The Origin of Forest Rubber Trees

The rubber trees as we have seen in the plantation for million of rais at present is “Local Trees” or the foreigners have called “Domesticated Trees” i.e. it’s from taking forest rubber trees to cultivate and select the species until it has the properties as required.

It’s like taking jungle fowl to breed and implement the species to get domestic fowl, fighting cock or fancy fowl as required.  But before getting domesticated trees with required properties, i.e. to yield more latex, it has taken almost 200 years.

Why do you need to take forest rubber trees to sort out the species to become Domesticated Trees?  This is because, in the past, people had started to use forest rubber trees and continue to develop the production techniques until these rubber products, which were originally only the toys and the equipment used in the religious ceremony for the Native in South Africa to become the industrial products as seen at present.  So, forest rubber has become shortage.

The natural rubber, which originally was one of the forest items has turned into market product, was definitely not just by accident but it’s because of its special properties unlike the other and non-like it.  It’s stretchable, retractable and bouncing.  Just think about it, in all body material, either metal or non metal, even the stone and sand, were there any material that can stretch and elongate or let go and shrinking and when dropping on the floor it would bounce back as rubber?  Nothing else.

This is amazing, so it has astonishing attracted many people’s attention, even Christopher Columbus, when he sailed across to America Continent in 1498, he had seen hative tribesmen in Haiti played the rubber ball, he was startled and exclaimed that it’s like the ghost object.

This amazing material obtained from forest rubber tree, which were found all over the areas in tropical rain forest.  It’s not only in the South America forest, if it were the forests in the line of equator, even the Africa Continent or in Asia Continent, all would have forest rubber trees there.  The forest rubber trees had vine and perennial trees of more than 200 species.  In asia Continent, we had Rambong or Ficus elastica.  In Africa, we had Funtumia elastica and Landolphia spp vines.  In Central America, there was Castilla spp that had given Caucho rubber and in South Amercia, there was Manihot spp and from Amazon River basin group which had give Ceara or Manicoba rubber, etc.

In the Amazon River basin forest in Brazil, there were also many forest trees that yielded rubber, but there were only 2 types that had the quality begin accepted for exporting.  Which were: Castilla ulei and Hevea spp only, even though the production sources of forest rubber was so far away in South America, but as it was the amazing material, it had attracted the European Scientist’s attention to travel to South America from time to time.

It’s not only due to the amazes in itself, but as European people had seen the tribesmen to make touch from rubber, to make boot, bottle and squirt gun, overcoat, rainproof-cloth and roof-cover tent, etc. was another reason for them to realize its value and the benefit of forest rubber to human being.  Early generation of European that had travel to South America had felt amazed to notice the different in local geographical features, which had resulted in different in production, i.e. the Mexican would make solid shape products while the Amazon and Quaynus people would make hallow shape products.  Normally, this wasn’t so strange because we also have things like this as well.  If anyone in the village had made one thing, others would do the same thing for the whole village, such as, if one had become the potter, the rest would become the potter as well.  So, pottery village was formed as seen.  But at the same time, we also have the whole villagers to make Thai dolls, as well.

The scientist in early day who had traveled into South America was called “de La Condomine”, the French Astronomer and Geologist who had written the book to explain the Ecuador and Brazilian Natives’ usage of “Cautchouc” from “hheve” wood’s method in 1745 t omake rubber products as mentioned above and the name of “Fresneau” the French engineer, the Author who had described rubber tapping method and rubber coagulating and drying method by warming with fire smoke in 1755 was included in the history of rubber Industry as well.

The Diary of de La Condamine and Fresneau had made us known that, the native in South America had made the rubber products by turning rubber into solution and then transfigured into required craftwork later.  Therefore, during 1750 – 1800, the European Scientists, mostly were Frenchmen, because de La Condamine and Fresneau, the Authors were the Frenchmen, had tried to find the new solution with higher efficiency than the original solution which was used by the natives.  The making technique had developed as well, such as, to make soft host, able to do so by using rubber solution to coat the wax mold or using clothes to mold up into tube shape and then coated with rubber solution afterward or to cut rubber sheet into thin slices and then used to wrap around the glass rod and then adhered into the same texture afterward.

Furthermore in 1783, French Scientist had achieved to use silk cloth to stitch into bag and coated with solution to make balloon to use with Hydrogen gas.  As for other productions other than these were very few.  Within these items, it should include the English Chemist, Priestley’s black pencil eraser made up in 1770 and the elastic knee pad made in Paris in 1803 were included.  Therefore, during before 1800, to make use of forest rubber from South America in Europe was rather few, it’s due to, it wasn’t the industrial era or it could be called research studied session.  This could be seen that, Natural Rubber was the forest item with prosperous future.