Rubric

“ With regard to the method of collecting rubber by scraping a hole in the earth, and leaving the sap which trickled down into it to be dried by the natural heat of the earth and the air, I can only assure you that the white man found the aborigines “making” raw rubber in this way, so they must have invented the plan themselves. ”

“ Groups of botanists, chemists and arboriculturists study constantly tree diseases, methods of increasing the yield, and the other problems of growing fine trees that will produce high grade rubber. Here, by experiment and inspection, the secrets of the rubber tree are being brought to light, so much so that growers look to this plantation for leadership in methods of rubber culture. This great project so far from American soil and in a field so new gives a thrill of pride to the Americans visiting Sumatra on their way around the world. ”

“ According to the use to which rubber is to be put, it has to be mixed with certain other materials, to make a material that is neither too heavy nor too light, too hard nor too soft, too tough nor too elastic, to fulfil its purpose. And according to the price at which the goods are to be sold, certain other materials must be mixed with the rubber. It is with regard to the proportions in which such mixings are made that the manufacturers have secrets of their own which they specially want to guard. ”

“ When one square inch of rug is completed, according to the quality of the rug and the coarseness or fineness of the yarn, there have been thus laboriously tied from one hundred to five hundred knots, not uncommonly a thousand and more in some museum pieces. And all this while the weaver is working with his brains as well as with his fingers and keeping true to the design and colour scheme which he carries only in his head. ”

“ We have all of us laughed at the grotesque appearance made by toy heads of vulcanised india-rubber. A little lateral pressure converts its physiognomy into a broad grin, whilst a perpendicular pull gives the countenance all the appearance that presents itself when we look into the bowl of a spoon held longways. ”

“ Percentage of First Latex and Other Grades.—One of the problems confronting any manager is the question of the percentage of first-grade rubber calculated upon the whole output. Inquiries are constantly being received for advice as to what the various percentages of each grade of rubber should be. This is a question to which no definite list of figures can apply. There are so many little factors influencing the result. Some estates are not particularly careful in collecting tree-scrap. Hence quite a quantity of tree-scrap finds its way into the crepe made from bark-shavings. ”

“ When a piece of work is rubbed in, if it is desired to represent "champs," or "lights of oak"—better known as quartered oak—the rubber combs are first used and carefully drawn through the color—not necessarily in a straight line—and the coarse or finer, or both the steel combs, are drawn lightly over the track of the rubber comb; the work is then blended lengthwise with the flat brush, which has previously been rubbed out clean, and the champs or veins are put in across the grains previously made by the rubber and steel combs. ”

“ The warp is generally made of what the weavers call mill yarns, cotton yarns spun and often dyed in cotton mills; and when the cloth is woven for women’s wear it is apt to carry a striped warp of red and blue, with a mixed filling made from spinning the wool of black sheep with a small proportion of white. ”

“ In spite of the wonders which rubber has already accomplished, and the adventures, which have colored its history, only the beginning of the romance of rubber has been told. The plantation industry is still in its infancy, and experiments are constantly being made to determine the best methods of planting, the most fruitful number of trees to the acre, the most advantageous way of tapping. In the laboratories of the great rubber manufacturers, scientists are at work improving old methods of using rubber and devising new ones. ”

“ India rubber can be so readily shaped in moulds and the latter are so readily made of plaster of paris that any one who is interested in such things will find endless amusement in working out different designs. ”

“ If the timber is too green, steam is formed as well as smoke, and the sheets of rubber may have a moist surface glaze.
Sun-Drying Sheet Rubber.—Among the first curious sights which impress the visitor or newcomer to this country is the spectacle of sheet rubber hanging in the sun on native holdings. From what one has learned of the extraordinary [148] care which must be exercised in all the processes of rubber preparation, one fails to understand how such rubber reaches the market without becoming tacky. ”

“ In using woolen rags, which are apt to be much darker in colour than cotton, a white, red or yellow warp is more apt to be effective than either a green or a blue; in fact, it is quite safe to say that light filling should go with dark warp and dark filling with light or white. ”

“ A BALATA BLEEDERS’ CAMP. Page 47
From a photograph in the British Guiana Section of the Imperial Institute, by permission
In tapping a rubber-tree, the cut must only go deep enough to open the cells which harbour the sap—which, by the way, in simple English is called “milk,” and in technical language “latex.” These cells are in the bark, extending from just beneath its surface to the cambium, or true outer skin of the wood. If the tapping tool pierces the wood, the tree gets maimed for life. ”

“ It is in this room that you happen to make your first acquaintance with some crêpe rubber of a greyish hue. It is made from scraps, which are collected by the tappers from trees, cups, and cans, after they have taken the day’s milk to the factory. The scraps are washed as clean as it is possible to get them, and then put through the crêping machines. Plantation scrap is far superior in quality to wild scrap. ”

“ The earliest experiment in cultivating rubber was made only as far back as the seventies of last century. And it is only within the present century that cultivated rubber, or, as it is more generally called, “plantation rubber,” has become a power in the industrial world. ”

“ Common rubber is the prepared juice of a dozen or more shrubs and trees, all of which grow in tropical regions. [37] The belt of rubber-producing plants extends around [Pg 142] the world and includes such well-known species as the fig, the manihot (or manioc) , and the oleander; indeed, it is a condition of sap rather than a definite species of plant that produces rubber, and the latter is a manufactured rather than a natural product. The process of preparing the juice is practically the same in every part of the world. ”

