Rubber And Rubber Planting | by R. H. Lock

In endeavouring to make this book suitable for the needs of as wide a circle of readers as possible, it has been the aim of the author to combine an accurate account of the scientific side of rubber planting with a certain amount of practical information which may be of use to the prospective planter. The space available in a book of this kind only admits of treating the subject in the form of an introductory outline, but it is hoped that the information given will be found reliable as far as it goes.

Title	Rubber And Rubber Planting
Author	R. H. Lock
Publisher	G. P. Putnam's Sons
Year	1913
Copyright	1913, R. H. Lock
Amazon	Rubber And Rubber Planting

Cambridge University Press London

By R. H. Lock, Sc.D., Inspector H.M. Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Sometime Scholar and Fellow of Gonville and Caius College Cambridge and Assistant Director of Botanic Gardens, Ceylon

Cambridge: at the University Press, Cambridge.

Preface: DURING recent years interest in the Rubber-planting industry has extended far beyond that comparatively large section of the community, which is engaged in trades more or less directly connected with ...

Short List Of References: 1. Clayton Beadle and H. P. Stevens. Rubber, 2. Catalogue of the Second International Rubber and Allied Trades Exhibition. London, 1911. 3. Catalogue of the Third International Rubber and Allied Tr...

Chapter I. The History Of The Use And Cultivation Of Rubber: Early Uses PROBABLY no raw material of vegetable origin has been put to such multifarious uses as indiarubber. No other vegetable product has risen with equal rapidity from a position of comparativ...

Vulcanised Rubber: The method of vulcanisation, which ranks among the most important of all industrial discoveries, was first found out in America by Goodyear. In England, Hancock shortly afterwards arrived at the same ...

The Discovery Of Rubber In America: As the reader may perhaps have already anticipated, the first notice of the use of rubber comes to us in the history of the voyages of Columbus. Columbus found that the natives of Hayti possessed amon...

The Trade In Wild Rubber: The recent development of the trade in wild rubber may be traced in the following table, which shows the history for nearly a century of the most important kind, namely Para rubber, the produce of Hev...

Sir Clements Markhant Proposes Plantations: Herbert Wright has called attention to the fact that it was Hancock who in 1834 first suggested the possibility of cultivating the best kinds of rubber trees in the East and West Indies. The suggestio...

Hevea Brasiliensis In Ceylon: The principal nursery for the trees, which were to form the origin of the planting industry, was however at Henaratgoda, in Ceylon. Here flowers first appeared upon the trees in 1881, and in the same ...

Early Experiments: Some of the earliest experiments in tapping planted rubber trees were begun by Trimen at Henaratgoda in 1888. One of the largest of the original trees was tapped a few times in alternate years. Tappin...

Rise Of The Plantation Industry In The East: In Ceylon in the eighties, when the coffee plantations were practically exterminated, some attention was paid to the cultivation of Ceara rubber, but difficulties of tapping soon caused this product t...

Production From Estates: A large proportion of the acreage described above has been planted since 1906, and it will be readily understood that the production of plantation rubber is rapidly increasing, and is likely to increa...

Variations In The Price Of Rubber: The history of prices is indeed remarkable, and the factors which rule them are not always easy to understand. Taking the price of fine hard Para as the standard, the value of this commodity in 1871 w...

Chapter II. The Botanical Sources Of Rubber: We propose to give in the following chapter some description of the different species of plants from which rubber is obtained, and of the methods employed in collecting the rubber from these plants in...

List Of The Principal Rubber-Yielding Species: I. Moraceae Castilloa elastica, C. Markhamiana. Ficus elastica, F. Vogelii and other species. II. Euphorbiaceae Hevea brasiliensis and other species. Manihot Glaziovii, M. dichotoma, m. he...

Hevea Brasiliensis, Para Rubber: About 21 different species of Hevea are found in the Amazon region of North-West Brazil. Of these Hevea brasiliensis is the most important, and furnishes the highest quality of rubber. Hevea brasil...

