RUBBER CULTURE.

103

filtered through a metal sieve to free it from particles of
bark, sand, &amp;ec., which would detract from its value. It is
then poured into flat tin dishes to a depth of two inches,
and treated with a small quantity of acetic acid, or often
simply left to itself. By the next morning each dish contains
a cake of rubber separated out from the watery part of the
milk. This is removed, pressed with the hands to drive
out the first excess of water contained in it, then passed
ander a wooden roller to squeeze out still more water, and
finally dried on open canework trays, care being taken
that mould is not allowed to form on the surface. The
resulting “biscuits” are thin, clear, and translucent. They
are packed in boxes containing about 100 1b. for export.

RUBBER PREPARATION,

Though it is only a short time since this rubber began
to appear on the London market, it has already established
itself at the top, on account of its cleanliness and freedom
from impurity or adulteration; in the washing process it
loses only about 1 per cent., whereas the best South American
rubber loses at least five times as much. The trifling
quantity of rubber that dries on the tree forms scrap, which
sells at a lower price.
The exports of rubber (almost all Para) in 1903 were
11,798 1b., the average price in London being about $100,