agricultural bulletin 
OF THE 
STRAITS 
AND 
FEDERATED MALAy STATES. 
MARCH, 1911. [VOL. N 
RUBBER SMOKING HOUSE. 
So many persons are asking about the best structure tor smoking 
rubber that perhaps an account of our experiences in this direction 
may be of interest. I will first describe the smoking house in the 
Botanic Gardens, which has proved quite satisfactory and economical 
The building is feet long and 19 feet wide, oblong in shape, and 
made of ordinary planking with a high roof. The plank walls are 
8 feet high, and the roof of attap, 15 feet high in the centre. The 
floor is cemented with concrete below. There are two or three 
windows which can be opened when required and one entrance door. 
This building is built on a slope of about I in 12, and drains run 
down the side to carry off rain water, inside are wooden posts sunk 
in the ground between which run thin rattans stretched ig o 
which the rubber is hung. Near the door are sunk in the concrete 
and cement floors circular pits one foot wide and 3 feet deep • 1 
the fire is put and then are covered with iron cones with a flat 
perforated top. These cones are 22 ins. high. They have a sma 
oblong opening at the base to admit air to the fire. 
The fires are made of dry old wood of some soft timber. That 
of Albizzia moluccana is found good, but any light woo w 1 * 
wood is cut up into pieces big enough to get into thefire ^ iiUn 
being lit is allowed to smoulder all day. The fires ^ us uaUyhtm 
the morning, and renewed once to 4 times a day accord 
of the fire place, one fire takes about 2 baskets meas <=- 
by across of pieces of wood a day. 
flame is produced but abundance of smoke which soon P^ tes 
whole building and keeps a thick atmosphere "^‘^tween 
windows being closed it does not escape except bs P 
the roof and wails or through cracks, so that none is waste . 