Economic Aspects Of The Amazon Rubber Industry: The country which produces Para rubber lies in the States of Amazonas, Para and Acre. The pioneers of the industry are constantly pushing further afield up the different tributaries of the Amazon. Whe...

Other Species Of Manihot: In 1907 extensive reports were published in Germany emphasising the importance of Manitoba rubber as distinguished from ordinary Ceara. This rubber was said to be derived mainly from three species of ...

Castilloa: Castilloa elastica is the source of the Ule rubber of Central America and of the Caucho rubber of Peru. The species extends from the South of Mexico to the North of Peru, where it is separated from th...

Other American Species: Hancornia speciosa, the source of Mangabeira rubber, occurs in the South-West of Brazil and extends as far south as Rio de Janeiro. It grows on plateaux at an elevation of 3000 to 5000 feet It is a sm...

Guayule Rubber: Before proceeding to describe the wild rubbers of Africa and Asia, mention must be made of one other American species of strikingly different habit from those so far enumerated. This is Parthcnium arg...

African Rubbers: The Lagos Silk Rubber, Funtumia elastica, formerly known as Kickxia africana, is a handsome tree somewhat resembling a coffee plant when young. This rubber first came into notice in the colony of Lago...

Asiatic Rubbers: We now come to the tree which until quite recently most people have been accustomed to regard as the indiarubber plant par excellence. In its native home in Assam and Upper Burma, Ficus elastica grows...

Jelutong Rubber: This rubber, called after the name used by the natives in Borneo, is of a low type containing a very high proportion of resin. It has, however, taken a prominent place in the rubber market in conseque...

Chapter III. The Physiology Of Latex Production: Rubber is derived from a milky liquid, known as latex, which occupies a special series of channels in the cortex, or inner bark of a number of different species of plants. The proportion of rubber con...

The Structure And Functions Of The Vegetative Organs: What are known as the vegetative organs of a tree, as opposed to the organs specially concerned with reproduction, may be divided into leaves, stem and roots. The functions of the roots to take the la...

The Laticiferous System: The channels, which contain the latex, occur in leaves, stem and roots. They are already present in the young seedling, and they may also occur in the fruits and seeds. In the stem and roots these pas...

Latex Tubes: The type of channel which is characteristic of the majority of latex-producing plants, although not of the most important species from the point of view of rubber-production, is known as a latex tube....

Latex Vessels: In Hevea and Manihot, latex vessels are formed in an entirely different manner by the fusion of rows of cells derived from the cambium. These cells arise by the division of cambium cells in precisely ...

Hevea. Gross Structure Of The Bark: If we begin an examination of the bark of Hevea from the outside of the tree, we find first a brown or grey layer of cork, which is generally thin in young and untapped trees. The function of the cork...

Minute Anatomy Of Hevea Bark: The networks of laticiferous vessels in Hevea are seen in transverse section to be separated in the radial direction by about five rows of cells and other elements. Many of these are actually the siev...

The Effects Of Wounding The Bark: The further remarks in this and the following chapter refer specially to Hevea brasiliensis unless otherwise stated, for this is the only species of which the physiology has been at all adequately stu...

Renewal Of Bark: The bark is constantly undergoing increase in thickness owing to the activity of the cambium. As the phloem tubes grow older their functions are given up, and their place is taken by the younger eleme...

The Functions Of Latex: The fact that the latex vessels are entirely separate from the channels in which the food-bearing sap is transported, gives rise to the natural question: what is the use of these latex vessels to the ...

Composition Of Hevea Latex: Fresh latex as it flows from the tree consists of a fluid emulsion which closely resembles rather thin cream in general appearance. The composition is also somewhat similar, except that the fats of th...

Coagulation: Freshly drawn latex is alkaline in reaction. The addition of a suitable amount of any kind of acid leads to coagulation and to the separation of the rubber, with most of the resins and proteids, from ...

