470 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



left on a clean floor, preferablv of cement, and 

 exposed to the sun in order thivt they may ripen 

 completely and open fully. The fibre and seeds 

 are picked out of the capsules by women and 

 children and dried in the sun for some days. 



The seeds are usually removed from the fibre 

 by beating with sticks, or by means of a simple 

 machine. A special form of gin, resembling a 

 cotton gin, has been recommended for the purpose 

 but it must be remembered that in most eases the 

 kapok is only a subsidiary product, and produced 

 in small quantities, so that the provision of ex- 

 pensive machinery would no the remunerative. 



The kapok is packed in bales by means of hy- 

 draulic or hand presses, but must not be com- 

 pressed too severely, or its resilience will be 

 impaired, and its value consequently dimin- 

 ished. Each bale weighs about 8Ulb. The num- 

 ber of bales exported from Java in recent years is 

 as follows : 1907,92,874; 1908, 109,852; 1909,87,685. 



The value of the total imports of kapok into 

 the United Kingdom amounted to £z3,752 in 

 1908, and to £27,645 in 1909. 



An account of the properties and uses of the 

 fibre has been given in thisBulletin (1905, p. 221.) 



A 3-erman firm has recently discovered a 

 method by means of which kapok can be spun 

 either alone or in admixture with cotton (see 

 this Bulletin, 1911. p. 70). 



The market price of kapok has advanced 

 during the last few months from 7d. to about 

 9d, per lb., and it is therefore possible that 

 the collection and preparation of this fibre for 

 export would prove a remunerative industry in 

 certain British Colonies and Dependencies. 



A GOOD WHIT EWASH. 



All whitewash, especially in the East, is not 

 white, though it is supposed to be. We may 

 leave on one side the lamentable grey and blue 

 washes that, with criminally garish blues for 

 door jambs and windows, seem to delight the 

 primitive soul of the average Ceylonese house 

 builder and decorator. Not only is whitewash 

 not white enough, but it is, as a rule, rough and 

 unpleasingly applied. Moreover, it suffers 

 pitifully in the rain and at the, end of the 

 monsoons assumes varied tints that are only 

 less inartistic and unpleasing than the original 

 outrage. Yet it would be easy to improve it, 

 without having resort to expensive distempers. 

 A little glue, a little care, and the change for 

 the better would be marvellous. But there is 

 a very simple method of improving the tone 

 and quality of ordinary whitewash. It is the 

 use of extract of ordinary cactus. The dis- 

 covery was made in South America, where the 

 common cactus is commoner even than in the 

 tropical East. When travelling through the 

 rural districts of Uruguay, says the American 

 Consul at Monte Video, one's attention is 

 attracted to the fine white colour of the farm 

 buildings, even during the wet season. To 

 obtain this neat effect a whitewash is used 

 which is made with the sliced leaves of the 

 common cactus, macerated in|water for 24 hours, 

 producing a solution of creamy consistency. 

 To this lime is added and well mixed. When 

 applied to any surface, be it wood, brick, iron, or 

 other material, a beautiful pearly white appear- 

 ance is produced which will endure for many 

 years. 



A METHOD OF TAPPING THE CEARA 

 RUBBER TREE. 



The Agricultural, Journal of the Mozambique 

 Company. Vol. I, p. 49, describes a mode of 

 tapping the Ceara rubber tree (Manihot Gtazio- 

 vii), which is known as the Lewa method, as 

 follows : — 



The tree is fit for tapping when the rough and 

 papery outer bark has been removed. If this 

 has not been recently done the surface may con- 

 tain dirt conveyed up the tree by little ants, so 

 it is therefore advisable for the tapper to carry 

 a stiff scrubbing brush, for the purpose of clean- 

 ing the surface. The portion of the tree to be 

 tapped is then painted over with a weak acid 

 solution — acetic, citric, carbolic or fluoric acid. 

 The juice of citrus fruits, such as limes, lemons 

 or oranges, or seeds of the baobab tree soaked 

 in water, will also serve the purpose ; but clean 

 solutions only should be employed, and absolute 

 cleanliness practised throughout. In the por- 

 tion to be tapped, almost point-like incisions 

 should be made, and the latex oozes out and 

 flows down, and coagulates in thin ribbons on 

 the bark. These incisions should be made 4 

 inches apart, as each incision drains the latex 

 from 1 inch to 2 inches in every direction from 

 the wound An ordinary pruning knife is suit- 

 able, but every care must be taken that the inci- 

 sions do not reach the cambium layer ; a very 

 narrow chisel, or a flattened bradawl, will also 

 serve the purpose ; but it is better to use a knife 

 with a guard, to prevent the incisions from be- 

 ing made too deep. If the latex does not coagu- 

 late quickly, the acid solution is not strong 

 enough. In damp weather the acid will be re- 

 quired to be stronger than in cold weather. 

 The requisite strength will soon be found from 

 experience. 



Formerly, when the system was first started in 

 German East Africa, the rubber was rolled off 

 the tree into round balls. It followed, of course 

 that particles of bark and dirt became mixed 

 with the rubber, and the prodtct was conse- 

 quently of poor quality. Latterly, however, this 

 method has been improved upon, and instead of 

 the rubber being relied into a ball, it is now 

 rolled off from the tree on to a small wooden 

 roller in such a way ae to form a sheet when cut 

 from the roller lengthways The latter method 

 is a great advance on the method of collecting in 

 the form of balls, as the tapper can from time to 

 time dip the roller into a pail of water and 

 wash off particles of bark and dirt, and subse- 

 quently put the sheet through a water. 



The tapper should be provided with a rough 

 scrubbing brush, acid and a small hand white- 

 wash brush, for applying the acid, a wooden 

 roller, about 6 inches long by 2£ inches in dia- 

 meter, and a pail or calabash of clean water. In 

 addition to the tapper it is advisable to have a 

 second boy to follow him to collect the rubber, 

 for if too many trees are tapped at a time the 

 rubber from the first trees will not be so easy to 

 roll off. When rolling the ribbons off they should 

 be distributed over the roller as evenly as pos- 

 sible. It is desirable that the sheets should not 

 be too thick, so the rubber should be removed 



