To all those concerned with and engaged in cultivation of Hevea Brasiliensis, the preparation of rubber and the manufacture of articles therefrom, this comprehensive treatise should be of high and lasting reference value. Taking a much wider view of the whole subject, this well-illustrated and well-documented study deals with topics ranging from history of para rubber to the diseases fo para rubber tree and their preventive measures. Scientific and technical information, supported with relevant statistical data on climatic conditions, soils and manuring, cultivation, tapping-operations, techniques and implements, yields, properties of latex, rubber production from latex; and properties, kinds purification and uses of rubber, are systematically presented in the text. Field experience from the major para rubber tree growing countries in the tropics and Europe have also been documented. Contents Chapter 1: History of Para Rubber in the East; Work of chapman, Wickham and cross, Illustration showing old trees, Propagation from cuttings from two to three year old trees, Flowering for the first time in ceylon and the straits, First seed in ceylon, Cultivation, Yields, Preparation, Value, Export and acreage of para rubber in ceylon from 1884 to 1906, Distribution of ceylon rubber, Acreage in malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java and india, Acreage in parts of ceylon during 1906, Eastern rubber areas owned by public companies, Characters of the para rubber tree, Illustration of leaves, flowers, Fruits and seeds of hevea brasiliensis, The laticiferous system, Origin, Distribution and characters, Functions of the latex, Anatomical details illustrated; Chapter 2: Climatic Conditions for Para Rubber; Descriptions of para by Drs Trimen and Ule, Para trees in Brazil, Illustration showing para rubber in ceylon, Climate in ceylon, Straits, Perak, Selangor, Seremban, Singapore, Penang, Malacca and Java, Illustration showing young rubber at the experiment station, Buitenzorg, Java, India, Africa, West indies and c, Illustration showing para rubber in malacca, Illustration showing para rubber at an elevation of 3,500 feet in india, Illustration showing para rubber on sikong estate, borneo; Chapter 3: Cultivation of Para Rubber Trees; Rate of growth, Size of trees at Henaratgoda, Peradeniya, Edangoda and parts of ceylon, Illustrations showing para rubber on rocky hillsides and in drained swampy land, Growth in the kegalla, Knuckles, Nilambe, Katugastota, Sabaragamuwa, Wattegama, Kalutara, Matale and Baddegama districts, Spread of foliage each year from second to thirtieth year, rate of growth in the gold coast, Height and circumference, Rate of growth in the straits, Perak, Selangor, Carruthers on rate of growth in federated malay states, Rate of growth in india, Mergui, shevaroy, Nilgiris, High average incremental growth in the straits, Leaf fall, Root system, Propagation of plants, Shade and wind in the federated malay states and ceylon, Planting operations, Illustration showing a rubber clearing and nursery in ceylon, Nurseries, Fencing, Draining, Distance, Holing and planting, Close planting and available tapping area, Number of trees per acre, Distance for rubber alone and catch crops, Pruning para rubber, Principles and effect, Measurement of straight-stemmed and forked trees in ceylon, Inter and catch crops, Cacao, Coffee, Tea, Groundnuts, Lemongrass, Cassava, Future of intercrops, Illustrations showing para rubber and cacao at kepitigalla, Para rubber and tea on nikakotua estate, Para rubber and tea on undugoda estate, Kegalla, Para rubber and cacao on dangan estate, Matalc; Chapter 4: Para Rubber Soils and Manuring; The mechanical and chemical composition of rubber soils, Peradeniya, Henaratgoda, Udugama, The soils and rubber planting in various parts of ceylong, Carruthers and bamber on rubber land and soils in the federated malay states, Cabooky, alluvial and swampy soils in ceylon, Treatment of swampy soils, Illustrations showing para rubber on passara group estate, Passara, Young and old rubber on