Chapter IV. The Physiology Of Latex (Continued). Tapping Experiments: Introductory THE examination of the living latex vessels in situ is a matter of extreme difficulty. On the other hand, the removal of the bark from the tree is followed by-immediate collapse of the...

Wound Response: If a tree of Castilloa or Funtumia is tapped, and the wounds are reopened after an interval of a few days, or if the bark is again tapped after a short interval in the neighbourhood of the original cu...

Reasons For The Increase Of Yield On Tapping: It is possible that the immediate response to tapping is partly due to a reduction in the viscosity of the latex, which is thus enabled to flow more freely. When part of the latex is removed from the ...

Duration Of Yield: With moderate and careful tapping no limit can at present be set to the period during which a similar yield will continue to be obtained from Hevea. By the end of April 1912, the tapping of the same s...

Relation Of Yield To Volume Of Bark: The evidence already given is sufficient to show that the amount of latex which can be removed from a Hevea tree in one year, must be very large in comparison with the quantity which was present in th...

Origin Of Latex: What is the source of this very large supply? It has been suggested that the latex may be manufactured in the leaves and pass down the tree to the wounded area. Now Hevea is a deciduous tree and in Ce...

Origin Of Latex. Continued: The seasonal variation in yield is clearly associated to some extent with the climatic conditions at different seasons, as may be seen on comparing it with the following table which shows the average ...

Variation In Yield Of Individual Trees: It is well known that rubber trees possess a marked individuality as regards the amount of latex which can be drawn from them. Tapping coolies, if left to themselves, soon discover these differences, ...

Variation In Yield Of Individual Trees. Continued: The problem of the physiological effect of paring upon the tree is therefore a complicated one. In addition to the rate of removal of the bark, both the amount of latex taken from the tree and the fre...

Yield At Different Levels Of The Trunk: The bark is thickest near the base of the tree, and it is here that the greatest flow of latex is obtained. On 29 trees tapping was carried on by six V cuts placed each one foot below the next, the lo...

Effect Of Tapping On The Composition Of The Latex: The increase in flow associated with wound response is accompanied by a reduction in the concentration of the latex. Hence in terms of latex the increases in yield during the early stages of tapping w...

General Considerations Affecting Yields: Given a uniform and moderate system of tapping, the yield from a Hevea tree should increase steadily with its age and girth. Too drastic tapping will certainly reduce the rate of increase of yield, an...

Resting Periods: A question which is frequently asked concerns the necessity or otherwise of resting periods. This also is a question upon which definite experimental work is required before a positive conclusion can ...

The Effects Of Tapping On The Tree: Moderate tapping seems to encourage not only increased latex formation but also an increased rate of growth in thickness over the area tapped. It seems probable that this increase must take place at t...

Hevea. Planting Operations. Choice Of Situation And Soil: THE hardiness of the Hevea rubber tree in the different countries of its adoption has been the occasion of some surprise. In Ceylon the trees have made remarkably good growth in situations where, in t...

Land Tenure: In Ceylon crown land is sold outright by auction, and is subject to a reserve price. Temple lands in the Kandyan country can be leased for a period of fifty years. A large proportion of the land suita...

Seed Selection: In the early days of rubber planting, seed for nurseries had to be taken where it could be got and selection was out of the question; but in the future it ought to be possible to lay considerable stre...

Draining, Irrigation, Roads, Etc: Nurseries having been properly established, attention may next be turned to the preparation of the fields for planting. In the first place some kind of draining will nearly always be necessary. In tro...

Lining And Spacing: The positions of the holes in which the trees will be planted must next be marked out in lines at right angles to a given base. It is important that these lines should be laid out accurately in order ...

Holing And Planting: After the positions of the trees have been staked out, holes must be dug for their reception. The holes should not be less than one and a half feet each way, and may conveniently be cubical. The large...

Weeding: We next come to the vexed question of weeding. It is the universal opinion of practical planters that clean weeding from the burn off is cheapest in the long run, and leads to better growth of the tre...

