298 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



trees would probably prove an effective 

 obstacle ; but unless the animals are present 

 in very large numbers, hand picking would be 

 the most economical and practical treatment. 



(2) ''Book-lice" [Psocida). — On the arrival 

 in Colombo of a shipment of sheet rubber 

 from the Federated Malay States, it was found 

 to be swarming with minute insects, which 

 proved to be a species of Psocus. The rubber 

 had evidently been packed before it was quite 

 dry, with the result that the surface was 

 covered with mould, it was upon this superficial 

 fungus that the insects were feeding. 



E. Ernest Green, 

 March I t, 1908. Government Entomologist. 



"PARA RUBBER BY HERBERT 

 WRIGHT."* 



The third edition of Mr. Wright s well-known 

 book has just left the Ceylon Observer press. 

 It is now a handsome, portly and very 

 complete volume of over 300 pages, giving all 

 the information required by the planter, the 

 capitalist and all interested in rubber. This 

 edition is profusely illustrated (over 90 full- 

 page illustrations) clearly printed on good paper 

 with wide margin ; and with a full index. The 

 book contains 21 chapters and the headings of 

 each will indicate the contents : — 



History of Para Rubber in the East ; Botany 

 of the Para Rubber Tree ; Climatic Conditions 

 for Para Rubber ; Cultivation of Para Rubber 

 Trees ; Para Rubber Soils and Manuring; Tap- 

 ping Operations and Implements ; How to Tap 

 Para Rubber Trees ; Where to Tap ; When to 

 Tap ; Yields of Para Rubber ; Effect of Tapping 

 on the Trees ; Physical and Chemical Properties 

 of Latex ; The Production of Rubber from 

 Latex ; Drying of Rubber ; Physical and Chem- 

 ical Properties of Rubber ; Purification of 

 Rubber; Vulcanisation and Uses of Rubber ; 

 Kinds of Para Rubber ; Diseases cf Para Rub- 

 ber Trees ; What to do with the Seeds; Esti- 

 mates of Rubber Planters : Costs of Planting 

 Rubber in Ceylon, Malaya, Java, South India 

 and Borneo. 

 Finally, we may quote Mr. Wright's preface: — 

 I am writing these notes while enjoying a tour 

 through Ceylon, Malaya, Java and Sumatra 

 under conditions which might load the average 

 man to go into some little detail regarding 

 rubber trees and their cultivation in the Eist. 

 But the size of this book has already greatly 

 exceeded the dimensions originally anticipated 

 and I do not therefore propose to write any- 

 thing beyond an explanation of why this edition 



* " Hevea Brasiliensis " or Para Rubber its 

 Botany, Cultivation, Chemistry and Diseases by 

 Herbert Wright, a.r.c.s., f.l.s., late Controller, 

 Government Experiment Station, Peradeniya, 

 Ceylon ; Editor, " The India Rubber Journal '' 

 and author of " Rubber Cultivation in the Bri- 

 tish Empire," "Science of Pa,ra Rubber Culti- 

 vation," "Theobroma Cacao," etc. Third edi- 

 tion. With plates and diagrams. Colombo : 

 Messrs A. M. & J. Ferguson. London : Messrs 

 MacLaren & Sons. 1908. [Copyright in Great 

 Britain.] Price R7"50 (or 10s.) 



is being printed. The first practical work on 

 Rubber cultivation for Planters in the East was 

 compiled hy the Hon. Mr. John Ferguson, 

 c.m.g., in 1883. Some 700 to 800 Planters read 

 that work and not a few planted rubber ; with 

 what wisdom and foresight recent events have 

 shown. In 1905, while I was Acting Director of 

 the Peradeniya Department, Mr. Ferguson 

 suggested that I should write a book on " Para 

 Rubber " ; an application was duly forwarded to 

 Government and their permission to compile 

 and publish the book was granted. In the pre- 

 vious edition, written long before the Oeylon 

 Rubber Exhibition, I pointed out that the in- 

 dustry, as far as growers were concerned, was 

 in its infancy. Ihe present edition has been 

 compiled in consequence of the many advances 

 which have been recently made in methods of 

 cultivation and tapping, coagulating, and curing 

 operations. I have, since I retired from the 

 Ceylon Service, had signal opportunities of 

 studying the rubber industry from many points 

 of view ; the wider knowledge thus gained 

 prompted me to give a more detailed account of 

 essential operations as carried out by rubber 

 collectors in all parts of the world. I again 

 express my gratitude to Planters and Officials in 

 the tropics, to manufacturers in Europe, and to 

 the proprietors of the " India- Rubber Journal", 

 foL - the information which they have kindly 

 placed at my disposal. Without their assistance 

 the present compilation could not have been 

 published. 



H. W. 



May, 1908. 



The valurae is strongly bound in red covers 

 and weighs 2 lb. 12 oz., the price being R7'50 or 

 10s. Altogether the third edition should hold 

 the field for a long time to come. 



RUBBER IN ANGOLA. 



There is about to be a new development in 

 the supply of indiarubber. The Portuguese 

 province of Angola, though rich in forests of the 

 rubber tree, is a source of annual loss to the 

 Government of Portugal, owing chiefly to failure 

 of capital to work the forests, and the formid- 

 able competition of the Congo. The Portuguese 

 Government has determined to make an effort 

 to secure something from the great riches in 

 rubber of Angola, it has accordingly accepted 

 the offer of a group of Belgian capitalists who 

 have applied for a concession to work the dis- 

 trict of Lunda, the richest part of Angola, and 

 situated on the border of the Congo. The Bel- 

 gian financiers offer to halve the profits with the 

 Portuguese Government, and further pledge 

 themselves to export all their rubber by the port 

 of Lunda. — Indian Planters' Gazette, Aug. 22. 



CEYLON PLANTING INDUSTRY. 



AND CEVLONESE PROPRIETARY OF ESTATE. 



Few have any just idea of the very consider- 

 able stake the people of Ceylon aud Southern 

 India have in our Planting Enterprise— not 

 simply because of the employment it affords, 

 but as a means of investing their savings or in- 

 herited capital. Among proprietors of tea, 

 cacao, rubber or other regular plantations en- 

 tered in the Directory, there are no fewer than 