madampe estate, Rakwana, Arampola estate, Kurunegala, Para rubber and tea on nikakotua estate, Matale, Para rubber on hunugalla estate, Kegalla, The kelani, Kegalla, Kalutara, Galle, Matale, Pussellawa, Ratnapura, Ambagamuwa, Kurunegala and passara districts, Principles of rubber manuring, Manuring to increase the latex, Para rubber trees, Artificial manures for rubber soils, How to apply readily soluble and stable manures, Forking, trenching and root growth, Illustration showing trench-manuring for young rubber, Constituents in woody stem, twigs, fresh and dried leaves, Composition of rubber manures obtainable locally, Green manuring for para rubber trees, Limit 6 to 8 years, Suitable herbaceous plants and their composition, Illustration showing young para rubber and grotalaria striata, Tree forms, Dadaps and albizzias, Organic matter obtainable; Chapter 5: Tapping Operations and Implements; Importance of tapping operations, The thickness of the bark tissues and shedding of dried latex tubes, Effect of bad tapping illustrated, Tapping knives, Requisites of a good tapping knife, Clean cuts and scraping, Protection of the cambium, Paring from right to left and left to right, Minimum excision of cortex and bark, Paring and pricking, Patent tapping knives, Native implement, Carpenter’s chisel, Surgical scrapers and planes, Beta knife, Golledge’s knife: construction and illustration, Holloways’s knives, Mackenzie’s knife, Collet’s knife, Brown & Co’s knives, construction and illustrations, Eastern produce and estates Co’s knive, Bowman’s and northway’s three knives: construction, method of use and illustrations, Dixon’s knife: construction, improvements and illustration, Macadam’s comb pricker, Macadam-miller paring knife; Chapter 6: How to Tap Para Rubber Trees; Methods of tapping para rubber trees, Methods of native collectors in brazil and the gold coast, Observations of jumelle and bonnechaux, Modern methods, Single obliquecuts, illustrated, V incisions, illustration showing a tree after ten weeks’ tapping, Limited areas, Herring-bone system, The photographs of trees in ceylon tapped on the hering-bone system, The ziz-zag method and its use, Spiral curves, F crosbie roles on the spiral method, yields and estimates, Results of the spiral system in parts of ceylon, Collecting and storing of latex, Bury’s protector, centralizing the latex from many trees, illustrated, Driptins: their construction and action illustrated, Keeping the latex liquid and settling tanks, Method of marking the trees for tapping, Collecting tings; Chapter 7: Where to Tap; Occurrence of latex in part of the plant, Rubber from young parts of the trees, Tapping virgin and wound areas, Wound response and increased yields at peradeniya, Java and the straits, Interval between successive tappings and wound respons, Arden’s results, Clotting of rubber in convex wound areas, Method of formation of para milk tubes, Best yielding areas, Results of experiments from the base upwards in the straits and ceylon, Illustration showing tapping from 6 to 16 feet and base to 50 feet at henaratgoda, Yields obtained from various levels at heneratgoda; Chapter 8: When to Tap; Age or size as criterion, Resin in young trees of castilloa rubber, Analyses of rubber from 2, 4, 6, 8, 10-12 and 30 year old para rubber trees, Two year old tree illustrated, Age of tapping trees in the straits, Age and size considered, A manufacturer’s opinion of rubber from 8 year old trees, Minimum size for tapping, How to increase the tapping area illustrated, Measurements of forked and straight stemmed trees at henearatgoda, The best season for tapping, Atmospheric conditions and the flow of latex, Results in ceylon, Java, FMA, Latex flow during the leafless phase, Use of ammonia and formalin, What part of the day to tap, Yields in morning and evening, Compass tapping, Frequency of tapping and results at heneratgoda; Chapter 9: Yields of Para Rubber; Natural variations, Yields in ceylon and brazil, Henaratgoda trees and amazon yields, Yields on estates in ceylon: Matale, Uva, Kalutara