“ If the wool is good the singed part can be brushed off without leaving the slightest trace of the burn. The smell of the burnt wool will also easily be recognized. Ascertain the relative strength of the material, making sure that the warp is the heaviest and strongest, the pile next and the woof the lightest. If the warp is lighter than the pile it will break easily or if the warp is light and the weaving loose it will pucker. Rugs whose foundation threads are dry and rotten from age are worthless. ”

“ Therefore, as the web draws away from the edge wire in the process of weaving, the tendency is for one selvage rubber cavity to be small, while the other is large, which means that at the open side there is a freedom for contraction of the edge rubber which is not present at the other side, and a long-sided uneven web is the result. ”

“ And rubber makes a belt around the world in its natural as well as in its manufactured form. The rubber-bearing zone winds north and south of the equator through both hemispheres. In South America rubber is the latex of certain trees, in Africa of trees and vines. The best "wild" rubber still comes from Para in Brazil. It is gathered and prepared for shipment there today by the same methods the natives used four hundred years ago. The natives in their canoes follow the watercourses into the jungles. ”

“ In order to appreciate the beauty of rugs, it is well to remember how they are made, and with what infinite patience the bits of wool are knotted onto the warp one after another, knot upon knot and tie after tie, until the perfect piece is finished. ”

“ Thus the rib c, entirely contradictory, by the direction of his life and energy, of the general intentions to the tree, is but a short-lived rib; d, not quite so opposite to his fate, lives longer; e, accommodating himself still more to the spirit of progress, attains a greater length still; and the largest rib of all is the one who has not yielded at all to the erratic disposition of the others when spring came, but, feeling quite as happy about the spring as they did, nevertheless took no holiday, minded his business, and grew straightforward. ”

“ Rubber is the name given to a coagulated milky juice obtained from many different trees, vines, and shrubs that grow on that part of the earth’s surface which forms a band some three or four hundred miles on either side of the equator. ”

“ An equally fascinating story might be told of its progress through the factory, how it is kneaded and rolled, mixed with chemicals, rubbed into fabrics, baked in ovens, and finally emerges as any one of the tens of thousands of articles that are made wholly or partly from rubber. ”

“ Crookedness detracts much from its value. Take hold of the centre and pull it up into a sort of cone shape. If compactly woven it will stand alone just as a piece of good silk will. Examine the pile and see whether it is long, short or worn in places down to the warp threads; whether it lies down as in loosely woven rugs or stands up nearly straight as in closely woven rugs; also note the number of knots to the square inch and whether or not they are firmly tied. The wearing qualities depend upon the length of the pile and the compactness of weaving. ”

“ It is obvious that the wool fibres, brought into contact with one another, tend to interlock; whereas silk fibres if rubbed or pressed together, simply slide over one another; the result in the fabric is by multiplication of the effect, a shrinking or contracting in length and breadth. ”

“ Out oozes a thickish white substance, some of which drops on to your fingers. Without a moment’s thought or hesitation, it comes natural to you to rub thumb against sticky fingers, whereupon the substance gradually solidifies, and at last breaks loose in the form of a tiny pellet. In a similarly simple way the mere savage discovered rubber hundreds of years ago ”

“ It will pay you to take some trouble to protect the rubber strands as far as possible. Lay them away in a can or jar in some cool, dry and dark place when they are not in use. Some boys cover the rubber with powdered chalk. When the surface of the rubber begins to granulate, its best days are over. Rubber is originally white in color, while the refining process gives it the familiar gray tone. ”

“ On the other hand, rubber seems to cling to the ground, no matter how much it is worn. The only objection to rubbers is that they are uncomfortably warm in hot weather; but that difficulty can be overcome by frequently plunging into a cool stream and standing there for several minutes. ”

“ Such a condition must be anticipated in the construction of the web and provision made to offset its occurrence. Sometimes it must be met by a change in the size of some of the yarns used, or number of threads employed at given points, or perhaps added gut threads must be introduced to stop contraction in certain places. It must always be remembered that we are dealing with a very much alive element when we are finishing rubber goods, and that unexpected results may at any time arise. ”

“ Cases have been known in which the fibrous matter observed in the dry crepe rubber was of such a nature as to indicate that the source might be attributed to leaf-stalks which had passed through the scrap-washer. It is an easy matter to condemn the sorting as being careless, but it is another matter to instil into the mind of factory coolies such a respect for easy and sane precautions that the practice of them will be continued when the eye of the supervisor is not fixed upon the workers. ”

“ To show what linsey woolsey is capable of, I will instance a material woven in India in thin woolen strips of about twelve inches in width. It is what we should call a sleazy material to begin with. The strips of different colours are sewn, and very badly sewn, together, and they are also badly woven. Too flimsy for actual wear, they are simply admirable vehicles for colour, and to this quality alone they owe their popularity and importance. ”

“ Experiment 62—How to Examine a Fabric
The first thing a buyer of cloth notices in examining the fabrics is the finish. The finish is tested by feeling and seeing. To illustrate: broadcloth should have a smooth face and a nap evenly laid. If the finish is in keeping with the character of the cloth, he next examines the fiber of the yarn to see whether it is composed of pure wool or two or more fibers in combination. ”

“ I have purposely chosen this as an example of a white object on dark ground, and the frog as a dark object on light ground, to explain to you what I mean by saying that fine engraving regards local color, but not light and shade. You see both frog and pig are absolutely without light and shade. The frog, indeed, casts a shadow; but his hind leg is as white as his throat. In the pig you don't even know which way the light falls. But you know at once that the pig is white, and the frog brown or green. ”