Gums, Resins, 



24 



the Malay Peninsula is being left ungatliered for that reason, as also in many instances 

 for want of experienced labour' for tapping. This loss will in no way be compen- 

 sated for by any superiority in yield in the future of the trees left untapped ; rather 

 the contrary. 



Manufacture. — As in everything connected with the cultivation of the 

 rubber tree there is still much to be learned in the conversion of latex into dry 

 rubber. Much has been done during the last two years in this direction, but there is 

 no doubt that as yet plantation rubber does not attain the standard of strength set 

 by the wild product. This may be entirely accounted for by the youth of the trees ; 

 but, on the other hand, the method of curing may be partially to blame and no 

 way has as yet been found of in any way impregnating the latex with an antiseptic 

 agent to obtain the results attained in the case of the wild Para by the use of the 

 smoke of the manioc nut. 



Drying.— It seems certain that with an atmosphere which, as a rule, so 

 nearly approaches saturation, drying without artificial aid can never be satisfactory 

 — on the other hand, anything much over 110 Fahrenheit must be regarded as 

 dangerous to the rubber— which leaves us very small scope for increasing the 

 moisture-absorbing power of the air by heating it. Drying the rubber by means of 

 Calcium Chloride does not seem a satisfactory solution. What is wanted, it would 

 seem, is some process— both continuous and efficient — of drying the rubber at a 

 moderate temperature. 



Another point, wherein the planters are at a great advantage, is that there 

 is no standard or test for their product which they can apply. The buyers are 

 understood to price the rubber simply by its appearance and feel, and to pay 

 no attention to any test or analysis that may be put before them. If there was 

 some standard of strength or elasticity for the rubber, the planters would 

 have something to which they could work. 



J. F. R. 



Penang, 15th May, 1906. 



THE EXPORTATION AND PACKING OF HEVEA SEEDS. 



Under this heading some notes have been published in the "Journal 

 d'Agriculture Tropieale " by Monsieur Ulysse Bernard. On account of the fine 

 quality of the rubber from Hevea brasiliensis it is not surprising, he remarks, 

 that those countries owning colonies sufficiently hot and moist for the cultiva- 

 tion of the tree have made numerous efforts to take away Brazil's monopoly 

 of the production which that country has held up to the present. 



Two factors, however, prevent the rapid extension of Hevea cultivation 

 in the colonies ; one is the difficulty foreign countries have in procuring Hevea 

 seeds (Brazil having interdicted the export of plants and seeds from the country) ; 

 the other is the ease with which the seeds lose their germinating powers when 

 long distance transport is necessary. 



PROHIBITIVE DUTY ON CEYLON SEED. 



The writer then refers to the suggested prohibitive export duty on rubber 

 seeds in Ceylon and the Malay States, which happily was not carried through, 

 and proceeds : — 



This project is now a dead letter, the Government not approving of the 

 proposition of the planters. We know that the English Government in general 

 has a certain repugnance to such prohibitive taxes which never succeed in 

 preventing the propagation of any cultivation while constituting a very great 

 inconvenience to the commercial transactions of the country. Besides, it seems 



