and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



Kil 



The 1907-8 iigures are up to end of March. 

 From April to October exports amount to 

 18,04-2 lb. ; 19,712 lb. ; 9,184 lb. ; 1-2,880 lb. ; 

 1-2,656 lb. ; 1,680 lb. ; and 112 1b. respectively. 

 All the rubber exported from Burma is wild 

 rubber. A few plantations are being worked in 

 the vicinity of Shwegyin and Tavoy, but are 

 not yet in bearing. 



NOTES ON RUBBER PRODUCTION. 



A South American's Views. 



The following, by a South American planter 

 in a financial contemporary, will be of interest: — 



The amount of absolute inaccuracy written 

 and published with regard to rubber production 

 in South America and the Mid- East demands 

 some serious notice. First, as to the Amazon, 

 writer after writer states that if the price of 

 rubber falls to 2s 6d per pound the collection of 

 wild rubber will cease. For some forty or fifty 

 years the price of " Para hard ,; rubber was 

 about 2s per pound in the market. 1 am at the 

 present time collecting many thousands of 

 pounds of wild Hevea rubber at a cost of Is 6d 

 per pound, Is of which is paid in trade, at a 

 considerable profit. The trouble in Brazil with 

 regard to prices is not the cost of collection, 

 which can easily meet the Mid- East competi- 

 tion, for the simple reason that one good 

 Amazon tree will yield as much latex as six 

 good Mid-East trees. The trouble is not there, 

 but in the habits of the Brazilian of annexing, 

 under the head of charges— export duties, legal 

 and otherwise— every penny of the value of the 

 rubber. I doubt if the Brazilian Government 

 is in a position to abate a single penny of taxes 

 and duties. As to the Mid-East— I write in no 

 hostile sense, but when the rubber experts talk 

 glibly of 10,000, 20,000, and 30,000 tons of rubber 

 per annum from the Mid-East, they are simply 

 indulging in idle dreams. Not in our day, nor in 

 half-a-contury, will the Mid-East produce 30,000 

 tons of rubber. Some 4,(100,000 to 5,000,000 

 trees are being now tapped in the Mid-East for 

 a production of about 3,000,000 lb. The pro- 

 duction, therefore, is considerably under 1 lb. 

 per tree. Assuming that they were to collect 

 from 20,000,000 trees — which will be many years 

 hence— it is only then a bagatelle of less than 

 10,000 tons. At present the output is under 

 2,000 tons, out of over 70,000 tons of rubber. 

 Again, there are not wanting evidences of the 

 difficulties attending new-fangled ideas as to 

 growing rubber. Drain and dry your land, as is 

 being done in the Mid-East, and you will invite 

 the attention of various species of the ant and 

 dozens of other enemies of the rubber trees. 

 The homo of the. rubber tree is low, swampy 

 land, where, preferably, the land is submerged 

 for a portion of the year, and is always damp 

 enough to prevent the underground burrowing 

 of its enemies. Many of the best-posted Amazon 

 experts treat with profound distrust the idea 

 that you can gro w Hevea on drained and dry 

 ground and not diminish the production of 

 Jatex and increase the percentage of resin— and 

 also lose hundreds of thousands of trees by the 

 attacks of enemies,.— L. <Sc C. Express, Dec. 11. 



RUBBER AS FOUNDATIONS FOR 

 MACHINERY. 



The principle underlying the system of rubber 

 foundations for heavy machinery is the same aa 

 that which explains the adhesion of two abso- 

 lutely even glass plates that have been pressed 

 together, namely the air pressure acting with a 

 force of about 14 lb. to the square inch; the 

 force of such adhesion may further be increased 

 by inserting some fluid or gelatinous substance 

 between the surfaces. In erecting machines 

 upon rubber foundations the rubber sheeting 

 acts to a certain degree as a compensating 

 medium to the small unavoidable inequalities on 

 the foot of the machine and on the bed; by the 

 weight of the machine the air between the bed 

 and the rubber sheeting on the one hand, and 

 the sheeting and the machine foot on the other, 

 is expelled and all throe are immovably con- 

 nected. In many cases, where the foot of the 

 machine is hollow, the air is partially exhausted 

 by pumping, in place of its complete removal. 

 The practical utility of this theory has been 

 shown by Baron von Rugen, the 



INVENTOR. OF THE "VACUUM FOUNDATION," 



who has successfully installed small and large 

 machines with the help of his system without 

 any other necessary connections. Further, 

 large power machines have been successfully 

 mounted in this way; for example, a Borsig 

 steam engine of 45 to 60 h.p. stood rigid without 

 vibration, and, when brought to a standstill by 

 the application of brakes, it was found that it 

 had not moved from its position. In Germany, 

 Switzerland, and Russia, heavy and light machi- 

 nery erected on these rubber foundations is 

 giving great satisfaction. Borsig and Krupp 

 machines are tested thereon. It is hardly 

 necessary to enumerate further the 



ADVANTAGES OF THE SYSTEM ; 



there being no need for sunk foundations a 

 great monetary saving is effected and the fitting 

 up of machines is made incomparably quicker. 

 There is no injury to the Hoor of the factory, 

 vibration being reduced to a minimum, which 

 tends also to the good condition of the 

 machinery and buildings and to the welfare 

 of the workmen. The legal aspects are also 

 interesting : since machines set up on the 

 " von Etugen " vacuum foundation are not fixed 

 to the buildings, they in no way form a part 

 thereof. For the introduction of the invention, 

 says the Guinmi-Zeitung, 



A COMl'ANY HAS BEEN FORMED, 



the " Von Rugcnische Vacuum Fundament- 

 Virtriebs Gesollschaft m.b. H.," Berlin, Pots- 

 damerstr. 134. The use of the sheeting is pro- 

 tected by patent, and, as is the case with a 

 series of pharmaceutical and technical prepara- 

 tions, tha buyer acquires the right to employ 

 this principle of foundations by the purchase 

 of rubber sheeting bearing the stamp " Rugen- 

 Fundament." The license for the use of tho 

 system is also only obtainable by the purchase 

 of the sheeting and belongs to its possessor — 

 Malay Mail, Dec. 10. 



