136 
A Tropical Industry. 
INDIA-RUBBER (CAOUTCHOUC). r 
Parr II. q 
By E. COWLEY, 
Manager, Kamerunga Nursery Cairns. 
Joun Happon anp Co., the proprietors of the Produce World, in their issue 
_of 15th November, 1895, give the following then market values of India- 
rubber :— . 
Per Ib. Per Ib. 
Sands ah 
Para, fine = at Sy BRPZE ine BY 
Negrohead a. rie Bysshe PAN Pins A 2G) 
Columbian, good to fine 2 ¢ A weed fy) 
Madagascar, good to fine tes = PEG a) 
Niggers ... ae ve aya dieses byt ibe yee 
Mozambique, goodtofine ... 2 2 ,, 2 5 
Assam and Rangoon Her HO sek) Sita or DX 
Borneo and Rangoon ... nae th BY eye kG) 
Penang, Java, &e. x) Het OES By aes ets 2, 
Tt is to be regretted that in this list of prices, Ceara rubber is not mentioned, 
but it will be noted that Para obtains much the highest quotation. On the 
subject of India-rubber, the last edition of the “ Encyclopedia Britannica” has 
the following :—“‘It would seem that Para rubber, in the form of ‘biscuits’ 
rarely contains more than 15 per cent. of moisture. The scrapings from the 
tree, which contain fragments of wood, are mixed with the residue of the — 
collecting pots and the refuse of the vessels employed, and are made up into large 
rounded balls which form the inferior quality called ‘ Negrohead.’’’ Rubberin — 
this form is quoted by John Haddon and Co. at about 1s. less per Ib. than 
“ Para, fine’ ; it often contains 25 to 35 per cent. of impurities. Previous to 
1860, Para rubber was exported only in small quantities, and then chiefly in the 
form of “shoes.” ‘This variety ceased to be sent to market in 1852. “ Negro- 
head” has been exported in grotesque forms of animals, &c. The cultivation of 
Para rubber has been attempted in India, but that country does not seem to — 
have had a suitable climate; it, however, grows fairly well in Ceylon, Malabar, — 
and South Burmah.* _ 
Ceara rubber comes almost next to the Para in value, as it is a dry rubber 
and very elastic, and is free from stickiness, but it often contains a quantity — 
of wood and foreign substances arising from the mode of collecting it. The 
loss in washing previous to manufacture amounts sometimes to 25 per cent. — 
It is the product of Manihot Glaziovit Mill. Arg., a Euphorbiaceous tree ~ 
common in the province of Rio Janiero. Baron von Mueller, in his excellent — 
work, “Select Extra-tropical Plants, 1888,” says of this plant:—‘ Manthot 
Glaziovii: A native of Ceara, a coast district of Brazil, in latitude 4% — 
* In the Botanic Gardens at Palmerston, in the Northern Territory of South Australia, 
rubber flourishes luxuriantly. There it is intended to go into the business in a wholesale mannet) 
and the Government will shortly throw open lands for rubber cultivation, under conditions which 
Fey By, bear some affinity to the old sugar and coffee regulations of this colony.—~ 
