Nov. 1906,] 



361 



Saps and Exudations. 



rubber was worth a good coffin, and that was why he did not like packing it witli 

 a piece of sacking round it, I should like to see some shipped in the way suggested 

 by Mr. Ryan. It would, however, have to be opened and repacked in London. 



Mr. Ryan : — That does not answer my question. The question I asked 

 is, how does rubber now get to London? 



Mr. Devitt :— We get it in cases of from 20 to 400 lb. weight. Most of it 

 comes over in ordinary tea chests. 



THE QUESTION OP SAMPLING. 



Mr. T Villiebs : — Might I ask, having all these different-sized packages, 

 on what principle you draw your samples ? 



Mr, Devitt :— They open them at the wharf and take out a fair average 



sample. 



Mr, Villiers :— If there is a 20 lb. case and a 4 cwt. case, what sample 

 would they take from each ? 



Mr. Devitt :— Generally about the same. We generally get up 2 or 3 lb- 

 of each, but where it is a large lot of say 20 large cases we get 5 or 6 lb. 



Mr. Villiers :— Then there is no fixed principle, as in the case of tea ? 

 Mr. Devitt :— No : it is a fair average sample that is takeu. If the rubber 

 is not manifested in different grades, they are assorted according to quality. 

 Mr. Villiers :— On the wharf ? 



Mr. Devitt : — Yes ; we get up samples of good biscuits and of inferior. They 

 are put in ten cases, say, five cases fine, three cases indifferent, and two of scrap. 

 This is the average sample of the five cases and the other sample is of the three cases 

 indifferent and two of scrap. There is no fixed weight they use. They take a fair 

 average sample at the wharf. 



Mr. Villiers :— Who is in charge of deciding the amount of the sample ? 



Mr. Devitt : — The old experienced men. 



Mr. Villiers : — Prom the brokers or from the merchants ? 



Mr. Devitt:— They are not brokers. It has nothing to do with us. The 

 people at the wharf are responsible. 



Mr. James Ryan : —Well, are you satisfied with the general condition of 

 the packing of rubber in Ceylon, and the way it arrives in London now ? Do 

 Cey Ion packages arrive in good condition ? 



Mr. Devitt :— Yes, as a whole, but we have known cases where a thin veneer 

 Was used and they have come in a broken condition. We have even heard of them 

 being manifested as broken. 



Mr. Ryan :— Then we have a disease— what is your remedy ? 



Mr, Devit :— Not to use these thin cases. (Laughter.) 



Mr. Ryan: — Oh! That is all very well, but that is like telling a person 

 who is sick not to be sick any more. What kind of medicine would you prescribe ? 

 Do you think the ordinary half-inch tea package sufficient, and what form of 

 clamping and nails do you recommend? 



Mr. Devitt recommended the ordinary tea chest with an iron rim round it 

 and one inch to one-and-a-half-inch nails. 



Mr. Ryan :— I take it if you used the ordinary tea chests the weight of 

 rubber would be three times that of the tea chest, especially if it was concentrated 

 in the block form. It contracts on the voyage and is constantly edging in and 

 out, and in spite of that you are wholly satisfied with the condition of the arrival 

 of rubber in London. 



