What is the rubber tree?

History

Application

Plant a rubber tree

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Introduction
There are two kinds of rubber: natural rubber harvested from the rubber tree and synthetic rubber produced from petroleum. Although synthetic rubber is widely used, natural rubber is always considered irreplaceable and essential for the U.S. economy and national security because it provides performance characteristics not available from synthetic, petroleum-derived rubber, according to the Program of Excellence in Natural Rubber Alternatives (PENRA), a R&D organization formed by the Ohio State University. Rubber Tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is a tree belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the most economically important member of the genus Hevea. It is of major economic importance because the milky latex extracted from the tree is the primary source of natural rubber. (Wiki)

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History
Actually, behind the simple word, rubber, there are great discovery and interesting development process. The rubber tree, also known as the Hevea tree, has a long history of formation. It was originated in South America and was found by a French geographer (Charles Marie de La Condamine) in the 18th century. Although the first scientific paper about the rubber tree and its latex, a kind of sticky and milky liquid drawn from the tree, was published in 1755, European scientists for a very long time did not see it good for anything except for rubbing off pencil marks. This was where the name rubber came from. Slowly, the scientists discovered ways to make useful products from rubber latex. However, it was the blooming of car industry in the early
Figure 1: Charles Marie de La of the 20th century that triggered the massive demand of natural rubber Condamine mainly for making tires. After that, by adding various chemicals to raw rubber, scientists found ways to make many more products from rubber that people can see everywhere today. In fact, rubber has become a very important raw material for modern industry.

After that, the European and American scientists had discovered and invented many products which made of rubber such as shoes, boots, coats, wagon covers, fire hoses, balloon, especially pneumatic tires, etc. Rubber became an important industrial material in 19th century, Hevea tree then was cultivated in many different countries in the world. As stated in The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: In 1876, seeds of the Hevea tree were brought from Brazil to England... Seedlings were raise at Kew Gardens and shipped to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Singapore. These trees were the origin of the rubber plantation industry in Asia

Figure 2: Map of tree's history

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Application

Natural rubber is used in many different industries. Nowadays, 90% supply of the natural rubber resource comes from Asia. The total natural rubber production is now approximately 6.5 million tons per year and about 70% of natural rubber is used in tire industry. (The New Encyclopaedia Britannica). Natural rubber is also used to produce surgical gloves, catheters and other medical instruments. Other products include adhesives, binders, tubes, hoses, belts, footwear, rainwear, balloons, etc.

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Planting and harvesting rubber trees

The process of planting and harvesting rubber trees is truly complex. First of all, the climate has to be tropical. The tree only grows in areas with annual rainfall of about 100 inches and it also requires a long annual dry season about five months. Therefore, good places for rubber trees to grow are only found in Southeast Asia, parts of South Asia, and West Africa. In addition, the process of cultivating requires special methods for the rubber tree to yield high production.
Figure 3 : Plant trees in the farm

The way we grow the tree now is very different from the past. People had to do intensive researching and a lot of experiments to find out how to get the most latex from the tree. The process of planting Hevea tree is also a time consuming process. It is first seeded carefully in a small field. Then the young tress are grafted and transferred to the plantation to grow. Typically, it takes about six to seven years for the tree to grow and ready to be harvested. Harvesting also requires special equipment and technique. To get the latex from a Hevea tree, a worker needs to cut around the bark of the tree with a specially designed knife called the tapping knife. From the wound, a stream of milky liquid called latex comes out and drops into a cup attached to the tree right underneath the cut. The harvest starts early in the morning, when the internal pressure of the tree is highest. With proper cutting technique, each rubber tree gives a full cup of latex within a few hours. The cups of latex then will be collected and processed to make raw material for other industries.

Figure 3: Harvesting