Intercrops: If wide planting be adopted, some kind of intercrop seems to be desirable in order that some revenue may be obtained during the period before the rubber comes into full bearing. In Ceylon, tea is comm...

Cultivation And Manuring: Few data exist with regard to the effect of cultivation on growth. Frequent deep forking has been tried on a small scale in Ceylon, and has apparently no harmful effect upon the trees. It is hardly to...

Green Manuring: Nitrogen is the most expensive of all the substances required by growing plants. A sufficient supply of nitrogen can most cheaply be added to soils, which are deficient in this respect, by the practic...

Shade And Wind Belts: Rubber requires no permanent shade, and indeed few trees would be tall enough to afford it The protection of dadaps, as already described, is often valuable in the early stages of growth, and this is ...

Pruning Of Rubber Trees: Except for the removal of dead branches, pruning is not generally recommended in the case of well grown rubber trees. Weak drooping branches which prevent the access of sunlight to the tapping area ma...

Thinning Out: There can be no doubt that thinning out is a problem which will soon have to be faced on the majority of estates, and on many the process is already in operation. The most important principle to be ob...

Oil From Rubber Seeds: It has been suggested that the collection of the seeds which are now produced in large quantities on Hevea plantations may form the basis of a profitable minor industry, since the kernels contain abou...

Oil From Rubber Seeds. Continued: Other Expenses In addition to the work already described, some of the other items of expenditure involved in opening up an estate may here be briefly enumerated. In the first place, there are the s...

Chapter VI. Harvesting Operations: Introductory Preparations for tapping the trees are generally begun when the plantation has reached an age of four or five years from planting. In each field over a certain age usually not less tha...

Harvesting Operations. Part 2: The fact is that no method of large incisions truly conforms to Wright's 'definition of good tapping, since such incisions entail the destruction, if not the removal, of a considerable mass of living ...

Harvesting Operations. Part 3: Excision Methods Of Tapping At the present time the method which is almost universally adopted on estates is paring on some system or other. The results are generally so satisfactory that paring is...

The Paring Process: The actual process of tapping is as follows. The opening cuts are narrow grooves cut in the outer bark and extending to within about one-eighth of an inch of the cambium. It is important that the dept...

Angle Of Cut: The fact that an angle of 45 degrees with the horizon is often adopted for the lateral cuts is largely a matter of convention. A more acute angle than 45 degrees is seldom used, but flatter cuts are a...

Distance Between Successive Cuts And Yield At Different Levels: In various systems of tapping, a distance of one foot between successive cuts has been very widely adopted. Here, again, prolonged and laborious experiments are required in order to ascertain what is ...

Difficulties And Precautions: The physiology of latex production was discussed in Chapters in and IV as fully as is justified by our limited knowledge of the subject The present section contains a few general remarks in relation t...

Chapter VII. Factory Work On The Estate: General THE latex, brought to the factory in tanks or buckets as it is collected from the trees, contains as a rule from 30 to 40 per cent, of pure caoutchouc. The latter is obtained in a state of ...

Factory Work On The Estate. Part 2: Transport Of Latex The latex is generally brought in from the field by coolies in enamelled iron buckets. On very large estates wheeled tanks are sometimes employed, and in some cases a system of s...

Factory Work On The Estate. Part 3: Washing The majority of commercial rubber, as purchased by the manufacturer, contains numerous impurities in various proportions. The first step in dealing with all wild rubbers is therefore to sub...

Criping And Vacuum Drying: In a typical factory then, the spongy mass of rubber derived from the acidified latex is fed into the first washing machine. The rubber is passed repeatedly through this machine under a stream of wate...

Smoking: It is not uncommon to combine the slow drying of rubber with a process of smoke curing, and for some time past rubber prepared in this way has commanded a higher price than the unsmoked variety. Many ...

