they suffer speedy deterioration. 

 There is also a uetwork of nitrogenous material 

 in raw rubber, which is missing in the synthetic 

 variety ; and until the vulcaniser gives his ver- 

 dict that the Perkinette rubber is able to stand 

 vulcanisation, any fears of it as a competitor 

 may be removed to a date as far distant as the 

 Greek Kalends. 



The most that may be expected is that the 

 new product, when turned out in appreciable 

 quantities, and provided that its cost is limited 

 to one shilling or one and sixpence, will be 

 that it will displace the commonest African 

 and South American natural product. The main 

 advance secured by Professor Perkin and his 

 colleagues, is that fusel oil, an expensive pro- 

 duct, is cheaply obtained, together with ace. 



