and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— July, 1911. 



87 



amount in comparison with the amount of 

 rubber that would be put on the market 

 within the next two or three years. Some 

 people had assumed that tho price of rubber 

 must come down considerably in consequence 

 of the increased production. He earnestly 

 hoped it would, because, it was a mistake to 

 imagine that the price of rubber must necessarily 

 interfere with the return on capital and the 

 amount which up to the present day had been 

 won from the immature trees would be enor- 

 mously increased in the near future and the 

 increased yield of the mature trees would more 

 than compensate for the decrease in price. That 

 would bring the rubber industry into an entirely 

 different horizon Manufacturers were only 

 waiting for rubber at a reasonable pi ice to enable 

 them to look forward to limitless expansion of 

 the uses of rubber. When that time came rubber 

 would be a product of the world as wheat. 



The speaker referred to the specimens of 

 rubber pavement which are laid down in various 

 parts of the hall, and said that he had no doubt 

 that the time would soon arrive when the process 

 would be absolutely perfect for the purpose of 

 street paving, and when the time did come a 

 diminution of the nerve strain and brain fag by 

 the cessation of street noises of the present day 

 would bring improved health and comfort to the 

 busy workers of the great cities. 



The Earl of Selborne, who has received with 

 cheers, referred to the representative character 

 of the Exhibition, and its completeness and 

 authority. What great contribution, he said, 

 rubber had givon— and it would be much more 

 so in the future— to the solution of the problems 

 of prosperity of some of those parts of the 

 Empire whose administrative lot had been a 

 struggle, in its financial character for a good 

 many years past. The effect of the rubber in- 

 dustry upon the West Indies and different parts 

 of Africa, not to mention the East, would be 

 enormous, lu the production of rubber there 

 lay the secret of prosperity and financial stab- 

 ility hitherto unknown in the tropical and sub- 

 tropical parts of the Empire. 



Apparently this was the first time in which 

 the tree products of a tropical zone were likely 

 to rival, in adaptation for the purposes of art 

 and manufacture, the tree products of the tem- 

 perate zone. It was curious how long it had 

 taken since the properties of rubber were first 

 known to realise the purposes for which rub- 

 ber might be used. After all, rubber was not 

 an invention of yesterday or ten years ago, 

 but it was only quite recently that the world 

 had come to realise the place rubber was going to 

 take in the arts and manufacturers of the world. 



Prince Henry of the Netherlands, who was 

 accompanied by the Dutch Ambassdor, visited 

 the Exhibition on Tuesday. He was met at 

 the entrance by Sir H. Blake, the president 

 of the exhibition, Mr. Staines Manders, the 

 manager, and the representatives of the Nether- 

 lands. Miss Swart, a daughter of the chairman 

 of the Netherlands Commission, presented the 

 Prince with a bouquet, after which a tour of 

 the exhibition was made, Prince Henry ex- 

 pressing himself as very pleased with every- 

 thing he saw. Prince de Ligne, representing the 

 King of the Belgians, also visited the exhibition. 

 -H. & C. Mail, 



RUBBER PAVING. 



In the " Engineering Supplement of tho 

 London Times of June '23, the following interes- 

 ting editorial paragraph appears : — It is confi- 

 dently predicted by the authorities of the 

 forthcoming International Rubber Exhibition 

 at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, that the 

 paving of a large area of the hall with india- 

 rubber will give a fresh impulse to the pro- 

 posals which have from time to time been 

 made for the use of this substance as a London 

 road material. The arguments in favour of the 

 adoption of rubber for road surfaces are its 

 noiselessness and durability, combined with 

 complete freedom from dust. It is, moreover, 

 very readily cleansed, and being wholly non- 

 absorbent would not require much watering. 

 Everything, however, depends upon the ques- 

 tion of relative economy. It seems almost im- 

 possible to contemplate the use of rubber in 

 this way upon a large scale unless the cost of 

 the raw material should sink permanently to, 

 say, two shillings a pound. Very favourable 

 results are said to have been obtained by tho 

 employment of rubber blocks in roadways ex- 

 posed to the heavy traffic, and the amount of 

 wear after many years has been almost inap- 

 preciable. In fact, these experiments suggest 

 that the material would in the loDg run be 

 cheap as compared with wood paving or as- 

 phalte in consequence of its great relative dura- 

 bility and the absence of costly renewals. A 

 careful and comprehensive test in a City 

 thoroughfare would be of much interest. 



LIBERIAN COFFEE. 



The coffee-plant nourishes and reaches a 

 size in Liberia to be found in no other part 

 of the globe. The berries are larger and richer 

 than those produced in any other country, 

 and when properly cured possess the most 

 delicious aromatic flavour. In Liberia two 

 crops are gathered each year, one during the 

 rains and the other during the dry season. The 

 rains begin in April and May and close in 

 October and November. The chief and most 

 important coffee crop is gathered during the dry 

 season, i.e., in the months of December, January 

 and February. When the coffee is picked the 

 berry is usually crushed in a mill or mortar, 

 and then spread on the ground in the sun in a 

 prepared place until well dried. Every evening 

 the ccffee is removed in order to avoid its get- 

 ting wet from rain or dew. When dried it is 

 beaten in a mortar until all the pulp is entirely 

 separated from the beans. It is finally cleaned 

 by fanning, and some of the planters grade it by 

 removing all broken and undeveloped beans. 

 Liberian coffee is very strong, and is therefore 

 used in Europe to give strength to weaker 

 coffees. As generally prepared, it has a little 

 bitterness in its flavour, and it is therefore 

 often mixed with other coffees to overcome this. 

 — Royal Society of Arts Journal, Jun» 23. 



