Gums, Renins. 



272 



in the right direction. Early in his visit to Ceylon, Mr. Devitt wrote to London 

 strongly recommending this; his letter resulted in Mr. Devitt, snr., calling together 

 a meeting in London of the rubber trade and proposing the abolition of the draft 

 allowances and the 2| per cent discount. The meeting agreed to reduce the draft 

 allowance (as stated), but refused to do away altogether with the discount. We 

 understand that on his return home Mi'. Devitt will do all iu his power to further 

 reduce the charges. 



The Future of the Plantation Industry.— Mr. Devitt is even more 

 optimistic of the future of the plantation industry than he was before his visit to 

 Ceylon. Plantation rubber will hold its own, he says, and compete successfully with 

 any rubber produced in any part of the world. Even if lower prices are reached the 

 uses will extend— " the lower the price, the more rubber wanted," he says ; and the 

 uses to which it can be put are absolutely unlimited. The trade can take a yearly 

 increase of 2,000 tons for many years yet. 



Higher Prices in June and July. — The latest information from home 

 regarding the rubber industry received by Mr. Devitt is that rather higher 

 prices are looked for during June and July. A tip to planters ready to ship 

 consignments ! 



Mr. Devitt does not think rubber will long continue to be marketed as it is 

 now, but machinery has yet to be produced to deal with it properly and in large 

 quantities. He would like to see it produced in a long continous sheet. As regards 

 scrap, he says planters should wash their scrap in the washing machine and send it 

 home as crepe, as this would pay them well. 



THE FUTURE CURING OF CEYLON RUBBER. 



Our attention has been called to some lots of biscuits apparently well 

 cured arriving here in a heated and sticky condition, and the query has been 

 ventured as to whether the present mode of curing and the biscuit forms are the 

 best, and if rubber so prepared will keep for any length of time without deteriorat- 

 ing ; and further, whether plantation prepared is as strong as it might be made 

 by other modes of curing. 



In vieAV of the increase of this rubber, we think it is of the greatest possible 

 importance to planters that at this stage the comparative value and merits of 

 plantation rubber as against smoke-cured fine Para, should be ascertained and 

 thoroughly threshed out. The reasons, it will be seen, are vital, and our object, 

 in addressing the planters through your medium, is to impress upon them the 

 necessity of doing everything possible to establish plantation-grown rubber on 

 a sound basis as a competitor of Amazon-grown smoke-cured, which, of course, 

 is still the standard and has a record of 50 years and has maintained its character 

 as the "best" up to this day, viz., for elasticity, strength, and durability for 

 general purposes. 



Firstly.— It is essential that plantation rubber should be so prepared and 

 cured that it can be used for all sorts of purposes by manufacturers. At present 

 as far as we can ascertain, it is only vised for solution and small special purposes 

 and is not strong enough or suitable for waterproofing or tyres and many other 

 purposes that fine Para is used for. 



Secondly.— We have from time to time drawn attention to cases arriving 

 here with the biscuits all sticking together and in some cases actually more or less 

 in a congealed state of heat which never occurs in fine Para. We have hitherto 

 attributed this to want of proper curing and drying, but after consulting a gentle- 



