Compound Crepes.—The attitude of both buyers and sellers with regard to the types of lower grade rubbers appears to be changing. In the past, from any one estate there might be obtained as many as six grades of crepe below No. I. These comprised:
(1) A pale rubber (often streaked) obtained from coagulation of cup washings and bucket rinsings.
(2) A pale rubber (often streaked) obtained by coagulation of the skimmings from the surface of the No. 1 latex.
(3) A streaked and dull rubber prepared from naturally-coagulated clots found in cups, buckets, and latex carts.
(4) A streaked rubber prepared from scrap which had coagulated upon the face of the cut bark.
(5) A brownish and streaked rubber made by maceration of bark-shavings to which pieces of tree-scrap adhered.
(6) A dark rubber, often tacky, prepared from scrap found in or on the ground near the base of the trees. As it is often a matter of weeks between any two regular collections, it is easy to understand why the dry rubber was more liable to be “tacky” than any other grade of crepe.
It will have been evident to all who have acquaintance with these grades, as shipped from many different estates, that the diversity in the various shipments must have been rather bewildering. There appeared to be a regrettable lack of uniformity, even in the appearance of, say, a bark scrap rubber from any two estates. When, in addition to these variations, the further complication of condition of cleanliness is introduced, one may realise the difficulty attaching to the evaluation of these rubbers as they appeared upon the market.
Although the foregoing paragraph is written in the past tense, it should be pointed out that within certain limits the trouble continues to exist with respect to the output of a great number of estates.
In the case of many, it has been realised that the manufacturer does not want to buy a large number of “parcels,” all differing in some respect. It is probably correct to state that what a manufacturer requires is a big “parcel” uniform in appearance and treatment, even though the colour may not be so light as that of many smaller lots. This statement is modified with the proviso that the rubber, no matter what its colour or appearance may be, must be free from dirt, grit, and bark.