and Ambalangoda districts, Illustration showing the rubber trees on passara group estate, 3/4 to 5-1/2 1b averages over large acreages, Yields obtained in the kalutara district for 1903 by the kalutara rubber co. yatiyantota ceylon tea, co, eastern produce and estates co, Sunnygama ceylon estates, co, Yataderiya tea co, Kepitigalla and passara group estates, Ceylon tea and coconut estate co and gikiyanakanda for 1905, Yields on imboolpiittiya estate, nawalapitiya, Illustration showing rubber trees at peradeniya tapped on the full spiral system, Exceptional yields at culloden, elpitiya and peradeniya, Comparison of yields at peradeniya and henaratgods, Experiments at henaratgoda, Comparative yields from different systems of tapping, Spiral and herring-bone tapping compared, Results of high tapping at heneratgoda from base to 50 feet-16 tappings yield 3 1b rubber, Average yielding capacity per square foot of the bark tissues, comparison of yields obtained at henaratgoda, Illustration showing the elpitiya tree after 14 1b rubber extracted, Yields at peradeniya by the V and spiral methods, Rubber from shavings, Rubber yields in the straits, Yield from the sandycroft rubber co 1905, Variation in yields in java, Yields in south india at high elevations, Hawthorn estate and mergiu rubber plantations, Para yields in the gold coast, Yields in south india at hight elevations, Hawthorn estate and mergiu rubber plantations, Para yields in the gold coast, Yields of para and african rubber compared, Difficulty in forming average estimates, Effect of repetitional bark stripping, Illustration showing the tapping of renewed bark, Excision and incision, Bark peeling; Chapter 10: Physical and Chemical Properties of Latex; Colour, Consistency, Alkalinity, Sap exudations and acidity, Caoutchouc globules, Object of producer, Mechanical impurities, Analyses of the latex of para rubber by seeligmann, faraday, scott and bamber, Variation in composition, Properties of caoutchouc, Occurrences of resins and oily substances, Sugars, Proteids or albuminoids, Removal of proteids with formaldehyde and centrifugal separators, Mineral matter, Effect of temperature, ammonia, formalin and acids on coagulation; Chapter 11: The Production of Rubber from Latex; Production of rubber by natural coagulation, Production on a small scale illustrated, Suggestions for curing rooms, Effect of heat and chemicals on coagulation, Smoking and coagulation, The chemistry of the amazon method, Coagulation by chemical reagents, Acetic acid, Formic acid, Hydrofluoric acid, Tannic acid, Corrosive sublimate, Amount of acid to be used, Determination of completeness of coagulation, A method of determining the amount of acetic acid required, Advantages and disadvantages of adding chemicals to the latex, Value of acids and preservatives discussed, Components of coagulated rubber, Amount of proteid in mothe liquor and rubber, Putrefaction of rubber, Analyses of sound and tacky rubber, Keeping the protein inactive, antiseptics, drying, dilution and washing, The removal of the proteid from the latex, Formalin and sodium sulphate, Rapid coagulation and removal of proteids by mechanical means, Biffen’s centrifugal machine, Experiments in ceylon with the aktiebolaget separator, Principles of mechanical separation, Rapid coagulation by mechanical and other means, The michie-golledge machine: construction, action and illustration, Mathieu’s apparatus; Chapter 12: Drying of Rubber; General methods, Illustration showing a method of drying biscuit rubber, Presence of water, putrefaction and surface deposits, Chemicals and artificial heat for drying, Suggestions by parkin, burgess and weber, Drying and coagulation machines, Use of calcium chloride, Advantages, Simple rubber-drying sheds for use with calcium chloride, Disadvantages, Experiments in ceylon and softening of rubber; Chapter 13: Physical and Chemical Properties of Rubber; Analyses of para rubber from ceylon, bukit rajah co, FMS, penang, straits and gold coast, Market value of the samples, Para and african rubber analyses