HENRY P. STEVENS, M.A. (Oxon.,) Ph.D., F.I.C.
CONSULTING CHEMIST TO THE RUBBER GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION IN LONDON
CONSTABLE & CO. LTD.
LONDON : BOMBAY : SYDNEY
1922
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., GUILDFORD AND ESHER
PREFACE
Mr. Sidney Morgan’s work on Plantation Rubber in the East is so well known that he hardly needs introduction.
An earlier book, published in 1914, by the Rubber Growers’ Association, entitled “The Preparation of Plantation Rubber,” was well received and widely read. This book dealt in a very practical manner with problems with which the industry had to contend. A second edition was subsequently published. Both editions are now out of print. The present opportunity was therefore taken to revise the original work, with the result that it has been enlarged and practically rewritten. The information given is brought up-to-date, and covers the whole process of production, commencing with the planting of the tree, passing on to the collection, coagulation, and curing of the rubber, and concluding with the packing for export. In the course of his work for the Association, Mr. Morgan carried out a great deal of industrial research in rubber production, including lengthy experiments on tapping, the use of different coagulants and different conditions of coagulation, and also on varying modes of rolling, drying, and smoking rubber. He also went very fully into the types of construction and details of the machinery and buildings employed on estates.