524 THE TROPICAL AGBICULTITRIST. [Feb. 1, 1902. 
provide his own food. Yet in spite of that, \n 
spite of tlie 1,'reat distance to the nearest market 
towns, and in spite of the uncertainty of tlic sale, 
there are already some working people coming; 
from the state of Maranhao and from Baliia. I'lie 
total production is less than 22,0U0 pounds (in 
weif;ht). Eugene Ackkrmann, Engineer. 
Para Brazil, Oct. 23, 
—India Rubber World, Dec. 1st. 
ZULULAND MICA: COMPANY FORMED. 
A company ha* been formed in Durban with a 
capital of £10,000, for the purpose of purchasinf» 
and working micH, mines in Zululand. Saniplesof the 
mica have been sent to England, and replies h ive 
been received that the sample is worth £56't per ton. 
The whole of the capital has been tub^crihed 
locally. The directors proceed to Zulul and this 
week to inspect the property. — Natal Unrcury, 
Dec. 10. 
_ « 
""Tthe products of straits 
settlement and malay 
peninsula. 
Mr. H N Ridley, Director of the Botanic 
Gardens, Singapore, <lelivereil a lecture at the 
Imperial Institute on Monday entitled " The Eco- 
nomic Resources of the iSlraits - ettlements and the 
Malay Peninsula," He remarked that the forests, 
which orginally covered the whole peninsula, 
contain many valuable products, such as timber^, 
wood-oil, benzoin, gutta percha and rattans. Owing 
to the felling of trees by the Malays, gutta- 
percha, so indispensable for electric work, has 
been nearly exterminated. Fortunately, however, 
the product can now be extracted from the leaves 
and twigs without injury to the trees, which 
are being planted by the Government. A very 
large area of the Federated Sl;ates is under coffee, 
but on account of the present glut of the market 
and the consequent lov/ prices, most of the planters 
are adding Para-rubber to their estates — a tree 
which thrives marvellou-ly well and produces a 
very satisfactory amount of rubber of the first 
quality. India-rubber from the Ficus elastica 
also promises well, but although io is being 
planted, its product is less highly valued. Ac- 
counts were given of the cultivation and prepara- 
tion of sago— one acre of the sago palm gives as 
much nourishment as 163 acres of wheat — tapioca, 
gambir, mangrove-cutch, pepper, nutmegs, cloves, 
indigo and pineapples. The greater part of the 
preserved pines of commerce come from Singapore, 
where the price of the fruit varies from a farthing 
to a penny each, and the lecturer remembered 
a time when they had been as cheap as sixteen a 
penny. The mineral resources of the colony include 
gold and tin, the latter being found in great abun- 
dance.— iVoiitre, Dec. 19. 
•PARA RUBBER" IN THE STRAITS 
SETTLEMENT. 
[To the Editor of the India Uuhher World.'] 
A few weeks ago I posted you a copy of the annual re- 
port of the botanic gardens in this colony, containing, 
amoni? other rubber notes, the result obtained by tap- 
ping a single Pais rubber tree (Hevea Brasiliensis) 
growing in the Wateifall botanic garden, Penang. The 
result of four tappings within two years, as shown in 
that report, is 12i^ pounds of dry, marketiible rubber. 
Within the past mouth the same tree has been again 
tepped, »nd yieldsiS ^yer 2 poundu mpre, 80 thafthis 
•n» tree has given l^i pounds, without being ex •-es- 
• iyely tapped. How long it will continue to yield at 
this rate is a matter of conjectare, but so far as 
c»n at praaem; be seen there has been no apparent 
injury to the tree. I am sending you by post a samplo 
of the rubber and sh ill esteoiii it .i favor if you will 
kiuclly submit it to soinn expert engaged in the inana- 
facture ot rubber goods for an opinion as to its quality 
and value. 
In a few years' time this will be a large article 
•f export from this region, and also what ii 
known here .as " gutta rambong " (Ficxif elastica). 
Many large plantations here and in the ad- 
joining Federated Malay Slates were commenced 
Jibout four years ago and tapping on a large scale is 
anticipated by the time the trees are eight years old. 
New plantations are being formnd as fast as seeds ace 
obtainable, but the supply is not equal lo the demand. 
The tree from which the rubber 1 am sendiug you 
was taken is sixteen years old but in good soil 
such as most of the planters are using the trees will 
be quite as lai ge in eight orten years. Ours is grow- 
ing on a dry gravelly bank conditions quite the op- 
posite or those under which it naturally grows so f»r 
as one can judge from the reports of those who hive 
seen it growing in Brazil. Uare it will grow any- 
where, though of course not equally wed in all places 
and there is no doubt th't in the future this country 
will have to b s reckoned with as regards rubber. Aa 
a fiald for investment in this particular cultivation 
it would hi hard to beat U lud is abundant and cheap 
and roads, railways and rivers afijrd easy access to 
all ptrts of the Malay peninsula. C. Cubtis, r.L.8 
Superintendent ot Forests Section Botanic Gardens. 
Penang Straits Settlements, Septsmber 'il, 19JI. 
CoMJiBNT BY THE Editor — The tree from which 
was obtained the sample of rubber referred to above 
was stated in the annual report of the botanic gardens 
for 1900 to ba 5.5 feat high, with a oironmferenoe at 3 
feet from tha ground of 66 iuuhes. Tlie record of 
yield of this tree as stated in the annual repirts is as 
follows, the tree having been tapped for 11 alternate 
days in each of the seasons mentioned ; 
Lbs. Oz 
November-December, 1898 . . 3 0 
April-May. 189!) ... ... 2 8 
November-December, 1899 ... 3 4 
Occober-November 1900 ... 3 VI 
August-September 1901 ... 2 0 
Total .. U 8 
From the same reports it is to be inferred that the 
rubber produced has beeu smoked with coconut husk 
after dr^t having beeu allowed to coagulate and then 
rolled into thin sheets. Where the rubber milk has 
happened to contain rain ivater, alum or spirits of wine 
ha« been used to hasten coagulation. The method of 
coagulating rubber on the Amazon is submitting 
the fresh latex\to the hot smoke of palm nuts quite a 
different method from that employed by our Penang 
correspondent. The Penang rubber has been examined 
quite carefully, and is worth about 60 cents a 
pound, with fine Para at 80 cents a pound. Ira 
fact it does not resemble fine Para very strongly, 
but is much more like Pernambuco. The rubber is 
much softer than fine Para, or even than coarse 
Para, and has nowhere near as strong fibre. In 
fact, it is quite short. It could not be used, for ex- 
ample, in thread, elastic bands, or any fine pure 
gum goods. In solution it loses its tenacity very 
quickly, bo that it would not do for high grade cements. 
Another thing about it is that it softens with age, 
whereas the Para rnbbers grow hard and oxidize. 
We think the reasons for these differences are two : 
one being found in the manner of coagulation, which 
does not seem equal to the smoking process ; and 
the other being due to the undoubted change wrought 
upon the tree by a different climate from that in 
which the tree naturally flourishes. It is to be Uii« 
^eretooci, of coarse, that the rnbber is valuable, aiQ 