compared, Resins in para and castilloa rubber, Resins in rubber from parts of the same tree, Resins in rubber from para trees of different ages, Para compared with other rubbers, Chemical composition and value of ceara, castilloa, ficus, landolphia, Urceola and rhynocodia rubber, Extraction of resins from rubber by manufacturers and growers, Albuminoids and cause of putrefaction, Removal by mechanical and chemical processes, Ash impurities and ingredients present in para, ceara and african rubbers, The insoluble constituent in rubber, Properties of indiarubber, reaction with alkalies, halogens and acids, Absorption of water, Sulphur reaction, Action of heat on indiarubber; Chapter 14: Purification of Rubber; Analysis of washed and dried para, Purification by the manufacturers, Loss in brands of para rubber, Plantation versus wild para, Lawrence’s apparatus, Loss on washing rubber, Oily and resinous substances and ash in various rubbers, Determination of loss on washing, High loss undesirable, Purification by the growers, Rubber washing machines, Burgess’s account of a washing machine: construction and action, Illustration of a washing machine, Advantages of washing rubber, Scrap and dirty rubber; Chapter 15: Vulcanization and Uses of Rubber; Vulcanization of rubber, Heat, sulphur and indiarubber, The heat cure and cold cure, Quantity of indiarubber in common articles, Rubber in roller coverings, steam packing, tyres, tobacco pouch and garden hose, High proportion of mixtures, Automobiles, instruments, clothing and cables, Disuse of rubber and use of substitutes; Chapter 16: Kinds of Para Rubber; Plantation and fine hard para, Uses of plantation and cultivated rubber, Burgess on plantation rubber and its inferiority, The effect of moisture and smoking on plantation rubber, Chemical and physical tests, Commercial reports on plantation rubber from ceylon and the straits, Biscuit and sheet rubber, Crepe rubber, characters, preparation and value, Worm rubber, characters, preparation and value, Illustration showing forms of plantation rubber, Lace rubber, preparation by mechanical means, Illustration of machinery used in the manufacture of lace rubber, Flake rubber, Scrap rubber, Chemical analysis of biscuit, crepe, lace and worm rubber; Chapter 17: Diseases of Para Rubber Trees; Diseases of plants grown on small areas, Epidemics over large acreages, Checking disease by tree belts, Para rubber pests in brazil and java, Leaf diseases of para rubber, Fungi, helminthosporiu, periconia, cladosporiu, macrosporium, pestalozzia, cercospora, Preventive measures, Insects, plant-sucking bugs, weevils and mites, Preventive measures, Fruit diseases of para rubber, Fungi, nectria and phytophthora, Preventive measures, Stem diseases of para rubber, Fungi on old stems and green twigs, Peventive measures, A bark fungus in the straits, Insects, wood-borers, ants and slugs, Preventive measures, Root diseases of para rubber, Fungi in straits and ceylon, Fomes in the straits, Helicobasidium and hymenochaete, Insects, termites, cockchafers, grubs, Preventive measures, A disease on prepared rubber, Probable causes and preventive measures, Analyses of black and yellow tacky rubber, Chemical analyses of tacky and sound rubber; Chapter 18: What to Do with the Seeds; Number of seeds per tree, Seed characteristics, Value, Seed oil and fat, Meat and cake, Analysis of meal, Cake of para rubber seed compared with linseed and cotton cake, Packing para seeds for transport, Experiments at trinidad and singapore, Charcoal, sawdust and wardian cases; Chapter 19: Estimates of Rubber Planters in Ceylon: Costs of Planting Rubber; Estimate I by E Gordon Reeves, Rs 322.40 per acre at end of 5th year for matale, Estimate II by F J Holloway, Rs 283.50 per acre at end of 6th year, Estimate III, Peradeniya district for first two years, Estimate IV, Kalutara district for first six years, Estimate V, Ambalangoda district for first two years, Estimate VI, Ambalangoda district for fir t two years in swampy land, Estimate VII, Ambalangoda district for first two years.