THE TEOPICAL 
AGRICULTUBIST. [Jan. 1, 1901. 
loss OF WEIGHT BY INTERMIXTURE OF FOREIGN 
MATTERS, &C. 
9. Considering the figures relating to loss of 
weight, owing to cleaning and drying, as a whole, 
it wouhl appear that, on the raw material as 
first collected, this los^ came to aljoufc 5^- per 
cent— a proportion which compares favourably wiih 
the results of the previous year, when thij form 
of wastage amounted to as much as 9 per cent, 
and which proves that some factor was present 
in die season's operations which tended to raise 
the quality of the raw outturn obtained, 
DIRECTION IN WHICil CUTS SHOULD BE MADE. 
10. The cuts were made horizontal or only 
slightly oblique, it being noticed that the wounds 
bled in proportion to their horizontal direction, 
and that any considerable deviation from this 
direction resulted in a slower and reduced iiow 
of rubber. Experiments on untapped trees 
were made personally by the Conservator with 
the view of testing this point, arrow-shaped 
(the Brazilian method), oblique, as well 
, as horizontal cuts being made, when it 
was very apparent that tiie latex liowed far 
more freely from the last kind than from either 
of the other?. 'No examination of the bark or 
bast has yet been made to test the cause of this 
observed fact, which is not in agreement, it is 
believed, with experiments made elsewhere on 
rubber-yielding trees and plants of other species.* 
But an enquiry v.i\\ be instituted with the help 
of Dr. Watts, the Government Economic Reporter 
and the Director of the Forest School, with the 
view of obtaining information on tiie point. In 
the meantime, it seems safe to hazard the opinion 
that the rubber cells must be placed in mr)re 
or less vertical rows, and that, in fact, in ar- 
rangement they resemble somewhat an arterial 
system, when it will be readily understood why 
a horizontal cut must be much more effective in 
tapping their contents than a vertical or oblique 
cut of equal length. 
RUBBER RESIDUUM AND WASTAGE DISCUSSED. 
11. — Another point was tested at the same 
time by the Conservator, which perhaps helped 
to create the opinion that the tapping operations, 
as performed in 1898-99, were of an unnecessarily 
careless or wasteful nature. Allusion is here 
made to the fact that, when the rubber is 
stripped from the cuts, a miltcy, and 
sometimes copious, residuum runs out of the 
wounds down the tree, and as no arrangement is 
made to collect this overflow, the impression may 
have been carried away that it represented wast- 
age. But tiie Conservator was able to prove to 
his satisfaction that this residuum, which closely 
resembles rubber-inilk in appearance, contains no 
caoutchouc, and is capable of being practically 
absorbed by blotting paper or of being evaporated 
in the sun. In fact, it consists practically of little 
else than water and contributes no appi eciable pro- 
portion of the true wastage, which seems to be 
wholly represented by that poi tion of the latex 
* Vide Indian Forester, XXVI., page 317. 
which spurts out of the wound during the actual 
process of capping and ovei flows on to the trunk 
or branches of the tree, or is spri,:kled or drips on 
to leaviis or undergrowth at its b.-tse. But all this 
apparent wa-ingeiseareruUy col eciedand cleaned, 
and although it sells at a greatly reduced rate in 
the London maiket, the proportion it represents 
to the quantity of clean, good material collected is 
not of any great importance. This last season, 
this particular kind of rnbl)er amounted to 128 
lb. wr-i-ht one of atotal 4,0 2 lb. of clean mate- 
rial obtained, or ratlier less tlian 4 per cent ; and 
it was sold .separately in London at Is lOd in- 
stead ot 3s 7d ]ier lb, which is equivalent to a 
gross loss (excluding charges) of H165 on a pos- 
sible K10,844, or about i^jiercent. 
Financial Results on Rubber sold in Lon- 
don. 12.— The financial results of the operation 
were decidedly, satisfactory as will be seen fiom the 
following figures : — 
£ R. d 
4,323 lb. of clean rubber (rednced in London 
to 4,280 lb.) were Bold at 3s 7d per lb. 766 16 8 
128 lb. of ground rubber (reduced in London 
to 122 lb.) v/ere sold in London at Is lOd 
per lb. 11 3 8 
Add— Interest, 7 days on £201-5-0 0 3 10 
Total receipts 778 4 2 
Deduct— London charges, including freight 
from Calcutta 59 17 n 
718 6 1 
_ , . Rs. a. p. 
Equivalent at exchange of day 10,732 12 3 
Deduct — Calcutta charges 52 15 9 
^ , „ 10,679 12 6 
Deduct —For plantation charges, tapping, 
cleaning, packing, freight to Calcutta, 
etc. 3.839 2 0 
Net profit 6,840 10 6 
A net profit, therefore, after deducting all 
charges, of R6,840 10-G was realised on the 4,451, 
lb. of good and inferior rubber despatched to 
Ensjland from the Plantation, which is equivalent 
to R122-15 3 per maund of 801b. or Re 1-8-7 per 
pound as compared with Re 1-2-3 per pound re- 
alised last year. 
Other RuBBEE. 13.— Besi<Ies the above rubber 
sent to England for sale, a balance of 51 lb. -w as 
disposed of in the following manner, which will 
make up the total 4,5ii2 ib, obtained from the 
season's tapping operations— see paragraph 2— 
Sent to^Reporter on Economic Products, 
Calcutta . . . . 10 
Do Agricultuial Chemist, Dehra Dun 2 
Do Curator, Government Garden, 
Nilgiris .. .. i 
Do Ranger Venkatramana, Forest ' 
DepRrtmenr, Madras . . 1 
Sold locally for R51-8-0 . . 35J 
Kept as sample in stock 2 
51 
Tapping Charges and Broker's* Report on 
Quality of Rubber. 14.— Full details of all 
figures discussed above wiil be found in State- 
ment A attached to this report, and in this con- 
nection it only seems nece.=isary to draw attention 
to two more point's, viz., the reduced exi)e!;ditni e 
effected on tapping operations and tlie favouiable 
report of the London Broker on the quality of th? 
