41 
The Scientific worker got data from the practical man and the 
practical man learnt the why and wherefore of many things he 
had observed. 
The expert brokers from London gave their views freely and 
had explained to them all the 'difficulties and intricacies of the 
producer. 
The British planter is always a pleasant man to meet at work 
or at play and the social side of the Exhibition was with the 
personal patronage of Their Excellencies Sir Henry and Lady 
Blake and the cameraderie of the Ceylon planting man, in safe 
hands. 
With regard to the preparation of rubber for the market the 
lessons learnt at the Ceylon Exhibition were : 
That the present practice of coagulating in separate vessels 
of small capacity was impractical for any but the smallest estates 
with few trees in bearing. 
That the making of separate sheets or biscuits has many 
disadvantages such as the necessity for large rooms for storing the 
large area which the rubber exposes to the attacks of mildew and 
bacteria and to the falling of dust particles ail of which decreased 
the market value of the rubber. 
That the making of continuous sheet or crepe had also the 
disadvantages of exposing large surfaces. 
That these dangers of damage to the rubber were practically 
removed by the making of block rubber . which the representatives 
of the buyers in London who were present at ihe Exhibition as 
judges asserted to be sute of being w^ll received in the home 
markets. This opinion has been since fully endorsed by the prices 
which have been paid for block rubber in London. 
That the present methods of careful > washing and drying 
plantation rubber may be defeating their o\yn purpose. The desire 
to eliminate all trace of resins and proteids from the rubber has led 
to repeated washings, so that the percentage of these substances is 
reduced to a minimum. In the same way the extraction of as much 
of the water as possible has been the aim of the planter in Ceylon 
and Malaya and rubber is now oft< n so thoroughly dried that less 
5% of water is present. The effect upon the physical properties 
of the rubber by the extraction of practically all the water and the 
proteids and resins has not yet been thoroughly investigated and 
without analyses of a series of rubbers which have been kept with 
and without these substances it cannot definitely be stated whether 
the Eastern planters methods improve or decrease the physical 
properties which give rubber high market value, vi$. y elasticity and 
resilience. 
That Brazilian Para rubber possesses these desirable characters 
more than plantation rubber has been demonstrated by testing 
machines, and is accepted as a fact by both producer and buyer. 
The causes of this superiority in elasticity and resilience have not 
