805 
THE TROf»lCAt AGRICULTtJRIST. 
[June 1, 1904. 
The soft cake of rubber, about half an innh in thick- 
ness in the middle and getting much thinner at the 
edges is then placed on a filopiDg table covered with 
hheet lead and all the " mother latex " or superfluous 
Water is rolled out by a heavy roller manipulated by 
hand. The cake has then assumed a round flat shape, 
abont quarter inch in thickness, and of fair consis' 
tenoy and is ready to go to the drying room. 
THE FIHST DRYING PROCESS. 
The first drying is by artificial heat. On many 
Ceylon estates v? here as yet no special rubber factory 
has been erected, the first drying is doue by the tea 
factory boiler ; the thick vyhite biscuits are placed 
on cloths over or near the boiler, and remain 
there for about an hour. On Cnlloden estate, where 
the manager has a fine factory specially for rubber, 
the drying is done on wire netting racks over a 
charcoal fire. As the fresh damp biscuits dry they 
gradually darken and assume a dirty colour, which 
on further drying turns to deep brown and then a fine 
clear amber colour, the proper colour of the finished 
and dried biscuit ready for the market. 
THE DRYING BACKS. 
After the quick drying by artificial means the 
biscuits are allowed to dry gradually. For this pur- 
pose several methods are in vogue. Some planters 
bang the biscuits over strings or stretched wires. I have 
noticed in biscuits dried in this way dark marks on 
the rubber where the strings touched it, and a biscuit 
with several of these marks, will, I think, fetch 
a lower market price. Another method is to have 
layers or shelves of hessian cloths stretched in the 
factory, abont 8 inches, or a foot above one another ; 
the biscuits dry on these very well. But the best 
arrangement 1 have come across, the neatest, most 
durable and the one to be recommended is a series 
of wire-netting shelves. These can be easily . and 
cheaply erected, and the mesh 0/ the wire need not 
be small. The air freely circulates amongst the 
biscuits on these wire shelves and they soon dry, 
and if required small portable charcoal-burning stoves 
can be placed under the range of shelves to hasten 
the drying etill more. During the drying process 
the biscuit shrinks somewhat,- and when quite dry 
measures about 10 inches in diajieter and about i inch 
in thickness. 
A CEYLON PAKA BUBBER B'.SCUIT, 
when made with latex from mature trees, properly 
dried, should be quite clean and semi-transparent when 
held up against the light; it should be free from 
dark patches and not be mottled or pitted. 
It is found that biscuits made from latex collected 
in rainy weather are often inclined to be of a 
bad colour, less transparent, and are sometimes 
mottled or have curious little pits over them. The 
cause of this I have not yet been able to ascertain. 
Probably it does not effect the commercial value of 
the rubber much ; still, the more attractive in appear- 
ance the biscuits are the better. According to the 
state of the atmosphere the biscuits take from 10 days 
to nearly three weeks to completely dry, When a 
quantity ani^ciently large is ready the biscuits are 
packed in tea-chesta and despatched to England. 
BCBAP BUBBER. 
The scrap rubber, >vliich is picked out of the inci- 
sions on the trees and on the bark, is dried thoroughly 
in the factory, but of course needs no coagulation 
or artificial drying. It is picked as clear and free 
from chips of baik etc., as possible, and when 
dried is packed in chests either loose or made up 
Into loosely compressed cakes or slabs. Good Ceylon 
scrap sold in the London market during the month 
of April at 3s. "id, to Ss. lOi^.lper lb., and this at a 
time when best Para rubber got 4s, 6^, per lb. 
COTTON GROWING IN THE 
BRITISH EMPIRE. 
By Alfred Emmott, M.P. 
from a paper head before the society of /.bt3. 
Tiie question o£ the growth of cotton in the British 
Empire has recently attracted the attention of all 
those who watch the development of our industries 
in general, and who recognise the importance of the 
cotton trade in particular. The interest attracted by 
the subject is emphasised by these words in the 
gracious speech from the Throne at the opening of 
this season : — 
" The insufficiency of the supply of the raw ma- 
terial upon which the great cotton industry of this 
country depends, has inspired me with deep concern. 
I trust that the efforts which are being made in 
various parts of my Empire to incrcHse the area 
under cultivation may be attended with a large measure 
of success." 
The obvious fact is, that the demand for the raw 
material of the cotton industry has, in recent years, 
exceeded the supply, and that this relative shortness 
of supply has helped speculators to enhance the 
price of cotton to figures which have seriously in- 
terfered, not only with the profits but also with the 
amount of employment in the trade. 
Last autumn, £2,000,000 was lost in wages in this 
country by cotton operatives alone, owing to short 
time and stoppages. At the present time the great 
majority of mills using Americ>in cotton are only 
working 40 hours a week instead of the normal 
55? hours, mills which, were cotton cheap and abun- 
dant, would all be fully employed. 
During the last few months cotton has varied from 
7d. to 9d. per lb. in price, and it is nearly 30 years 
since such prices were known. 
It will be of interest at this point to show the 
variations in the price of middling American cotton 
from 1870, in five year periods. 
AVERAGE PRICE PER LB. MIDDLING AMERICAN COTTON ON 
THE LIVERPOOL MARKET FOR QUINQUENNIAL FEfilODS. 
1870-74 (five years) .. 9'21 
1875-79 „ .. .. 6-56 
1880-81 „ .. .. 6 35 
1885-89 „ .. .. 5-52 
1890 94 „ .. .. 4-66 
1895-99 385 
1900-03 (tour years) .. .. 5-47 
It will be noted that the quinquennial average price 
fell regularly and persistently until the period 1795-99. 
The lowest year was 1898, when the average price 
was 3-3ld. It rose to 3 56d. in 1899, and 5'47d, in 
1900. Afterwards there was a fall, and the average 
price of each of the years, 1901 and 1902, was abont 
4|d. In 1903, it rose again to an average price of 
6'U3d , commencing the year at 4°68d., and ending 
it at 7'24d., and in the first week of February, 1904, 
the culminating price of the great speculative move- 
ment was reached, when the price stood about 9d, 
Since then the price has been lower, but there have 
been wide fluctuations and much disorganisation in 
the industry. 
There are two elements discernible in the increased 
prices of the last few years. The first may be 
called a legitimate rise of price due to an increased 
demand. The second is due to a singularly darins 
speculative movement on the part of a group n 
American speculators. It is quite impossible satis- 
factorily to separate the effect of these two causin. 
The world's crop returns for the past 25 yeacs, 
given in annual averages, is as follows : — 
ANNUAL AVERAGE OF THE WOBLD's CROP OF COTTON IN 
BALES, IN QUINQUENNIAL PERIODS. 
1879-83 8,680,000 bales. 
1884 83 9,600,900 „ 
1889-93 11,540,000 
1894-93 13,360,000 „ 
1899 03 ... .. .. 15,680,000 „ 
