May 1, 1914.. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



431 



The Development and Design of a Machine for Producing Plan- 

 tation Rubber by the Brazihan Smoking Method. 



By II. If. FanvcU, A.B.. and .17. //. Kani, C.F.. 



WIIE.X in till- suiniiKT of 191(1 Mr. E. A. Korii, tliu crude 

 rubber importer and merchant of New York, made 

 liis tour of the rubber producing countries of the 

 l'"ar East he was greatly impressed by the uneconomic and 

 inefficient methods employed on the plantation in the pro- 

 duction of crude rubber from rubber latex. 



Having visited Brazil several times before taking his trip 

 east he was naturally well acquainted with the careful coagu- 

 lating and curing methods in use there, so the difference 

 between the two methods of coagulation was brought home 

 to him most forcefully, and it was easy for him to explain 

 the evident reasons for the difference in quality of the result- 

 ing rubber. It is of course well known that the market value 

 of best plantation fine is about 10 cents per pound lower than 

 that of Brazilian Upriver Fine, but that this self-depreciation 

 is entirely unnecessary and can be avoided is not so gen- 

 erally known to the plantation owners. 



Mr. Korn in an interview with the "Ceylon Observer" 

 stated at the time of his stay in Ceylon that if plantation latex 

 were smoke-coagulated and cured like Brazilian, the resulting 

 rubber would be equal in quality and market value to 

 lirazilian l''ine from the Tapajoz region. His views were 

 seriously disputed by a few whose actual experience and 

 knowledge of the subject really did not entitle them to as- 

 simie the role of critics. It is quite clear to those who are 

 capable of logical reasoning that if certain treatment is ap- 

 l>lied to a certain organic substance with a certain resulting 

 reaction, the same treatment applied to the same organic 

 substance, in another part of the world, will cause the same 

 reaction — and a like product will result in both cases. This 

 argument covers the case exactly and completely, for the two 

 latices come from the same species of trees — Hcvea Brasilicn- 

 sis. There are, of course, some diflferences in soil and climatic 

 conditions as well as in the age of the trees, but they do not 

 seem to have any appreciable effect either way on the quality 

 of the latex tapped in the East. 



It must therefore be admitted that the rubber producers 

 of the East are at the present time incurring a large loss in 

 possible returns, a loss which in fact amounts to approxi- 

 mately $20,000,000 annually, because the inferior and ineffi- 

 cient methods of coagulation decrease the value of the re- 

 sulting rubber to that extent. 



It is the purpose of this article first to show the truth of 

 the existence of this actual loss of $20,000,000 per year to 

 the planters: secondly, to show how this immense loss may 

 be practically eliminated by the use of proper coagulation 

 and curing methods, and, thirdly, how these methods can be 

 eflfectively employed on the rubber plantations of the East. 



We shall assume in our computations that the quality of 

 Eastern rubber cannot quite be brought up to the finest 

 Brazilian L'privcr Fine — even by proper coagulation. This 

 assumption is made simply to be on the conservative side 

 of our estimate. It is to be expected, of course, that the 

 latices are a little different in chemical composition, first be- 

 cause the soils are somewhat different, the soil in Brazil 

 being alluvial while that in the East is mostly primary forma- 

 tion (laterite). Secondly, most of the trees in the East are 

 younger than those tapped in Brazil, and the latex from 

 young trees contains slightly more resin, which tends to 

 weaken rubber. It must further be remembered that the 



Eastern trees are all seeded from the llevea of the Tapajoz 

 region in Brazil. 



We shall therefore draw our comparison between Tapajoz 

 I'ine rubber and plantation smoked sheet, based upon market 

 conditions existing in New York at the beginning of 

 March, 1914. 



Market price of Tapajoz Fine, per lb 72 cents 



Market price of plantation ribbed smoked sheet, per lb 61 cents 



.Actual loss in returns to planters, per lb 1 1 cents 



Loss in weight in wasliing Tapajoz Fine 20 per cent. 



Loss in weight in washing plantation smoked sheet 3 per cent. 



Value of Tapajoz I'ine to the manufacturer after washing, 



per lb 86 cents 



\'aluc of plantation smoked sheet to the manufacturer after 



washing, per lb 63 cents 



Fxcess value of Tapajoz over plantation ready for working, 

 per lb 23 cents 



This at the present rate of production of about 50,000 tons 



per year means an approximate loss of; 



50,000 X 2,000 X 20 cents 



(taken conservatively) = $20,000,000 



100 



to the plantations taking part in this enormous production. 



Having proven the rather startling fact that this article of 



immense commercial utility is being produced to the extent 



of 50.000 tons per year at an actual monetary deficiency in 



legitimate and possible returns of approximately 20 cents 



per iKumd. we shall now show : 



(1) That the inferior quality of Ceylon Rubber is due to im- 



proper coagulation methods. 



(2) That the Brazilian process of coagulation, if applied to 



Eastern latex, will produce rubber in every essential 

 of quality like Brazilian Fine rubber, and will add $20,- 

 000.(X)0 to the annual returns of the plantations in the 

 East. 



(3) That the Brazilian process of coagulation can be applied 



to Eastern conditions of production if it is made 

 mechanical. 



Regarding our first contention, namely, that the inferior 

 quality of Eastern rubber is caused by improper coagulation 

 methods: It is generally known that the methods employed 

 on the Eastern plantations at the present time merely result 

 in a more or less complete coagulation (without curing) of 

 the latex; i. e., they simply draw together the rubber particles 

 in the latex, with their consequent inore or less complete 

 separation from the water content, which often runs as high 

 as 65 to 70 per cent. None of the processes effect the counter- 

 action of the proteins which later cause putrefaction of the rubber 

 and a conversion (within a comparatively short time) of the 

 good rubber into a sticky, lifeless substance. It is equally 

 well known, at least among manufacturers of rubber goods, 

 that any rubber coagulated in this way lacks in resiliency; 

 it is' "short," and docs not possess the long life of good 

 Brazilian rubber. 



It is for these reasons that plantation rubber, although pro- 

 duced from the same species of trees as Brazilian, has been 

 lower in actual value than Brazilian grades. 



If in contrast to the above we will now study the Brazilian 

 methods of coagulation we cannot help but feel that it will 

 result in a far superior grade of rubber. The latex there is 

 coagulated and cured in layers no thicker than 0.01 of an 

 inch (0.25 of a millimeter) by the chemical and preservative 

 action of the smoke of tropical woods. This smoke is com- 