Sales And Markets: The largest importing market of the world for rubber is New York, which receives nearly half of the total supply. Liverpool and London probably receive a comparatively higher proportion of the produce...

The Best Form Of Plantation Rubber: We have seen that plantation rubber is placed upon the market in a variety of different forms, among which biscuit, sheet, crêipe and block are the most familiar. Any of these forms may be either smok...

Defects And Blemishes: Complaints are not uncommonly made of the appearance of spots and discoloured patches on the rubber turned out of the factory. In fairness be it remarked that such complaints are much less common than...

Chapter VIII. The Pests And Diseases Of Hevea: Plantation Conditions Probably no species of plant is exempt from the attacks of some kind of animal or vegetable enemy or parasite. Under natural conditions, however, it is rare to find any diseas...

Epidemics: Consequently the occurrence of epidemics under the conditions described is by no means unknown. One of the most famous examples of modern times is afforded by the coffee leaf fungus Hemileia vastatrix...

Wind: Perhaps the most serious of all pests which affect the health of rubber plantations is an inanimate one, namely wind. In regions which are severely wind-swept it is useless to attempt the growth of He...

Animals: Among the larger animal pests of rubber plantations are elephants, deer, cattle, pigs, monkeys and porcupines. All these animals are liable to effect widespread destruction in young clearings, and por...

Insects: Under ordinary conditions a healthy Hevea tree is practically immune from the attacks of boring insects, owing to the presence of latex, which is found an effectual check to the progress of these pest...

Fungus Diseases: On the whole, the enemies of Hevea belonging to the animal kingdom are less deadly than the vegetable pests reckoned among the parasitic fungi. The most important, that is to say the commonest, diseas...

Diseases Of The Roots: Root diseases are particularly dangerous, because their early stages generally pass unnoticed, and very often the first indication of their presence is given by the death of the tree. Sometimes the ma...

Fomes Semitostus: The fructification of Fomes semitostus does not usually make its appearance until long after the death of the tree. Where rubber trees have died however it is frequently to be found on a neighbouring ...

Hymenochaete Noxia: The fructification of Hymenochaete noxia commonly known as Brown Root Disease is much less conspicuous than that of Fomes, and is also comparatively rare. When present it takes the form of a thin brow...

Diseases Of The Stem Canker: Three diseases of the stem are more or less prevalent in Hevea, whilst four others which at present appear to be of minor importance have been recorded from time to time. Probably the most serious ...

Pink Disease: The malady known as Pink disease, due to the attacks of the fungus Corticium salmonicolar, has much more the appearance of what is commonly regarded as a canker. This disease makes its appearance as a...

Die-Back: A third disease which attacks the leading shoots of Hevea is known as die-back. This expression describes the nature of the disease with considerable accuracy. The fungus responsible for the disease i...

Burrs And Nodules: A common complaint affecting the stems of Hevea trees, to which no sufficient cause has yet been assigned, consists in the development of woody nodules in the bark. These sometimes make their appearan...

General Sanitation: In a well lighted plantation which is kept clear of decaying stumps and branches, fungus diseases are not likely to make their appearance except sporadically. Close planting and the presence of interc...

Chapter IX. The Cultivation Of Species Other Than Hevea Brasiliensis: ALTHOUGH Hevea brasiliensis is universally recognised as the plantation rubber tree par excellence, several other kinds of rubber-producing plants are used extensively for the same purpose. In spite o...

Manihot: Ceara rubber, Manihot Glaziovii, was the third species to be widely distributed to British possessions in the Tropics during the seventies. Introduced to Kew from North East Brazil by Cross in 1876, s...

Funtumia: Funtumia elastica and its cultivation in Africa have been made the exclusive subjects of a recent book by C. Christy (The African Rubber Industry and Funtumia elastica). From this work the few remarks...

Ficus Elastica: Sir Daniel Morris, in his Cantor Lectures, states that In 1873 the Government of Bengal decided to start regular plantations of Ficus elastica in Assam. The order, issued in 1873, was repeated in 187...

