and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society 



595 



groove, they may find their article commanding 

 a less price in the future than that obtained by 

 the up-to-date producers. Once the rubber from 

 an estate becomes branded as inferior, it will be 

 difficult for it to gain the respect of the market 

 even when its quality is improved. 



Estates, however, in these matters of rubber 

 preparation should endeavour to move forward 

 as much as possible in conjunction, so that a 

 rubber as uniform as possible in quality and 

 shape may be placed on the home market. Uni- 

 formity combined with first-rate quality and 

 purity should be the aim. 



[We welcome this contribution from Mr. John. 

 Parkin, m.a., who ten years ago, in Ceylon, con- 

 ducted some valuable experiments in con- 

 nection with tapping Hevea trees and coagula- 

 tion of various latices. Mr. Parkin was one of 

 the first to note the wound response in Hevea ; 

 his results largely influenced the methods 

 adopted in the East, and our only regret is that 

 he could not be prevailed upon to return to 

 Ceylon and continue his useful work.] — India 

 Rubber Journal, Nov. 2. 



NOTES ON JAVA. 



A RECENT TOUR BY OUR " SENIOR." 



The following is the continuation of some 

 Wayside Notes on a Trip through Java made by 

 our Senior. 



Something has to be said of our railway jour- 

 ney from Soekaboemi — a lovely mountain town, 

 2,000 feet up— to Maos almost on sea-level close 

 to the Indian Ocean, and on the South-western 

 side of one of the narrowest portions of the 

 singularly long but comparatively very narrow 

 slip of an island that Java is. While double the 

 area of Ceylon and much more than double in 

 extreme length (over 600 miles) Java is at some 

 points not more than 40 miles in breadth. The 

 railway from Batavia via Buitenzorg and on by 

 Soekaboemi to Bandoeng passes through some 

 of the finest mountain scenery in the island. 

 The line never rises much above 3,000 feet ; but 

 there are ' smoking' or dormant 

 Volcanoes 



within ken all the way, and while some of these 

 close by do not exceed Pidurutalagala's 8,000 

 feet,— -farther away, we have many rising far 

 above our highest in Ceylon, to 10,000 and 

 12,000 feet above sea-level and marked by all 

 that attractive outline peculiar to volcanic 

 ranges. The smoking or active craters are 

 supposed to be a safeguard against sudden 

 eruptions, as enabling so much gas, &c, to 

 escape. But one cannot forget "Rrakatoa"to 

 the North of Java, with its terrible consequences, 

 crowned by the loss of 35,000 lives at the least ; 

 nor an eruption in Java itself so recent as 1901 

 which cost nearly 200 lives. A considerable 

 tunnel separates the plains or valleys of 

 "Soekaboemi" ("desire of the world"!) and 

 Tjiandioer, noted for its far-extending luxuriant 

 rice-fields, cultivated with a care as regards 

 seed, transplanting, &c, quite unknown in 

 Ceylon, From this point, there is an interesting 



excursion to Sindanglaya, where there is a hill- 

 residence of the Governor-General, Gardens and 

 other attractions ; but we do not leave our 

 railway carriage and note on the main line as 

 we continue some 



Wonderful Sceneky 



in hills, rivers, waterfalls and ravines crossed 

 by viaducts, and altogether this mountain 

 railroad is a credit to its Engineers. From 

 summit level and minor stations we now descend 

 to the plateau at Bandoeng 2,350 feet above 

 sea-level. This plateau is surrounded by most 

 picturesque mountain peaks and ranges rising 

 from 5 to 8,000 feet. In one direction, "the 

 live-topped mighty Malabar mountains (summit, 

 7,650 feet)" are pointed out, chiefly interesting, 

 because here lies — also on an upland plateau — 

 the far-famed 



Malabar Tea Plantation 

 which gives the heaviest crops per acre of any 

 tea plantation in the world, and the produce of 

 which secures wonderfully good prices in the 

 London market. I ought to have noted earlier, 

 about passing on horseback through a succession 

 of long-established prosperous tea gardens, as 

 well managed now, with up-to-date machinery, 

 and with as good tea as many in the higher 

 districts of Ceylon. 



" Bandoeng " 

 is a considerable town, the capital of the Fre- 

 anger Regencies, with broad streets and many 

 comfortable villas ; a great training school for 

 Javanese teachers ; while here in July, there is 

 a great gathering from far and near for the 

 annual races, where Englishmen are, of course, 

 well to the front, and specially, as represented 

 by public-spirited Mr. Bingley and his ponies, 

 and where every one says the great crowds of 

 neatly-attired merry-making natives are always 

 as extremely well-behaved as they are attractive. 

 There is something very interesting about the 

 Javanese: their features and appearance are 

 far more of the Hindu and Aryan, than of the 

 Malay, type ; but unquestionably the substi- 

 tution of Mohammedanism for idolatry has 

 strengthened their character and made them 

 as a race more self-dependent and industrious, 

 than are Hindus or Sinhalese as a rule. Such 

 is our thought from our reading, as well as from 

 some, though very limited, observation. At 

 Bandoeng, Mr. Tomlinson happened to join our 

 train, and was full of information as to our 

 surroundings, Malabar and other tea districts. 

 We had previously learned much from 

 Dutch Fellow-Teavellebs 

 — sugar, tea and coffee planters ; and now a 

 fine handsome Austrian busily engaged with 

 coconuts and rubber, in a southern division, 

 introduced himself and was full of interesting 

 talk. ' Where had he learned about systematic 

 coconut planting on a big scale'?' ' Oh, from the 

 Ceylon Coconut Manual'; and so for Rubber, 

 he had got a copy of one of the early editions 

 of " Ferguson's All About Rubber," going back 

 to the 'eighties.' It was very amusing to note 

 his interest when he discovered that he was 

 talking to the responsible Compiler himself! 

 and it was very difficult to decline his pressing- 

 hospitality as that of many other planters. 



