88 THE TK0PICAL AGRICULTUEIST. [Aug. 1, 1902. 
SOME NOTES ON RUBBER GROWING. 
SOME VALUABLE POINTS. 
The following notes are written by a gentleman at 
present in the island who from his long experience in 
the handling of rubber in all its forms is entitled to 
be considered somewhat of an authority upon the 
subject : — 
The continued increase in the price of the raw India 
rubber has naturally turned the attention of both 
planters and manuf^ioturers to the exlention of our 
existing rubber supplies. The ever-increasing demand 
for the manufactured article, its ever- widening field of 
application, the new and great demand not only for 
rubber tyres, but also for road vehicles, and the thou- 
sand and one applications of the manufactured mate- 
rial foi' mechanical purposes, had all so increased the 
deraaud for the raw gum, that the world's supply 
barely met the necessities of the demand, 
consequently the cost of the raw material had 
advanced to famine prices. Para, the standard bro.nds 
had advanced from its normal price, viz., 3s. per lb. to 
4s. Sd., an increase that left the manufacturer poor 
indeed, and the producer rich beyond all telling. This 
increased demand not only then, but also now, pro- 
mises to be permanent and to expand still more, 
rubber cab and cycle tyres have come to stay ; the 
advent of the motor car has also added to the demand. 
The climatic conditions of Ceylon, its temperature, its 
heavy rainfall, the character of its soil, all pointed to 
this island as being an extremely good, if not an ideal, 
rubber-producing country, the plantations both at 
Henaratgoda and jEdangoda, where the Hevea Brazi- 
liensis so successfully flourishes, proved that the merely 
experimental stagi had been safely passed ; a loamy 
soil, wiih a heavy rainfall, a country not too liable to 
flooding, plenty of moisture in the atmosphere not too 
much around the roots, at any elevation up to 1,500 ft., 
had already proved to yield satisfactory results. Cheap 
and plentiful labour held out a reasonable prospect of 
many coolies becoming fairly intelligent in rubber col- 
lection, if properly trained. In brief, the promise of 
Ceylon as a rubber-producing country to the visitor 
versed in rubber culture was distinctly favourable, per- 
haps this opinion was influenced and biased by the 
lovely climate, by the good nati^re of the people, and, 
perhaps too, by the beauty of the natural scenery. 
THE FINEST EUBBER. 
Far and away the finest rubber is derived from the 
Hevea Braziliensis, it is hardly worth while now to ex- 
periment with any other variety, the same care and 
attention given to the Hevea will produce a far better 
gam, atrougi-r in ribre and possessing a much higher 
breaking strain than any other, and for this reason it 
will command higher prices than the products of either 
the Syphonica or Oeara. The seeds of trees now in the 
island are derived from plants sent hither from Kew in 
1876, and although these still produce excellent results 
it is certainly worth the experiment to introduce afresh 
stock direct from Manaos on the Amazon, the native 
hMU'.- and habitat of the true Hev?.. Braziliensis. Reli- 
able agents there aro of opinion that the seeds can be 
safely sent to Ceylon if in proper and specially made 
germinating cases, and if this experiment proved suc- 
cessful Ceylon would be in possession of a new stock, 
the development of which it would be interesting to 
note side by side with the existing growth. The grow- 
ing requires but little care. Eou«h weeding is quite 
sufficient. Upon tlie tapping of the trees at say eight 
to ten years old, and subsequent curing of the milk 
the success of the crop abaolufcoly and solely 
depeuds, and upon this first crop also depends the 
reputation and future prosperity of the estate from 
which it is exported. A new brand placed upoc» the 
market immediately attracts the attention of the 
manufacturer. He is quick to secure a portion, and 
test a new rubbfir to discover if porchauce there be 
" any good Ihing " in it. Happy is the new rubber 
which has no history. It is received eagerly, put upon 
its trial with every wish to m .ke the best of it, If this 
test is satisfactory future success promises well, if 
unaatisfaotory the shadow of suspicion and the cool- 
ness of neglect will for a time at least bang over 
that estate. To secure a good result from the first 
collection, it would be advisable to import two or three 
experienced collectors from the Amazon— not a costly 
enterprise ; and where several planters are interested 
and prepared to combine, the expenses may be shared, 
and the more intelligent of the coolies on the interested 
estates duly instructed in their work. This policy was 
adopted by the Belgian Government on the higher 
reaches of the Congo, and here these Amazon experts 
succeeded in extracting from the African indigenous 
Hevea, by careful extraction and curing, a rubber 
called Ruki (after an adjacent village), which is 
actually better than Para itself, with a lower pecentage 
of rubber resins, and a lower percentage of foreign 
matter, thus offering a higher tensile straiu. Natur- 
ally, this secured a better price in the European 
markets than Para itself, and is in great demand. 
This care, of course, is the ambition and goal of every 
grower. The same course was adopted by theLiberian 
Government in reference to the rubber trees near 
iVIonrovia, and at first it exported some excellent 
samples, truely capable of improvement ; but, upon the 
departure of the rubber experts, the native Krew boys, 
either from want of care, or pure and simple laziness, 
abf.ndoned due care, and consequently, Liberiau 
rubbers are to-day more or less under a cloud in the 
market. The first and greatest care necessary and 
even imperative, 
IS ABSOLUTE CLEANLINESS IN THE EXTRACTION 
of the milk; the bark of the tree to be tapped should be 
carefully cleansed, the knife to be used carefally 
cleaned, the V shaped cuts and perpendicular central 
channel all should be perfectly clean before the milk is 
allowed to run, the collecting cups and milk can also 
need attention in this respect. The necessity of this 
seemingly excessive care is clear, in view of the fact 
that oftentimes the smallest particle of grit present 
may cause endless trouble to the manufacturer, depre- 
ciating or destroying the quality of his work. The 
manufacturer, to start with, must have his raw rubber 
perfectly pure. To this end the imported gum is first 
of all heated, then torn and rolled between friction 
rollers, under a stream of water to remove the foreign 
matter that may have been introduced through the 
carelessness of the collector. This constant tearing and 
rolling necessarily reduces the original strength of the 
gum, the greater the proportion of foreign matter to be 
removed, the greater the percentage of the loss of 
tenacity of the material. For instance, the removal 
from firm Para rubber, of even 5 per cent, of impurity, 
will oftentimes occasion the loss of 20 per cent, in 
strength and vitality of the resulting product. It is 
oftentimes the one little grain of sand which does the 
greatest mischief. As an illustration, may we take the 
case of a cycle tyre inner tube. If a little grain of 
sand is allowed to get into the milk in collecting, these 
little particles are the most difiSoult to remove mechani- 
cally by washing, hence the grain of sand eventually 
finds itself embedded in the thin skin of the cycle tube. 
Upon inflation the grain of sand pops out leaving a 
point of least resistance. Subsequent inflations tend to 
form a bubble, in a few days the bubble bursts ; the 
sand has done its work, and the tube requires mending. 
Manufacturers know this to their coat, and are there- 
fore willing to pay highly for a perfectly clean reliable 
rubber, and look with suspicion of either " gritty rub- 
ber " or " barky rubber. " In the latter case the 
embedded fragments of bavk or vegetable matter being 
very difficult to remove from the gum, become charred 
or carbonized during the process of vulcanization at a 
temperature of 280 ° F. and then simply drop from 
the article as so much soot. These foregoing remarks 
refer to what one may regard as accidental impurities 
due to want of cleanliness or absence of sufficient 
care, but which neverthless, depreciate the value of 
the article from 2d. to 6d. per lb. There is, however, 
another form of adulteration which will in time destroy 
