and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society— December, 1911. 583 



If one-fourth of the Antwerp stock be de- 

 stroyed by fire or any other catastrophe, any 

 seller who shows that his tenders were thus 

 destroyed may defer delivery for thirty days 

 without paying any penalty. After that delay 

 he may be called upon to deliver. 



All disputes, of whatever nature, will be sub- 

 mitted for arbitration to the Chambre Arbitrale 

 et de Conciliation pour Caoutchouc k 4nvers, 

 and all contracting parties are bound to abide 

 by their award and not to go to law. — H. & C. 

 Mai , Nov. 3. 



THE SMOKE CURE FOR] RUBBER. 



Little is known in Java about the cure of 

 latex by smoking, this being the primitive 

 method adopted nearly a century ago by the 

 Amazon Indians and still survives, in the treat- 

 ment of wild grown Hard Para. Dr. K Goeter, 

 writing to the Sumatra Post, explains the Bra- 

 zilian treatment of the latex, and goes on to 

 say : " It is, however, most noticeable and, ac- 

 cording to the experiences of Trillat and other 

 investigators, that wood smokecontains another 

 substance (besides creosote) having strong 

 conserving properties, namely, formaldehyde, 

 which, dissolved in water, is the formaline or 

 formal of commerce. It was therefore thought 

 probable that this stuff would be found in 

 small quantities in smoked rubber. This was, 

 indeed, found to be so. With the help of 

 various sensitive reactions, I could undoubtedly 

 show the presence of formaldehyde in smoked 

 rubber sheets so that by reason of this result 

 it may be taken that the conserving work 

 of smoke on rubber must at least bo partly 

 attributed to the presence of formaldehyde 

 in the smoke. In the development of smoke, it 

 would be well to bear this in mind, by en- 

 deavouring to get a smoke that is as rich as 

 possible in formaldehyde. Now it has been found 

 that organic substances, for instance, sugar, will, 

 through incomplete combustion, produce more 

 formaldehyde when they are placed in contact 

 with metals. From this we may also conclude 

 that smouldering wood in contact with a metal, 

 such as iron, will give a smoke with a higher 

 percentage of formaldehyde than when that 

 contact with a metal does not exist. The wood 

 must smoulder ; therefore, it must burn with- 

 out flame, and this is only attained by limit- 

 ing the admission of air. if there is too much 

 air, less smoke is obtained and more fuel is 

 used up ; so that it is less economical from 

 two points of view. It might be well also for 

 planters to bear in mind that in smoke a 

 poisonous gas, the well-known carbonicoxida 

 is formed, of which the relative quantity in- 

 creases under the last-named conditions. From 

 a hygienic point of view, the health of the 

 coolies working continually in an atmosphere 

 of smoke should be considered. Whether 

 smoking has a direct influence on the physical 

 properties, for instance, on the elasticity of 

 the product, I should not dare at present to 

 decide. As a fact, it can only be said now 

 that smoked rubber keeps better and is not 

 so liable to mould as unsmoked rubber. As 

 a rule, a higher price is paid for smoked rub- 

 ber on this account." 



COPRA AND VANILLA IN THE 

 SEYCHELLES. 



Administration Report for 1910. 



The export of copra has risen steadily, and 

 with improved methods of cultivation should 

 continue to progress. The export of soap and 

 other products of the coconut palm will only 

 show an increase when there is a considerable 

 fall in the price of copra, but the quantity of 

 nuts collected is steadily advancing. A moderate 

 crop only of vanilla was harvested. Vanilla 

 plantations are being gradually restricted to 

 the higher zones of the mountains owing 

 to successive dry seasons. With the legislation 

 in France and the United States restricting 

 artificial substitutes, there has been a continu- 

 ance of the remunerative prices of the past two 

 years, and as there is a growing reluctance on 

 the part of manufacturers to use the artificial 

 vanillin there seems no reason why vanilla cul- 

 tivation should not continue to form one of the 

 principal industries of the Colony. Iam aware 

 that this opinion is contrary to that of a number 

 of experts." When in England in 1907, I was 

 told by a distinguished man of science, whose 

 researches have been mainly connected with 

 tropical products, that plantation vanilla was in 

 its death throes. In that year the Seychelles 

 crop realised a million rupees , the price rose 

 steadily (apart from a temporary drop in 1908) 

 and good prices have ruled ever since. It is not 

 as if vanilla has to be cultivated at the expense 

 of less capricious products : the orchid will grow 

 and thrive where coconuts and rubber will not. 

 It is true that the yinld fluctuates considerably, 

 but even the famine harvest of 19U9 (11 tons) 

 realised over Rs. 200,OOU, and was third in value 

 in the exports for that year. 



The standard of cultivation is being steadily 

 raisod as is evidenced by the regular increased 

 yield of coconuts. The planting of Para rubber 

 has continued on a more extensive scale owing 

 to the acquisition of a number of estates by a 

 company styled the Seychelles Rubber and 

 Coconut Estates Co., Ltd. This company was 

 floated during the year, and purchased a num- 

 ber of good estates. The price paid for the land 

 was relatively high, but the vendors accepted a 

 large proportion of the purchase price in shares. 

 Under the present energetic management the 

 operations of the company should have a bene- 

 ficial effect on the agricultural progress of the 

 Colony. 



INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA SHARE 

 VALUES. 



Substantial Rise During Last Quarter. 



From the following figures, compiled, as usual, 

 by Mr. George Seton, of the Indian Tea Share 

 Exchange, Winchester House, E.C., it will be 

 seen that the value of the shares of the forty-five 

 representative tea-planting companies selected 

 by him for particular observation, after dip- 

 ping a little during May and June rose steadily 

 during the quarter ended September 30th, 

 and stood at a very high level at the beginning 

 of October. 



