June, 1910.] 



491 



Saps and Exudations. 



edge and sharp so as not to make a 

 widening incision. Preparatory to tap- 

 ping the section to be operated on is 

 coated with a solution composed in some 

 cases of limes and water, fifty being 

 required for a bucketful. Acetic acid of 

 2 per cent, or carbolic acid of '6 per cent, 

 strength may be used, while the seeds of 

 the baobab tree are also employed. These 

 contain a certain quantity of organic 

 acid which is found very suitable. The 

 coating of the tree with such a solution 

 is of course to encourage coagulation. I 

 believe that an exaellent article for this 

 purpose has recently been put on the 

 market under the name of " purub," but 

 the Germans consider it too expensive, 

 and as we are only discussing what I 

 actually saw in use, the merits of purub 

 are outside our province. 



When the latex has been thoroughly 

 coagulated on the tree it is generally 

 rolled off in balls, but in some cases is 

 just pulled off in scraps and folded in 

 the hand. When a sufficient number of 

 balls have been collected they are sliced, 

 are passed through smooth rollers 

 Avhere rinsing in water also take? place, 

 and it passes out in the form of what 

 is known as lace rubber. This is re- 

 peated several times till it is quite 

 clean. It is then passed along to 

 the drying and cleaning house where it is 

 smoked for a period of fourteen days, a 

 stove being erected outside the building, 

 the flue of which is carried to the inside. 

 When the rubber is thoroughly dried it 

 is packed in cases for export. Another 

 method is similar, only that the heat is 

 increased during the last few days and 

 the lace rubber is pressed into blocks. 

 Some growers only split waste and 

 smoke the balls, packing and exporting 

 in bags, but this is not considered an 

 advisable system. Yet another method 

 adopted is to pass scrap rubber through 

 fluted rollers, washing as in the first 

 instance. It comes out as crepe rubber, 

 and being pressed and blocked is cut into 

 slices about f thick by 6 inches square 

 and hung up to dry. 



While much impressed by the soil, 

 climate, and the cultivation of rubber in 

 G. E. A., with the consequent remark- 

 able growth of Ceara, it seems to me 

 that far greater advance has been made 

 in Geylon in what might be termed the 

 manufacturing department of the crude 

 article. G. E. A strikes one who has 

 been familiar with the treatment of 

 "para" rubber in Geylon as being much 

 more primitive, finer machinery and 

 plant as well as more scientific methods 

 having been adopted in Geylon. I do 

 not mean this as derogatory to, but fair 

 criticism of, our German friends. In 

 B. E, A- we are no doubt behind them 



in natural advantages, but, as far as I 

 can see, that only means it will be later 

 before we can draw supplies, and I put it 

 down that trees are fully as far forward 

 there at two years old as they could be 

 here at three. 



The greatest rubber pest in G. E. A. 

 is pig, and heavily barbed wire has been 

 found necessary to fence the properties, 

 while some employ hunters. White 

 ants are also very destructive and will 

 attack trees four or five years old, 

 completely ruining them. 



The labour question is not without its 

 difficulties even in G. E. A, where boys are 

 rather scarce. These are brought down 

 from the interior by agents who receive 

 14 rupees per boy for expenses and for 

 procuring them. The boy signs on for six 

 months and is paid at the rate of 12 rupees 

 per month, but labour is not plentiful, It 

 is usual to have a headman in charge of 

 each gang of fifty boys, and in some in- 

 stances I found that Malays were em- 

 ployed for that purpose. They seem 

 active and intelligent, accustomed to 

 plantation work in their own country. 

 A weeder's daily task is 1,000 square 

 yards in light grass and 600 yards in 

 heavy. Roughly the cost per acre is 

 estimated at 160 rupees for three year 

 old trees. The quantity constituting a 

 day's gathering is one lb. including the 

 putting on of solution, tapping, etc. If 

 a man brings in more than his pound of 

 moist rubber he is credited with the 

 difference against his month's work or 

 paid at the same rate for the excess. 

 Thus, if he brings in two pounds daily his 

 month's work is completed in about a 

 fortnight, and he can knook off if he 

 chooses for the balance of the month. 

 Should he continue at his work and bring 

 in 2 lbs. each day he receives two 

 month's pay instead of one. It is quite a 

 common thing for a man to bring in \\ to 

 2 lbs. per day when he becomes expert at 

 the operation. If after a fair experience 

 a man does not come up to his pound per 

 day he is not considered suitable tor 

 that work. 



I had some interesting discussion over 

 "Dichotoma," the most recent variety of 

 Manihot from Brazil. The Germans do 

 not favour the enthusiasm with which 

 it has been received in some places. They 

 have had it for the last two years, and 

 the seeds gathered from these young 

 trees have thrown back in size to be 

 little larger than Glaziovii. Whether it 

 is that this variety does not thrive away 

 from its native home, the fact remains 

 that it threatens to deteriorate very 

 rapidly in G.E.A., and the question is 

 would it be any better suited for B-E- A, ? 



