592 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



verified, the data on this subject being scant 

 and unreliable, but ray assumption of a produc- 

 tion of 50,000 good seeds per acre is probably 

 near the mark. 



For a cheap-priced article a low rate of 

 freight to Europe is a sine qua lion, and so long 

 as linseed— against which rubber seed would 

 primarily compete— can be shipped from Indian 

 and Argentine ports at freights ranging from 

 10/ to 20/ per ton, our " conference controlled " 

 ports must necessarily be completely out of the 

 running. In the ordinary course Port Swetten- 

 ham, owing to its proximity to a large number 

 of estates, would be the principal shipping port, 

 and, as compared with current rates of freight, 

 it is very unlikely that a cheaper rate than 50/ 

 per ton would be quoted for decorticated rubber 

 seed, measuring 60 c. ft. to the ton. 



Roughly 250,000 seed are required to make 

 up the weight of one ton ; but as the husk, 

 which contains no oil and is of no value, is of 

 equal weight with the kernel, 500,000 seeds 

 will have to be treated to make up one ton of 

 decorticated seed. Assuming that my estimate 

 of 500,000 seeds as the yield of one acre be 

 correct, it follows that 100 acres will yiold 10 

 tons of decorticated seed. 



The average price of linseed in London is 

 about 40/ per quarter of 4101b of say fill per ton 

 ex quay, equal to about £10 c i f. It is claimed 

 that rubber seed oil and cake are equal to the 

 linseed products, but even if this were correct— 

 which, especially as regards the cake, is open 

 to doubt— no crusher is likely to pay the same 

 price for a new article, as he would for such a 

 well-known commodity as linseed. In any case it 

 is quite certain that rubber seed will always be 

 worth at least £ 1 per ton less than linseed. 

 Taking therefore £9 c.i.f. as the probable value 

 of rubber seed, the yield from 100 acres would 

 be £90. Deducting £25 for freight from Port 

 Swettenham to London from the above amount, 

 will leave £65 or $559 as the nett selling price. 

 From this •sum the following charges will have 

 to be deducted : — 



Coal: of picking and carrying to estate Shells 



4 cts. o/o • . . . ■ •$? fl 



Decorticating 20 tons at dols 7 per ton . . 140 

 Gunnies for packing seed for shipment .. 24 

 Packing, weighing, carting to station dols i 



per ton . . .4-0 



Railway freight, say 20 cts per picul .. 31 



Shipping charges, commission, brokerage's,, 



insurance . . . . SO 



Total .. 518 



This would leave the planter a profit of $41, 

 equal to 41 cents per acre, and barely sufficient 

 to pay for supervision. 



It must also be remembered that a large labour 

 force of women and " chokras ; ' would be re- 

 quired for picking and handling the seed, pro- 

 bably not less than 150 for about three months 

 on a thousand acre Estate and these can be far 

 more profitably employed elsewhere.— -Your.etc. 



R. Gr. Palmer. 



Brieh Estate, Perak, Oct. 31st, 1908. 

 —Malay Mail, Nov. 4. 



CEYLON RESULTS. 

 We have authentic figures of a Ceylon experi- 

 ment in extracting oil from Rubber seed. It took 

 750,000 seed to give 8 cwt. of oil, worth about R140 



— a sum which did not, in the planter's and mer- 

 chant's opinion, make the game worth the 

 candle. At a rupee per 1,000 seed, the return 

 would have been five times as much. As it 

 stood, expenses and trouble were not considered 

 to be much more than covered by the R140 

 netted. 



RUBBER PREPARATION. 



SOME CONSIDERATIONS. 



By Mr. John Parkin, M.A. 



The International Rubber Exhibition, re- 

 cently held in London, may be looked upon as 

 marking the close of the first decade of the 

 rubber planting industry. Ten years ago there 

 was practically no plantation rubber on the 

 market. No recognised method of tapping the 

 trees or of preparing the commercial article 

 from the lattx had been introduced. Every- 

 thing was in the initial stage. To one who had 

 a little share in launching this new tropical 

 enterprise on its successful career, the Exhibi- 

 tion came as an agreeable surprise. Enthu 

 siasm was rekindled— so much so that I have 

 had the audacity to take up my pen and write 

 upon some matters affecting the preparation and 

 quality of plantation rubber. It seems fitting 

 at this period to pause and consider how far 

 perfection has been attained in these respects. 



Defect in Plantation Rubber. 

 Having in mind the fine samples of plantation 

 rubber displayed at the Exhibition, it might be 

 thought that planters had weli-nigh reached fin- 

 ality in its preparation. The beautiful-looking 

 pale crepe, clean sheets and biscuits, and trans- 

 lucent blocks seem to the eye all that could be 

 desired. What a contrast to the dark, watery, 

 often dirty and malodorous native-collected rub- 

 ber ! Yet appearances are often deceptive. The 

 quality is not quite so good as might be expected. 

 Though plantation rubber has frequently ob- 

 tained a higher price per lb. than the best Para, 

 yet I believe it to be a fact that the latter, if as 

 pure and free from moisture, would command a 

 better figure in the market, as it possesses 

 tougher qualities. Fine Para, then, has some- 

 what superior properties to the first grade plan- 

 tation r ubber hitherto supplied. To what, it may 

 be asked, is the defect in quality of the latter 

 due ? Does it reside in the latex itself, or is it 

 owing to the method of preparation ? 



Possible Influence of Climatic Conditions. 



Climate may possibly have altered the charac- 

 ter of the latex. For instance, an increase in 

 resin might be caused. A poorer rubber would 

 be the result. Analyses of samples do not, 

 however, favour this idea, though I am not 

 aware that any exhaustive and exact compari- 

 sons between the resin-contents of these two 

 kinds of rubber — native and plantation Para- 

 have been made. 



Age of the Trees. 



The age of the trees is perhaps more likely 

 than climate to affect the composition of the 

 latex. Most of the plantation rubber is as yet ob- 

 tained from trees 6 to 10 years old. Presumably, 

 the native Para is chiefly collected from thicker 

 and so older trees. It would be interesting to 



