BULLETIN 
AGRICULTURAL 
OF THE 
STRAITS 
AND 
FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 
- 
No. 4.] APRIL, 1904. [Vol, III. Part I. 
PREPARATION OF CRUDE RUBBER. 
By F. Pears. 
Knowing the importance attached to the rubber industry as an 
agricultural product likely to be of great importance to the Malay 
Peninsula, I take the opportunity of addressing all those interested 
in its preparation. Holding that there can be no competition 
amongst rubber planters for the next twenty years at least, it must 
be in the interests of all to bring as much light as possible to bear 
upon the subject. At present there seems to be much diversity of 
opinion and many experiments going on which if they could in 
some way be concentrated would save a lot of unnecessary time and 
} trouble. ' Smoking is even now advocated by some, although we 
know of many more efficient disinfecting ingredients, and as a drying 
medium, it singularly fails, as is proved by the quantity of moisture 
in “ Para Fine upon arrival in London. 
'fo discuss this question logically we must stait from the trade 
requirements and ascertain what our customers require. First and 
foremost it is uniformity, the one point of vital interest and impor- 
tance to the manufacturer. T. he necessity of uniformity in these 
rlays is apparent in many trades and therefore further comment 
would be useless. Unfortunately it will be many years before any 
one companv or individual will be able to supply sufficient quanti- 
ties of the raw material to establish a brand and get such good 
prices that uniformity with bulk w ould command. The onl v way 
to get over this difficulty would be for producers to agree to pre- 
pare their rubber in a certain way and ship it under one mark, the 
, joint property of those interested. 1 am fully aware that there would 
be certain difficulties in organizing such a scheme, but still if the 
principle is agreed upon, it should be possible to arrange the details. 
I do not propose making any remarks as to these here as I am only 
confining myself to suggestions for the mutual benefit of all those 
interested in the production of raw rubber. 
The question now arises as to what would be the best method of 
preparation and the only logical answer is, one containing as few 
impurities as possiolc, absolute eradication of all the mechanical 
impurities and the removal of the organic impurities as far as prac- 
ifrs ■ 