Chapter X. The Chemistry Of India-Rubber: The chemical composition and behaviour of india-rubber are among the most difficult problems with which the organic chemist is confronted. The nature of these problems can only be indicated here in th...

Properties Of Colloids: A colloid may be defined as a substance which forms a jelly-like solution, incapable of passing through a membrane of parchment or similar material. Colloids are thus contrasted with crystalloids whic...

Composition Of Technically Pure Rubber: Technically pure rubber is by no means pure in the chemical sense. The chief impurities present are various resinous and allied bodies, which can be removed more or less completely by prolonged extrac...

Physical Properties: In the highest attainable state of chemical purity, india-rubber is a practically colourless and odourless substance, possessing a specific gravity of approximately 0.911. It is insoluble in water, bu...

Destructive Distillation Synthesis: The destructive distillation of india-rubber gives rise to isoprene CBH8, and to other bodies of the formula (C5H8). Isoprene is also the most important step in the synthesis of rubber, for whi...

Vulcanisation: The molecule of rubber is unsaturated, and is able to enter into direct combination with different elements. This fact is expressed in its constitutional formula by the presence of double links betwee...

Chapter XI. The Manufacture Of Rubber Goods: The principal processes employed in a rubber factory begin with the washing and drying of the crude commercial samples, which require thorough cleansing in order that technically pure rubber may be ob...

Washing Of Rubber Goods: It has already been pointed out that in dealing with the pure samples of rubber now produced on estates, the preliminary cleansing operations, necessary in the case of all ordinary commercial samples,...

Drying Of Rubber Goods: The so-called nerve lost in washing is partly recovered during the slow process of drying, which is effected by hanging the strips of rubber in large chambers exposed to a current of dry air. The dr...

Mastication And Mixing Of Rubber Goods: Mastication is sometimes carried out in a machine resembling a powerful churn or sausage machine. For most purposes rollers are employed similar to or identical with the mixing rollers. Mixing is alwa...

Preparation Of Sheet Rubber: A large proportion of rubber articles are manufactured from sheet rubber. The highest class of sheet rubber is cut from block, but this method is less used than formerly, on account of the increased p...

Calendering: At the present day by far the largest proportion of sheet rubber is prepared in machines known as calenders. Indeed, the calenders are among the most important machines in modern rubber factories. A c...

Manufacture Of Various Articles: A large variety of articles are made directly from sheet rubber. The highest class of cut sheet rubber is used in the manufacture of such articles as tobacco pouches. Permanent joints can be made by s...

Rubber Solution: A large variety of objects is manufactured by dipping prepared fabrics in rubber solution. The solvents chiefly employed are benzene and mineral naphtha The rubber is rendered more readily soluble by ...

Vulcanisation During Manufacture: H. C. Pearson has pointed out that the natives of some parts of the Amazon districts are accustomed to mix sulphur with the latex of Hevea before employing it for waterproofing. True combination betwe...

The Dry Process: The chambers used for vulcanising by the dry process are often of very large size. They may take the form of great iron tunnels, into which the articles to be vulcanised are run on rails. Hose pipes a...

Cold Process: The cold process, discovered by Parkes, can only be used for vulcanising very thin sheet. This is due to the extreme rapidity of the process, which is such that if it were applied to thick rubber, the...

Reclaimed Rubber: During recent years the scarcity and high price of fresh rubber has led to the use of enormous quantities of old rubber, reclaimed in various ways, either in combination with fresh rubber or alone. Ol...

Vulcanite: The manufacture of vulcanite resembles in principle that of ordinary rubber goods at all stages, except that a larger proportion of sulphur is added in the mixing and that vulcanisation is carried out...

The Testing Of Rubber Goods: A number of ingenious devices are employed in determining the quality of rubber goods as well as that of raw rubber. The principal tests to which manufactured rubber is subjected are those for abrasio...

Rubber And Rubber Planting | by R. H. Lock

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