Oct. 1, 1900.1 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
259 
To the Editor. 
EXTRACTION OF KUBBER. 
Efcablisseinent d'Hoiticulture, Paris, leSiiie August, 
1900. 
Dear Sir,— The system of extraction of India- 
rubber from the bark is now in full workinj; order. 
Manufacture vvill he established before the end of 
October near Paris, and the Company asks for 
barks from all parts of the world for trial. 
Landolphia Hendelotii has proved till now to be 
the best producer of rubber mechanicaHy ex- 
tracted from the bark, as it is the most suitable 
for dry and sandy soils where no other 
plant will grow, so this plant should be a fortune 
on rich soils ; but, many other plants such as 
Landolphia Kirkii, Vahea Madagascarensis Han- 
cornia and a few Ficns are also good producers 
of rubber from the bark. 
Apocynaeeous plants seem, therefore, better de- 
signed for that purpose, and I believe it will be 
interesting for Ceylon growers to have their atten- 
tion called to plants of this family, snchas Cryptos- 
tegia, Beaurnontii, Chonen)orpha and others. 
Clionemorpha macrophylla is a good producer of 
excellent rubber, but I have never received bark 
from ohl plants ; but only from tender stems a few 
months old. In each sample rubber is found in 
the central part of the stem (moelle), but I believe 
it is the same in many plants when these are 
young. If you cut a stem of Chonemorpiia 
in small pieces three inches long and let the jnilk 
coagulate in the open air, you will find a little piece 
of rubber large enough to repay the extraction 
by this very simple way ; but I do not know if 
Chonemorpha is a quick-growing plant. I have 
only seen small plants in our houses. 
I want bark of any producer of rubber and 
better of any lactiferous plant, for [ have re- 
ceived bark of plants reported had produceis 
which have proved good for oar system of ex- 
tracting the rubber. People say this plant is 
not good, the lubber does not fl<')w; but perhaps 
it is so much the better for our system because 
the rubber coagulated in the bark will be easily 
extracted mechanically. Where the latex flows 
easily in the rainy season, the bark is poor ; where 
the latex does no flow in the dry season, the bark 
is rich : so much I can say actually. 
1 want only one kilo of each sort of bark, taken 
as much as possible on plants of known age. 
Where the stem is too small to permit to bring out 
the bark, kindly send one kilo of these stems; 
and believe nie to be, your most obliged servant, 
A. GODEFROY-LEBEUF. 
ing a circular " Poison in the cup ; Tea in 
lead packets." He makes a hit at cooly labou;- 
and coolies handling Tea,— Yours faithfully 
GEO. T. K. MACKENZIE. 
CEYLON TEA IN NEW ZEALAND. 
Dunedin, 13th Aug. 
Dear Sir,— I send you a Dunedin Star and 
some printed matter. When read, you will see 
the Tea Blenders here wish to kill the trade 
in _ " Pure Tea." Will you kindly criticise 
their action and the reports inserted by i^far's 
Special Reporter as my own and Mr. 
— 's opinions. I may " state Mr. 1 
did a lot of damage three years ago by issu- 
TEA IN PACKETS IN NEW ZEALAND. 
A petition was presented to Parliament today from 
teamerchants, timber merchants, manufacturers tins- 
miths and printers asking that a higher dutv be im- 
posed on teas Imported in packages and boxds than 
upon those imported in balk. The petition states that 
large quantities of teas are imported into New Zea- 
land which have been packed outside the colony in 
packets and that coolie aod other cheap labor is ex- 
clusively employed in preparing the packets and boxes 
ir. which the teas so imported are packed, and also in 
packmg the teas. Tea merchants in New Zealand they 
pav, are placed at a disadvantage as compared with 
foreign tea dealers who can obtain labor for packing 
at nominal rates, and who contribute nothing to the 
Income Tax or the revenue of the colony and do not 
aid in the development of its resources If all teas 
were imported in bulk and packed in New Zealand 
larf<e quantities of timber, paper and other material 
grown and manufactured in the colony would be uti- 
lised m the making of p^ckets.boxes and cases and the 
industry would afford employment to lar-re numbers 
of tinsmiths, carpenters and other artisans, and also 
young people. The petitioners therefore pray that an 
additional duty, say L'd per lb, be imposed on teas im 
ported in packets and boxes weighing less than 
On the subject of the petition asking Parliament to 
place a higher duty on tea imported in packages and 
boxes thRu upon those imported in bulk we hav-e inter- 
viewed Mr George M'Kenzie. of the Hondai-Lanka 
Tea Company, and he condemns the petition root and 
branch saying : " 
_ The Ceylon people are the only ones who put up tea 
in leaa packets. These teas guaranteed pure are sent 
to all parts of the world. The effectiveness of th« 
guarantee cannot be questioned. All the packets t>ut 
up in Ceylon o,re sealed lead packeEs. That 
sealing cannot be done here. The work it so 
fine that the ordinary plumber cannot do it 
it was tried in London and failed. The lead packeta 
put up here are not sealed. A blender can so blend 
as to get any proht he chooses, whereas the dealer 
who supplies lead teas does not interfere with the 
packets— he sells them as he gets them A) whn 
import pure tea from Ceylon get about Id ve7\h 
less profit If sold in sealed lead packets, because the 
sealed tea packet costs IJd. and to put up the sam« 
tea in paper costs only xd per lb. TheUroe ^0 
portion of tea sold as pure Ceylon is ge'nerallv 
made up of cheap Chinese. Fiji, or Java tfa, which 
can be bought at a much lower price. It s well 
known that many thousands of chests of Chinese 
tea were Destroyed on the wharf by the Customs 
about four years ago. It was not allowed to bo 
handed at Melbourne, and then was condemned in 
Dunedin.^ Fifteen thousand chests of the same con 
demned in New ^ork last year, were sent to Canada 
and from there to England, and the owners could 
no get It in P-nywhere on account of its adulteration. 
I think It would be unwise to facilitate the put ng- 
up of teas inNdw Zealand. You con hnv o/A- ^ 
and dustr for 2d per lb landed le^re, his" '?h': 
material used for adulteration purposes. If there 
were no lead packets the business would be entirely 
m the hands of two or three people, who cou d 
give any value they chose. The"^ presence of the 
packet teas m the market compels the putters-np tn 
maintain the standard. Some of tho.e who WcL 
asked have refused to sign the petition, and some 
m the trade were not asked. I understand that 
only two or hree Dunedin merchants signed it A.I 
for the so-called encouragement of laboSr, two boy« 
would put up m packets all the tea imported monthly 
in lead; one printer would turn out 5,000 or 6,0g 
