Miscellaneous, 



354 



[October, 1909, 



shaped implement of pliable hoop- 

 iron is used, which much facilitates 

 the work. The central line is first cut 

 and then the oblique ones commencing 

 from the top downwards, 



A special marking knife is usually used 

 for these lines though the ordinary 

 tapping knife is employed by some. 



Great care is taken not to expose the 

 "Cambium Layer " which would result 

 in serious injury to the tree. A tin 

 spout is pressed into the bark at the 

 base of the perpendicular cut, and a cup 

 to hold the latex is placed on the ground 

 or suspended f rom the tree under the 

 tin spout. 



A little ammonia is placed in the cup 

 to prevent coagulation of the latex, and 

 the tapping knives are also occasionally 

 smeared with ammonia to keep them 

 clean and workable. After the cuts 

 have been made to the required depth a 

 revolving " pricker " is pressed into the 

 cambium for the whole length of the 

 cuts, and immediately the latex ooses 

 out and trickles down the sectional cuts 

 into the perpendicular channel, and 

 thence by means of the spout is conveyed 

 to the cup. 



Subsequent tapping operations consist 

 of removing a thin slice of the bark side- 

 ways so as to expose a new surface, when 

 by the use of the picker the latex is again 

 induced to flow. Except during the dry 

 months each tree is tapped daily. Usu- 

 ally eight to ten months are needed to 

 complete the tapping of each half of the 

 trees and then the other half is similarly 

 treated. 



Under judicious tapping new bark 

 soon forms so that the surface originally 

 tapped can be again dealt with. 



Coagulation op Para Latex — The 

 latex is strained through pieces of muslin 

 to remove impurities and then emptied 

 into shallow enamelled trays. Three 

 times as much water is added to the 

 latex— water three parts, latex 1 part— 

 and to the whole acetic acid is added 

 and mixed together. At Henaratgoda 

 it was understood that pure commercial 

 acetic acid is diluted with water to 10 % 

 of its original strength, and 33 c.e. of 

 diluted acid is used to 100 e.c. of latex. 

 Coagulation is completed in from 6 to 12 

 hours from the application of the acid, 

 but by using a stronger solution the 

 process is hastened. 



Preparation of Para Rubber Bis- 

 cuits. — After coagulation the plastic 

 rubber, which has assumed the shape of 

 the tray, is placed on a damp board 

 or table and rolled out with an ordinary 

 rolling pin, care being taken to keep the 

 biscuit as round as possible. 



About 200 c.c. of raw latex make one 

 biscuit, and at Henaratgoda about eight 

 of such biscuits go to the pound of dry 

 rubber. After rolling, the wet biscuits 

 are placed on cloth-covered slanting 

 frames to partially dry under cover, 

 after which drying is completed by 

 hanging them ou bamboo rods in the 

 dry houses. The latex from the older 

 trees is said to give clearer rubber than 

 that from young trees. 



Early morning is the best time for 

 tapping, and one man can tap about sixty 

 separate trees, from which % to f lb. of 

 latex is obtained. 



Para Rubber in East Africa.— Ex- 

 cept in hot, wet, humid districts such 

 as those adjoiniug the Ramisi, Mwachi 

 and other rivers in the coast belt, there 

 is little prospect of Para rubber succeed- 

 ing in East Africa ; and even in the 

 districts named there is, as yet, no data 

 to guide planters. 



At Kusitawi on the Mwachi river a 

 young plantation of Para rubber has 

 been recently planted, but the growth 

 of the trees is not as satisfactory as was 

 hoped for- 



(To be continued,) 



A SQUARE DEAL FOR THE SOIL. 



(From the Louisiana Planter and Sugar 



Manufacturer, Vol. XLIL, No. 10, 

 March 10, 1909.) 



What is the biggest business problem 

 this nation is facing to-day? One man 

 will speak up quickly and say : " The 

 question of ,an elastic currency, of 

 course:" his neighbour will declare that 

 the attitude of the administation toward 

 corporations overtops everything else in 

 importance to the people of this country. 

 A little later we are likely to be told 

 that the readjustment of the tariff is the 

 overshadowing question. 



But all the time a problem bigger than 

 any of these is being overlooked by the 

 politicians of all parties, by the press of 

 the entire country, by the political 

 economists and by most of the people 

 themselves. Only a few men recognize 

 the existence and the bigness of this 

 question, and they are of the kind that 

 make very little noise in the world. 

 However, if they are not listened to and 

 their words taken to heart by the men 

 who make up the greatest industrial 

 class in the United States, we, as a 

 nation, will suddenly wake up to the 

 fact that we have been committing in- 

 dustrial suicide. 



The reckless and wholesale depletion of 

 the fertility of the soil, in this good land 

 of ours, is beyond all question the 



