560 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



weeds is allowed to seed as little as possible 

 This is the time to spend money lavishly upon 

 weeding. As soon as the weeds have been got 

 fairly well in hand, which should be at the end 

 of 18 months at most, the whole place should be 

 covered with Passiiiora, which should be planted 

 out from nurseries in beds down the rows, and 

 cultivated, and hand-weeded till established. This 

 will choke out the last of the weeds, and it can 

 then be replaced by a suitable legume. Estates 

 treated this way will have a longer future be- 

 fore them, and will I am convinced, reach a 

 tappable size just as rapidly as places which 

 are kept clean weeded. When it comes to tap- 

 pint;, the yield of latex will be greater from trees 

 grown with a green dressing, because there will 

 be mora soil moisture in contact with the roots. 



Manuring. — Suitable manures for rubber 

 have still to be worked out, and only direct 

 experiment in the held can determine what will 

 be the best mixture. An analysis of the typical 

 soil on each estate should be made, showing its 

 mechanical condition, and the amount of plant 

 food available in it. This will indicate the kind 

 of fertiliser which will be most suitable, and 

 with this as a working basis experiments vary- 

 ing the amounts of the ingredients and times 

 of application must be made. In the absence 

 of chemical analyses of the soil a complete fer- 

 tiliser containing 7 per cent of Nitrogen, 8 per 

 cent of available phosphoric ucid, and 8 percent 

 of Potash, will probably be found about right. 

 This should be supplied at the rate of 3 lb, per 

 tree, in two applications of H lb. each, in 

 September and March. 



Manufacture. — My attention was called to 

 discoloured biscuits, which are sometimes ob- 

 tained. These dry black and are in several ways 

 unsatisfactory. To assign the exact reason for 

 this would, of course, need careful laboratory 

 study, but 1 think that the remedy lies in pay- 

 ing more attention to cleanliness of the collect- 

 ing cups, and the use of disinfectants in the 

 factory. Coagulating dishes, &c, should be 

 kept scrupulously clean, and free from bacteria. 

 When dark coloured biscuits are obtained I 

 advise a general clean up, especially of the col- 

 lecting cups, and I think that it will be found 

 that this will remove the evil. The question of 

 the most suitable material for collecting cups is 

 one which has not been solved to general satis- 

 faction. Glass is, in my opinion, the best as it 

 is so easily kept clean. In Mundakayam, how- 

 ever, a great deal is to be said for coconut shells, 

 which are very easily and cheaply obtainable 

 locally and in practice can be easily washed free 

 of latex and kept clean. Each shell when out 

 of use is hung on the top of a stick stuck in the 

 ground against the tree to keep it from being 

 splashed with mud when raiu falls. 



Many estates which have begun to tap are 

 preparing to erect factories, and in this con- 

 nection I should like to call attention to the 

 fact that each year as the trees grow older there 

 will be a steadily increasing crop of seed. 



The demand for Hevea seed for planting pur- 

 poses will soon be at an end, but there seems 

 to be an excellent prospect of using it as an oil 

 aeed. This is a by-product of the rubber indus- 



try which will repay attention, and it should add 

 considerably to the profits, especially when the 

 price of rubber falls, as I suppose it must do in 

 future years. 



Hence in building factories and putting down 

 machinery provision should be made in the plans, 

 and in the liorse-povver of the engines, for the 

 possible future addition of crushing plant, since 

 the best plan of handling the seed will probably 

 be to crush it on the estate, extract and ship the 

 oil, and return the cake, as Par& poonac, to the 

 soil as a fertiliser. I foresee that in the future 

 there are great possibilities in this direction. — 

 Kudolph, D. Ansteab, Planting Expert.— Plan- 

 ters' Chronicte, May 7, 



RUBBERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. 



The rubber-yielding plants indigenous in 

 Sierra Leone include Funtumia elastica, Stapf, 

 the West African rubber tree, and species of 

 Landolphia vines. A number of samples of 

 rubber from both these sources have been for- 

 warded to the Imperial Institute from the 

 Colony, and the results of examination [of the 

 best] is given in the following : — 



" Funtumia rubber. Prepared by diluting one 

 part of the latex with 10 parts of water and 

 boiling.'' Weight, 2| lb. 



The specimen consisted of thin irregular bis- 

 cuits, which were very moist and mouldy on the 

 surface when received. Before analysis and 

 valuation, the mould was removed and the 

 surface moisture driven off by exposure to a 

 gentle heat. The biscuits were dark coloured, 

 clean, rather rough on the surface, and had a 

 smoky odour. The physical properties of the 

 rubber were very satisfactory. An analysis gave 

 the following results : — 



Rubber after Composition of 



partial drying. dry rubber. 



Percent. Percent. 



Moisture ..9*4 — 



Caoutchouc .. 81-9 90-6 



Resin .. 5 7 6'3 



Proteids 1'8 1-9 



Insoluble matter .. l - 2 1-3 



Ash . . 0"27 29 



The rubber was described by brokers as 

 "fairly clean rough biscuits; strong, well pre- 

 pared and in good condition," and was valued 

 at 4s to 4s 3d per lb. in London, with fine hard 

 Para quoted at 4s 7d per lb. 



This rubber is of good quality, containing over 

 90 per cent, of caoutchouc in the dry material, 

 whilst the amounts of resin, proteid and in- 

 soluble matter are all low. The sample as 

 received contained an excessive quantity of 

 moisture, and in consequence there had been a 

 considerable development of mould on the sur- 

 face of the biscuits during transit. It was 

 stated, however, that the sample hud not been 

 dried thoroughly before despatch, as would be 

 done in the case of rubber prepared for sale. 

 The price quoted for the biscuits after partial 

 drying hore was very satisfactory. — Imperial 

 Institute Bulletin, Vol. VIII., No. 1 of 1910. 



