312 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



AMERICAN VIEW OF PLANTING 

 RUBBER. 



(To the Editor, "India- Rubber Journal.") 

 Dear Sir, —I notice in your issue of June 

 •J9th that Messrs. Gow, Wilson and Stanton, 

 Ltd., have offered a prize valued at 25 guineas 

 for " the most economical and complete process 

 for preparing plantation Para from the latex, 

 which will give the best and most uniform pro- 

 duct." Now this is moving in the right direc- 

 tion, especially when attention is given to uni- 

 formity ; if the plantation Para lacks anything 

 at all, it certainly lacks uniformity. 



Writing as a manufacturer, and as one who 

 has made and is making an exhaustive study 

 of crude rubber on behalf of a very large cor- 

 poration, I feel quite within bounds when I 

 say that plantation rubber, so far, has been ex- 

 tremely unsatisfactory to anyone who wishes to 

 use it in large quantities. 



Is it not strange that plantation rubber pro- 

 duced by scientific (so we are told) men, should 

 be so lacking in uniformity, when that gathered 

 by natives on the Amazon is the reverse ? Oh, 

 well, says Mr. Plantation Man, there are rea- 

 sons for that ! We know that, we are painfully 

 aware of it ; but why don't our scientific friends 

 do away with them ? We find that there are 

 cases being delivered which plainly show mani- 

 pulation. Now, Sir, if the producer of crude 

 rubber thinks that he can tone up an inferior 

 grade by adding a certain quantity of superior 

 quality, he is woefully mistaken. He is simply 

 spoiling the good with bad. By all means grade 

 the rubber, but first and foremost have an Ai 

 quality which must never vary in any particu- 

 lar, have a uniform shade, a uniform sheet, pan- 

 cake or whatever shape you like, and last but 

 not least, a uniform method of coagulation. 

 Under these conditions we ought, when we buy 

 Ai Plantation, to know just what we are going 

 to get. 



In Canada, wheat, barley, cheese, apples, etc., 

 are inspected by Government officials ; one is 

 liable to very heavy penalties if he ships a 

 quality other than that marked on the case. 

 It would be extremely detrimental to the 

 country at large should our reputation be bad 

 for these products. Should the same not apply 

 to Ceylon rubber ? Yours truly, 



A. D. Thornton. 



The suggested "faking" of the rubber is an 

 accusation which we find it difficult to accept. 

 Our recent experience in the East did not reveal 

 a single case of deliberate adulteration of plant- 

 ation rubber ; on the contrary, every planter 

 appeared to be taking the greatest pains to 

 prepare his rubber in order that it would come 

 second to none in point of quality. If definite 

 proof of adulteration on plantations can be 

 brought forward, we shall be prepared to deal 



with the matter promptly in these columns 



Distinctive differences in the same sheet of 

 rubber are not commonly met with, and we are 

 left to conclude that in this case reference is 

 possibly made to consignments of scrap and 

 bark shavings which may have been worked up 

 into crepe. If sheets or biscuits are referred to, 

 the estate mark on same would be of service. 



Standardisation of Plantation Rubber. 



It is possible that many samples, prepared 

 experimentally by new methods, with the object 

 of improving the finished product, have arrived 

 in a condition which might give rise to suspicion, 

 and the accusation of "faking"; but such lots 

 should be rightly regarded in a different light. 

 It would be a pity, even in the present advanced 

 state, if experiments were discouraged, and 

 current modes of coagulating, curing, drying, 

 etc., became too firmly fixed. The Eastern in- 

 dustry has only just indicated its potentialities, 

 and any experiments having for their object 

 the improvement in quality and keeping proper- 

 ties of plantation rubber should not be discarded. 

 The cry of many parties in Europe is for stand- 

 ardisation, or uniformity, in order that more 

 direct and valuable comparisons can be made of 

 the same product from different estates ; but 

 that achievement is not intended to imply that 

 attempts at improvement are to be for ever 



stopped The value of different tests, the 



method of cutting samples, the limitations con- 

 cerning the use of various substances are all 

 points upon which a diversity of opinion is freely 

 expressed. This subject will be freely dis- 

 cussed at the forthcoming Rubber Exhibition. 

 — India Rubber Journal, Aug. 10, 



COMBINATION OF RUBBER FACTO- 

 RIES IN JAPAN. 



Co-operation with Britain and France. 



The Canadian Department of Trade and Com- 

 merce publishes a report by the Canadian Trade 

 Commissioner at Yokohama to the effect that 

 a representative of a French syndicate is nego- 

 tiating to bring the rubber factories in Japan 

 into co-operation with certain large manufac- 

 turing concerns in Great Britain and France. 

 The intention is to supply the local markets, 

 and eventually secure the export business to 

 Corea, China, India, Siam and the Straits Settle- 

 ments At present, the Commissioner states, 

 there are six companies engaged in the rubber 

 industry in Japan. So far, the quality of rubber 

 goods manufactured by these factories has not 

 been first-class, but, nevertheless, theproductis 

 replacing the imported article. The local product 

 has not altogether met with the approval ofthe 

 public, on account of its weakness and inability 

 to stand wear. One or two of the establish- 

 ments, however, have made changes in basis of 

 the material from which their goods are manu- 

 factured, charging a considerably increased 

 price, and have placed articles on the market 

 quite equal to the best of the kind that have 

 been imported. — Board oj Trade Journal, Aug. 20. 



"PASPALUM OILATATUM " EXPERI- 

 MENTS GIVEN UP IN MAORAS. 



• 



The Board of Revenue, having come to the 

 conclusion that experiments in the cultivation 

 of Paspalum Dilatatum are not likely to yield 

 satisfactory results in this Presidency, has dir- 

 ected that they be abandoned.— M Mail, Sept. 5. 



