and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— November, 1912. 4gJ. 



To avoid the former cause of complaint, the 

 greatest care must be taken to keep the 

 use of artificial coagulants to the lowest 

 possible limit— if it cannot be eliminated 

 altogether. Half-a-dozen different specimens 

 of acid (including nitric and sulphuric) were 

 exhibited in the Malayan Court and stated 

 to be used for coagulation. Several manufac- 

 turers expressed their regret that such things, 

 should be used on estates, although it only 

 confirmed the impressions they had already 

 formed. They admitted that they had detected 

 no trace of acid in " plantation " when tested 

 at their factories, but did not accept this as 

 proof that no damage had been done. The 

 general opinion appears to be that acetic acid, if 

 used in very small quantities, is harmless, but 

 no other coagulant should be used in the bulk 

 until it is proved harmless in the samples. 



It is also very desirable to prevent the mix- 

 ing of rubber in transit. Both the importers 

 aud the manufacturers of America are in a mood 

 to support our efforts, but they are helpless 

 so long as we continue to ship unbranded rubber. 

 At my request, Messrs. Bridge & Co, of Man- 

 chester, are now experimenting with a view to 

 producing a hand stamp to perforate crepe as well 

 as sheet. I look forward to the time when every 

 Manager in Malaya who takes pride in his curing 

 will stamp every piece of rubber produced, and 

 I am confident that those who are not prepared 

 to take this simple precaution will, before long, 

 find their rubber classed among the mysterious 

 packageswhich "look like" Hevea sheet or crepe. 



This is one step towards protecting the pro- 

 duce of reputable estates. The rest will come 

 when European dealers realise that if they will 

 not tranship our rubber in the original cases, 

 direct shipment from Malaya to .New York is 

 inevitable. I must express my appreciation 

 of the kindness 1 received, in the U.S.A. and 

 Canada, from all the leading representatives 

 - of the trade. The freedom with which manu- 

 facturers d iscuss every detail of their business, 

 and accorded their permission to use any in- 

 formation they gave me for this report, is the 

 best evidence that their experience with plan- 

 tation rubber has been sufficiently satisfactory 

 to encourage their desire to improve the ac- 

 quaintance.— Yours faithfully, 



C. BaxendaIiE. 

 24, Coleman St., London, E,C, Oct. 24, 1912. 

 "■Rubber World, Oct. 31. 



RUBBER CULTIVATION IN PANAMA. 



FAILURE OF AN EXPERIMENT. 

 Panama, Oct. 8. — After six years of experi- 

 mentation in cultivating the Panama rubber the 

 Boston-Panama Company has abandoned that 

 part of its plantation enterprise. The company 

 has a tract of between 800 and 1,000 square miles 

 on the east side of Montijo Bay, Seven years 

 ago it began the- work of clearing, and incident- 

 ally it gathered each year many thousands of 

 dollars' worth of wild rubber. The tree 

 ( Castilloa elasticus Panamensis) grew so well in 

 its wild state that the early efforts on the plant- 

 ation were devoted entirely to rubber. About 

 200,000 trees were set out, and expert attention 

 was given them. They have been yielding each 

 year a quantity of rubber, but they do not yield 

 so well as the wild tree, and there is no profit, 

 atpresent pricos, in the cultivation. The com- 

 pany has turned its attention to other crops, 

 such as coconuts, sugar, and general produce. 

 This, the largest of the isthmian plantation com- 

 panies, has no stock for sale. Its owners have 

 invested in the land ; they have employed a 

 staff of experts and conducted experiments in 

 the same manner as the United Fruit Company 

 would, and for the same purpose, namely, with 

 a view to making a profit, at the end of a long 

 term of years. Only enterprises of this character 

 will succeed in Panama. The result of this 

 careful experiment with the wild rubber 

 tree is valuable, as it may prevent others with 

 smaller capital from wasting their resources on 

 rubber insted of investing in such crops as will 

 pay quickly and well. Coconut trees require 

 only five years for the first crop, and they need 

 little attention after they are matured. Other 

 crops, such as 3ugar, garden vegetables, and 

 pineapples, are sure producers, and the local 

 market is already good and will expand greatly 

 as soon as the canal opens. — London Times. 



ON GREEN TEA. 



How to Make it. 



We are a tea-drinking nation — more now than 

 ever. We are leading the nations of the Conti- 

 nent to be tea-drinking, too. You can get a cup 

 of tea almost anywhere abroad ; and in Spain 

 perhaps the worst cup of tea in the world. 



Report haviDg come from Russia that the de- 

 mand lor green tea is increasing to an extraordi- 

 nary extent there — nearly twenty times as much 

 being imported last year as in 1904 — a "Daily 

 Graphic" representative made enquiries as to 

 how England stood in this respect. He referred 

 the question to a well-known firm of tea brokers 



