April 1, 1921 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



481 



A Glossary of Words and Terms Used in the Rubber Industry — IV' 



By Henry C. Pearson 



EAST INDIAN RUBBER— WILD 



OLD TIME staiularj giades and also new, as they relate to 

 wild ruhber tiom the Far East, are fast disappearing. 

 This is in i;art due to tlie plentiful supply of low cost plan- 

 tation rubber a..d partly because jungle produced rubber is washed 

 and sheeted at plantation factories, thus taking on the form 

 of plantation products. It is chiefly as a matter of record, there- 

 fore, tliat the following are listed. 



.\si.\Tic. Crude wild and iilantation rubber from Malaya, India, 

 the Dutch East Indies, IJornco and the Philippines, 



Assam. The best known -Asiatic wild rubber, the product of 

 the ricus clastica. The term applies generally to all Indian Ficus 

 rubbers but specifically to the product of that tree from Burma, 

 Annatn, Straits Settlements, Federated Malay States and Sumatra. 

 It is known also as Rangoon, Penang, Rambong, Sumatra and 

 Java rubber. The latex is coagulated either by boiling, forming 

 slab, or by air drying from wliich mat rubber and balls are made 

 It is marketed in oblong slabs qr balls (onions). The rubber 

 ■comes in four grades. No. 1 to No. 4, the best grade showing a 

 glossy pinkish surface in cross sections. Lower grades are 

 soft and dirty. Shrinkage IS per cent to 40 per cent. 



Borneo. Rubber produced in Borneo, the Straits Settlements, 

 the Celebes, Sumatra, Moluccas and the Philippine Islands. 

 The principal ports of shipment are Macassar and Singapore. 

 It ranks below other Asiatic sorts, is much lower in price and 

 with a high rate of shrinkage. It comes in sheets and balls, 

 more or less l)ulky, like pieces of liver and is soft and porous. 

 The pores are tilled with salt water or whey for the reason that 

 salt is used to coagulate the rubber, and a saline incrustation is 

 left in the cells when the water evaporates. Borneo rubber 

 comes in three grades, the first of wdiich is good while the lowest 

 grade when cut is almost as soft as putty and is worth but 

 little. 



Bre.sk. See Pontianak. 



Bandjermassin. See Pontianak. 



Beni Kalen. A grade of Java. See Assam. 



Cochin-China. Rubber from the native vines and trees as 

 the Parameira. Come in lumps, dark brown in' color. 



DvERA. See Pontianak. 



Dead Borneo. See Borneo. 



East Indian. See Assam and Plantation Rubber 



French Indo-China. Rubber from the Paraineira, Blcecrodia 

 and other sources. 



Fluvia. See Pontianak. 



Gamhia. See Pontianak. 



GuTTA Jelutong. See Pontianak. 



India Gum Resin. A resin extracted from jelutong or Ponti- 

 anak. 



Indraciri. a native rubber machined in Singapore. The pro- 

 •duct appears on the market as dry and wet sheet. On creping a 

 fairly strong blanket crepe is jirodnced. 



Java. See Assam. 



Jelutong. See Pontianak. 



Lampong. a grade of Java. See Assam. 



Machined Rubber. Wild rubber of native gathering, that 

 is put through the process of washing, sheeting or creping. 



M.\t Rubber. Ficus rubber, air coagulated on bamboo mats. 

 See Assam. 



Manungan Pulan. Singapore native name for Borneo rub- 

 ber. See Borneo. 



'Continued frcm The India Rcbber World, March 1. 1921, page* 404-405. 



Malaysian Rl'hher. Deresinatcd jelutong from Goebilt, Sa- 

 rawak, Borneo. Graded as light brown crepe, dark brown crepe 

 and block. 



New Caledonia. A product of a variety of trees and vines 

 shipped from Port Villa in cakes weighing from 13 to 23 pounds. 

 It is brown inclining to black in appearance and of a fair quality. 

 Shrinkage 18 to 20 per cent. 



Pontianak, A low grade rubber also known as jelutong, gutta 

 jelutong, gambria, bresk and fluvia produced chiefly in Borneo 

 frt)ni the late.x of the Dycra coslulata. Contains kerosene as a 

 preservative and earthy matter as an adulterant. Yellowish 

 brown surface, cuts white with a moist sour smell. Hard on the 

 outside but softens like putty with slight warmth. Shrinkage 

 60 to 80 per cent. Although often classed with low grade 

 guttas it is not a gutta but a very resinous rubber, the rubber 

 content being about 10 per cent. The several grades are 

 named from the districts in which the gum is produced as 

 Palembang, Pontianak, Sarawak, Bandjermassin. 



Pontianak Re.sin. See India Gum Resin. 



Pressed Pontianak. Jelutong rublier containing no kerosene 

 or earthy matter. See Pontianak. 



Palembang. See Pontianak. 



Pamanoekan Balls. A name for Java rubber. See Assam. 



Philippine. Rubber which is the product of a vine, the 

 Choncmorpha clastica found in Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Min- 

 danao. The latex is coagulated by adding sea water. The rubber 

 is tacky and grades the satne as No. 1. Borneo. 



Rangoon. Ficus rubber shipped from Rangoon. See Assam. 



Rambong. The native name for Ficus rubber from the Straits 

 Settlements and Federated Malay States. See Assam. 



Sumatra. See Assam, 



Sarawak. See Pontianak, 



Tawi-Tawi, See Philippine Rubber. 



White Assam. See Borneo. 



PLANTATION RUBBER 



Grades of plantation rubber which could be cotuitcd on the 

 lingers of one hand a few years ago are now numbered by the 

 score. Theoretically there should be but a half dozen from 

 planted Hevea and about three each from cultivated Manihot, 

 Castilloa and Ficus. Differences in gathering and in coagulation, 

 the careless work of small native planters, the mixing of wild 

 rubbers with cultivated, and the arbitrary creation of new grades 

 all add to the confusion. 



The segregation of plantation rubber into grades is done in part 

 at the plantation and finished by the exporters and importers at 

 ruiblx-r centers such as Singapore, Batavia, London and New ^'ork. 

 The basis of grading is color, dryness, cleanness, hardness and 

 freedom from blemishes of any sort. 



The general sorts are crepe and sheet. Crepe comes in eleven 

 grades with names that very nearly coincide in the jirincipal 

 markets. Sheet, smoked and unsmoked, comes in three principal 

 grades from the big plantations, but in a great variety of grades 

 from the small native plantations. 



The following arrangement is an attempt to give to most of 

 the existing grades some sort of coherence. The sources of 

 information are various growers and importers of rubber. United 

 States commerce reports, British and Dutch government reports, 

 together with the work of John A. Fowler and Dr. P. Arens. 

 Unless otherwise specified all of the grades mentioned below 

 consist of Hevea plantation rubbers. 



.Anti-Coagulants. Chemicals employed to prevent coagulation 

 in the field or before the addition of the proper coagulant. As 

 formaline, sodium sulphite, etc. 



