The Supplement to the Tropical Agricultilrist 



THE CEYLON PLANTING INDUSTRY: 



MAIN RESULTS FOR JULY, 1908. 

 392,000 ACRES TEA ; AND 180,000 ACRES 

 RUBBER. 



The above figures indicate the main results of 

 the present season's collection of statistics from 

 every planting district and nearly every planta- 

 tion in the island. The compilation has been 

 completed for our Directory, and we hope to 

 begin issuing copies of the book to subscribers 

 very shortly. Unusual care has been taken in 

 the collation, and it is quite evident that planters 

 have been much more particular in making up 

 their returns. For, only in this way can we ex- 

 plain the fact that " rubber planted in tea," 

 which was represented by 41,690 acres a 

 year ago, now stands at 60,299 acres ; while 

 rubber in cacao has increased from 10,707 to 

 12,8f>4 acres. It is most unlikely— in fact im- 

 possible — that there have been new clearings or 

 rather interplantings to this extent ; but rather 

 it is evident that more discrimination has been 

 shown in making up the estate returns. Asa 

 consequence, the area of " tea alone " is actually 

 less by 13,000 acres than'a year ago ; while, even 

 allowing two-thirds of the 60,000 acres, we only 

 show an advance of 2,000 acres in our staple. 

 Practically, indeed, our tea industry has stood 

 still for three years back. Indeed, if we are to 

 believe the prophets of evil in regard to the fate 

 of tea mixed with rubber, we may be said to be 

 going back. But it is satisfactory to know that 

 a practical planter, whoue opinion can be trusted, 

 gives tea ten years of fruitful life from the time 

 rubber was first planted amongst it. Now, very 

 little rubber was put out in tea before 1905 ; for 

 5,00(J acres covered the return made up in the 

 middle of that year. Meantime, with 345,744 

 acres of tea alone and 60,299 tea and rubber 

 and some more of tea and other products, we 

 consider our staple may be safely put down a 

 equal to 392,000 acres. 



Of rubber alone, there arc 24,000 acres more 

 than a year ago, and altogether the increase — 

 counting "interplanted"— has been put at 30,000 

 acres ; but we are convinced that half of this at 

 least belongs properly to 19U6-07. The equiva- 

 lent of 180,000 acres in rubber, and the fact that 

 rubber altogether (counting what is amongst tea 

 and cacao j and l h million of trees separately 

 rendered, is spread over not less than 212,000 

 acres in Ceylon ought to make the boldest and 

 most sanguine paute to consider whether any 

 more land should be opened with rubber, until 

 further experience is gained as to the course of 

 the market in the face of yearly increasing sup- 

 plies of the plantation product, and the states 

 ment that wild rubber must continue to be 

 gathered along the Amazon and its tributaries 

 as well as in Africa 



EXTRACTION OF INDSARUBBER BY 

 ELECTRICITY. 



MR. COCKERILL'S INVENTION. 

 The following Specifications have been ac- 

 cepted :— No. 1,012 of October 12, 1907. Name : 

 — Thomas Cockerill. Title Improvements in 

 apparatus for the extraction o£ indiarubber from 

 latex by Electricity, Abstract :— A rotating 



conducting plate, disk, drum, or cylinder dip- 

 ping in the latex and connected to the positive 

 pole of a source of electricity forms the anode ; 

 or a moving conducting endless belt, on one 

 surface of which latex is poured, connected to 

 the positive pole of a source of electricity forms 

 the anode. In the latter instance, which is the 

 one illustrated by drawings the, cathode is a 

 fixed adjustable plate extending over the upper 

 surface of a horizontal moving belt and the latex 

 is poured between. Rubber is deposited on 

 that moving belt by the action of the electric 

 current. The deposited rubber and the belt 

 passes between rolls to consolidate the rubber. 

 The rubber is then guided off the belt and 

 doubled and passes again through rolls to con- 

 solidate it. It is then led through hot water to 

 heat it and wash it ; and it is then led through 

 rolls again, which are heated, and the rubber 

 is finally consolidated and polished and partially 

 dried thereby. The claims include, beside 

 the use of a rotating or moving anode, the pro- 

 cess for obtaining a continuous sheet of rubber 

 by the mechanical arrangements described and 

 set forth in the drawings. — G 



NEW METHOD OF TAPPING 

 "CASTILLOA." 



Mr J Herbert Foster, manager of the 

 plantation " La Meriden," in Vera Cruz, 

 Mexico, reports a new method of tapping their 

 cultivated " Castilloa ' ; rubber. He uses the 

 same knife as before— a knife brought out by 

 Mr Smith, of Chiapas, and described same time 

 in this journal— which cuts a U-shaped groove 

 in the bark, but making the cuts only about two- 

 thirds the former depth ; then with a blade like 

 that of a jack knife a deeper cut is made along 

 the middle of the first one. This makes certain 

 that the t layer of bark which contains the latex 

 is penerated throughout its length, but the cut 

 is so narrow as to make a comparatively trifling 

 wound. It is said that these cuts are entirely 

 healed in two or three months, whereas the 

 old style cuts required a year or two to disap- 

 pear. — India Rubber World, July 1. 



TEA AND RUBBER. 



Seeing that there are 60,000 acres of tea and 

 rubber intermixed at this time (and 12,000 acres 

 of rubber and cacao) and that expert authority 

 gives ten years life to the tea from the date of 

 the rubber being planted, how soon may we 

 expect the tea to disappear. Here is our calcu- 

 lation : in the middle of 1905, the interplanted 

 area was given at 5,200 acres. We then get,— 

 5,000 acres tea dying out by. ..1914-15 

 13,000 acres more tea dying 



out by 1915-16 



30,000 acres additional 



dying out by 1916-17 



and 12,000 acres additional 



dying out by 1917-18 



There is, therefore, ample time for enterprising 

 planters who prefer to open fresh tea clearings 

 to get their tea into bearing before the final 

 collapse of the mixed fields. Iu the same way 

 cacao planters should also be on the alert. 



