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very difficult to remove from the gum, become charred or carbon- 
ized during the process of vulcanization at a temperature of 280° 
Fah.j 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, nevertheless, depreciate the value of the article from 
2d. to 6d. per lb. There is, however, another form of adulteration 
which will in time destroy the reputation of any brand, and effec- 
tually “'boycott ” from the markets the estate sending it, This is 
the designed admixture of inferior gums, such as Euphorbia gum 
and many others of the resin class to reduce the price and illegiti- 
mately to increase the meantime profit, but to court disaster, and 
discredit the mark in the future. For example, some six years ago, 
Borneo produced a fair rubber promising with increasing care and 
experience better things. The producers, in their haste to be rich 
introduced ft potatoe gum " into the milk ; and down to Iffie present 
time this class of rubber is hopelessly discredited and contemp- 
tuously spoken of as “ dead borned Many other brand.s have 
met the same fate from the same cause. On the other hand, where 
resolute and continuous attempts have been made to improve the 
method of collection, such efforts have been amply rewarded. 
Four years ago, the poor gum of Accra, Cape Coast and Saltpond 
sold with difficulty at lod. to 11 d. per lb. ; and now, by a process 
of clean collection and careful curing, the price has advanced to 
2s. to 2s. 6d. per lb., at which it finds willing buyers. Perhaps the 
most striking illustration of this appreciation of quality is that 
shown by the Congo rubbers, the preparation of which is yearly 
steadily improving with a proportionate increase in price, moving 
from ij. jd. to 3^. 6d. per lb. The process of curing to produce 
the first grade rubbers also necessitates an experienced headman, 
so that the smoking or curing may be through and complete, that 
all the immature sap may be duly coagulated into caoutchouc. 
Here discrimination is necessary, secured by experience in order to 
smoke the milk thoroughly, yet not excessively. Great care in this 
process is necessitated by two considerations — in the first place, to 
be certain that all the sap is coagulated, 'failing which the immature 
juice will be lost in washing, causing perhaps the loss of 15 to 20 
per cent, in weight, instead of 5 per cent., as in the case of a well- 
cured, clean rubber, and in the second place to secure its freedom 
from rubber resins. To the presence of these saps have been 
traced the cause of the rotting or hardening of Vulcanized rubber, 
and this knowledge has led to the issue, by Sir A. M. Rendel, of a 
rigid specification on behalf of the Government, refusing to pass 
any rubber article found to contain more than 5 per cent, of rub- 
ber resins. This official specification is being rapidly adopted by 
the Indian Government, and by the principal engineers, and will, 
in a few months, become the recognized standard for a good rubber 
If Ceylon rubber is to command a good place in the market, it 
must meet this requirement ; otherwise the product will be rele- 
gated to a third-class group, looked upon with suspicion and priced 
at ‘‘rubbish heap” rates. Recently some experiments have been 
