7 
Type Now Used on Plantations. 
Though in the types of factories now used on plantations there 
is considerable variation, there is some ground for hoping that stan- 
dardisation will ultimately be recognised. If rubber plantation fac- 
tories were standardised, the cost would be appreciably lessened, and 
additions more easily made. A width of forty feet, with bays ten 
feet, has been suggested {Davidson, Souvenir, I. R. J.) as the standard 
to adopt. 
On Eastern estates the factories are either : (i) entirely on ground 
floor, (2) two-storeyed (or more) throughout, or (3) two-storeyed only 
in the curing section. They are provided with a space for the 
engines inside the factory, or a separate building adjoining the 
factory is reserved as the power station. 
Materials Used in Construction. 
Most factories are steel-framed and covered with galvanized 
corrugated-iron sheets. Where the roof is not provided with a 
timber ceiling, the air is apt to get very warm in the tropics. The 
sides, or walls, are usually made of corrugated-iron sheets, similar 
to those used for the roof. On some estates timber is sometimes 
favoured, in which case it is advisable to use wood which has been 
impregnated with creosote, in order to preserve it against the 
attacks of white ants. Brick walls, between the iron columns, 
are not often erected, though they are always cool, durable, and 
neat. 
Ventilation of Factories. 
Apart from health reasons, there are many others why rubber 
factories should be well ventilated. Rubber contains a proportion of 
putrescible matter, and if the air is not kept pure, bacteria may 
appear in large numbers and lead to deterioration of the rubber 
during curing. Furthermore, drying is, even in dry weather, expedited 
if a good draught of fresh air is maintained through the building. 
The majority of factories rely upon open windows and doors, together 
with a fan, for their supplies of fresh air; expanded metal, which 
is so constructed as to allow of air currents, is now used, near the 
eaves or floor level. 
Floors of Factories. 
The ground-floor is, for durability and cleanliness, usually made 
of cement. It is, however, not uncommon to find white ants boring 
their way through thin layers of cement, and it is therefore necessary 
to see that this work is properly executed. In order that water may 
be carried rapidly away from the washing machines and drip racks, 
channels should be freely provided. The floor requires washing at 
regular intervals (preferably with water containing some cheap 
disinfectant) and it is therefore necessary to construct it with a slope 
of, say, one in eighty, to hasten drying. 
