The Preparation of Plantation Rubber

by Sidney Morgan

The flat-bottomed cup, on the other hand, may be used with success equally on a wire support or on the ground. It is sometimes said that owing to its shape the ease of cleaning, as compared with the half-spherical cup, is diminished, and that if the cups when not in use are kept inverted upon sticks placed near the foot of the tree the breakage is apt to be high. This latter objection is being rapidly removed as the practice of using these sticks is losing vogue for various reasons, and wire cup-holders will be in general use as soon as the cost of material becomes normal.

There are on the market, and in fairly wide use, cups of Chinese and Japanese manufacture. These generally consist of brown earthenware with an interior glass finish. These are cheap in comparison with glass and white-ware cups, but it is a pity that the glass does not extend over the whole of the cup. The outer surface has a tendency to collect rubber and dirt. On some few estates small china bowls or saucers are still used and are quite satisfactory, except for the favour with which they are regarded by natives on the outskirts of the estates.

Cleaning Cups.—The question of cup-cleaning would appear to be a very simple one; but in practice it is quite a source of worry to managers, especially where a mixed labour force is employed. Tamil coolies can be made to clean their cups in the day’s task and at odd times. Chinese coolies, more often than not, either refuse to give the necessary attention or else demand extra pay for the work.

The method of cup-cleaning employed more popularly within recent years was that of daily washing. The tapper carried two buckets, one for receiving the latex and the other containing water. Pouring the latex in the bucket the coolie then added a little water to the cup and added these rinsings to the latex collected. The cup was next washed hastily in the bucket of water and replaced. By the time the coolie has emptied and washed some 200 cups (about half the task generally) the water has the consistency of dilute latex, and the wet cup when replaced becomes coated with a thin film of rubber. If the latex is always collected in one direction it will be clear that, while the cups at one end of the task are comparatively clean, those at the other end have the chance of being correspondingly dirty.

Controversy has raged respecting this question of cup-washing, and many estates have abandoned it as a daily practice. Coolies have not to carry an extra bucket of water. The contents of the cups are poured into the latex-bucket, and the bulk of the latex film remaining is also removed by the aid of a finger. The cup is then replaced, a thin skin of rubber forming on the interior surface. As a general rule this is easily removed on the next occasion, except perhaps in dry weather. It is the custom on most estates employing this practice to have all cups receive special attention at regular intervals.

There are certain economic factors entering into the difference of opinion regarding the two broad methods employed. In some cases—e.g., on old areas—it would be practically impossible to follow the older method of daily cup-washing, as the tappers have to employ two buckets for the collection of the latex. The employment of special coolies for cup-washing would be necessitated, such as may be seen sometimes on estates working Chinese “squatter” labour—where the man taps, a child assists in collecting, and another child, or the mother, washes the cups. It may be pointed out that in such instances the helpers are not paid by the estate. Their services merely mean a saving in time which is spent in the squatter’s garden, and perhaps the permission to the tapper to work a larger number of trees than would be allotted ordinarily to a task.

Again, on some estates, the tappers, while not being required to carry a bucket of water for cup-washing, are given an increased number of trees to tap. Furthermore, on hilly areas under tapping, it is often manifestly unfair to expect the tapper to be able to carry two buckets during collection, when the slope is such, as to make the manipulation of even one bucket a matter of difficulty.

It will be seen, therefore, that there is no clear issue for argument concerning the two methods, and that the point must be decided on the economic factors peculiar to each estate or district.