May 1, 1903.] THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 727 
way three meu can place 400 cups in a half day, 
and attend to the rubber obtained. 
The contents of all the thu ai-e stirred once or 
oftener, besides which the laborers muit see to it 
that none of them overflow. Work is started about 
6 a m. and by U a.m. all the tius have been taken 
ofi and emptied into a pail. While one cooly carries 
the pail of latex to the factory, the others wash out 
the tins and at once replace theui under tbe same 
cuts. The tins are vinaXn emptied, in the same manner, 
at 3 P.M., which completes the yield ot latex from 
a oiven set of incision. In the meantime, after the 
tin's are washed, the coolies pick off auy rubber 
that may have dried in the wounds made on the 
last rouud, which is called scrap. So much for the 
ooUection of the latex ; we come now to the curing 
of the rubber, which is simpler still. 
As the latex is brought to the factory in a liquid 
state (mixed with water, which is necessary to enable 
the latex to go through the process by which the 
rubber ia preserved), it is strained through a very 
fine wire mesh— a milk strainer, for example— into 
shallow tin pans, 7 inches square by two inches in 
depth in which it is left to stand overnight. By 
morning the rubber will have coagulated naturally, 
without the use of any chemicals, and most of the 
water will have become separated from the puie 
rubber Tna lump of rubber is then taken out and 
Dla-ed'ou a table and gently pressed with t ie h ind to 
ex lude the water, after which a wooden roller wotkod 
bv'^hand is passed over it, back and forth, until mure 
of the water has been expressed, leaving a fltt slieet 
of rubber ab^-ut 8 inches aquare and § inch thick. 
The lumps of rubber thus made are pi iced on caned 
trays or tiamea about 6x3 feet, caned like the bottom 
ot a chair, though not so closely woven. Alter the 
rubber sheets have remained on the trays for four or 
five days they are hung to dry on wires stretched 
across the room, after which they will require fre- 
auent attention to prevent mildew, a man being de- 
tailed to rub ofi all mildew spots with a rag. About 
two months are required for the rubber to become 
thoroughly dry and free from white patches. So long 
as these patches appear, it is an indication of damp- 
ness and further drying will be required. 
When thoroughly dry the sheets of rubber are ready 
for shipment, and are packed in boxes about 18 by 
18 inches square and 8 inches deep— usually about 
50 pounds to a box. The secret of the high prices 
obtained for rubber from Ceylon lies (1) in the strain, 
ing ot the latex, 
by which every 
pHrticle of dirt 
is kept out, and 
(2) in the thin- 
ness of the 
sheets of rub- 
ber, which per- 
mit any one to 
see that they 
are free from 
dirt, sand, etc. 
No chemicals 
are used, and 
no heating is 
required. On 
the whole this 
is the simplest 
method, when 
one knows how Relative Position of series 
that could pos- of Inoisions. 
sibly be adopted. The rubber from most countries 
now comes lo market in large pieces, and can con- 
ceal any amount of impurity, while in other cases 
the latex is allowed to dry on the stem of the tree 
and when pulled off contains a large percentage of 
bark and dirt, which mean loss to the buyer and 
extra work in the factory. 
The last sales of rubber from this estate have bronght 
probably the highest average price of any ruijber 
sold in tlie world during the same period, and this 
is sayiug a good de«,l, namely : au average of 3s. 
lid. per pound, The total output for Ceylon for 1903 
Will be about ten tons, of which this estate will send 
two tons. 
FbANCIS J. HOLLOWAY, 
Kepitigalla Estate. Matale. Ceylon, 
January 8, 1903. 
KEPITIGALLA ESTATES AND ITS PRODUCT. 
The Kepitigalla Estate, situated in the Central 
province of Ueylon. in the valley of the Matale river, 
8 miles from Matale town. The India Rubber World 
of December 1, 1902 (page 80) contained some de- 
tails regarding the extent of the rubber tapping on 
this estate, to August 1902 by the manager IVIr. 
Holloway. It was stated at the time that the trees 
were planted at the rate of 150 per acre, at a dis- 
tance which fitted them for shading cacao. His ex- 
perience to that date pointed to one hundredweight 
(112 pounds) as the average yield per acre, bxsed 
upon a result of tapping about 4,U00 trees, He 
gave then also au estimUe of the coat of prepariug 
rubber and forwarding it to the seacoaat, which 
equalled $17 pec acre. At 3s. llrf. per pound, the 
product of an acre wjuld reiliza |lO(i.73 which, 
aftor deduotiug freight to liondon and bi-okers' ooui- 
misiiouj, siioula allow a, vecy good prodt. 
Mr. H. G-. Tippett minagiug Director of the fjiver- 
pool Bauber Co., Limited, who has ujed soma of the 
Udyiou ruober, says iii regard to it, in a letter to 
The India Rubbur AVorld : 
" The weigho of the cases at present is irregular, 
roughly about 100 to l.jO pounds, but they will pro- 
bauly settle down as the supply becomes regular 
to 1 cwt. 112 (pounds) cases. The rubber is ex- 
0 llent — made up in round pancakes (just like buck- 
wheat cakes), about 4 inch thick, and 6 inches dia- 
meter ; semi-translucent— absolutely clean and dry — 
loss about 1 per cent. Quality equal to finest (Boli- 
vian Para." — India Rubber World. 
QAT OR ARAB TEA. 
\_Special for Indian Planting and Gardening 
A specimen of Qat, usually referred to in botanical 
works as Oatha edulis, is now in flower in the Royal 
Botanic Garden, Calcutta, to which it was introduced 
somewhat accidentally in 1892. 
The genus Catha belongs to the family of Celastrineos 
or " 8pindle-trees," and is at present limited so as 
to include only this one species, a shrub found 
in a wild state in Abyssinia, where it is said to be 
also cultivated. It is likewise found in Ara lia, and 
according to Forskael, who first described the plant, 
the Arabs cultivate it along with Cojfee. They eat 
the green leaves, he tells us, because they attribute 
to them the property of enabling a mm to do 
'sentry go ' all night without wishing to sleep. He 
says, too, that they look on it as au antidote to 
plague, declaring that anyone wearing a sprig of 
this plant may go without risk among the infected, 
and believing that, wherever this shrub is planted, 
the plague cannot come. But Forskael adds that 
the taste of the leaves does not appear tj indicate 
such virtues. Botta found that in Yemen just as 
much importance is attached to the cultivation of 
Qat as to that ' of Coffee itself. He speaks of wild 
as well as cultivated plants, but it is not at all 
clear from his account wuether these wild plkiiis 
are indigenous or only escaped and iiatuialised ones. 
It is true, as De CiinJolle says, that the luteiiorof 
Arabia is nearly unkaowu to boiamsts ; this makod 
it somewhat uncertain what plants aie, and wh.iC .ire 
not indigenous to the Arau Feuiusula. But as regards 
Cafec, it is almost certain, in spite of its popular 
