Exercise Rubber Chapter 5

1. The latex vessel is located near the vascular cambium .

2. The latex vessel run spirally from the bottom left to the top right with an angle 0f 5
3. Cloned rubber tree with 45cm or more girth measurement at the height of 150cm are ready to
be harvested.
4. The direction of tapping should be from the upper left to the lower left with a slope of 30 to
make sure the latex can flow rapidly without overflow.
5. Upward tapping is done by tapping from the lower right to the upper left.
6. Ethefon/ Ethrel (ET) or Ethylene is used to increase the tapping yield by prolong the latex flow.
7. Ethefon (ET) are available in the form of ET2.5% (Blue), ET5.0% (Green) and ET10% (Red) .
8. Ethefon or Ethrel will produce ethylene that helps stimulate the flow of latex.
9. Tapping system is the combination of length and pattern of cutting, frequency of tapping and
use of Ethefon.
10. Tapping should be done to a depth of less than 1 mm close to the cambium.
11. Two (2) methods of LITS widely practice in the field are ½ S d/4 (50%) and ½ S d/3 (75%).
12. Fresh latex is slightly alkaline and will become acidic rapidly due to bacterial action.
13. Ammonia (stabilizing agent) is used to prevent the latex from coagulating.
14. Formic acid is added coagulate latex.
15. Dry rubber content (DRC) of rubber is within the range of 3 0 - 4 0% and it referred to the
rubber particle found in latex.
16. Latex concentration by creaming and centrifugation will produce latex glove and condom.
17. The coagulated latex is used to produce block rubber and sheet rubber.
18. The sheet rubber contribute to the production of Unsmoked sheet (USS), Ribbed smoked
sheet (RSS), and air-dry sheet.
19. The ribbed smoked sheet (RSS) has a minimum dry time,
heat loss and drying cost.
20. The sheets are passed through a pair of groove - surfaced roller presser to give the sheets the
ribbed appearance as well as to quickly drain off surface water.

SHORT ANSWER.
1. Give (4) importance of dry rubber content (DRC) of rubber.
• As a guide in sale and purchase of latex
• As a basis for payment to rubber tappers
• To determine the yield of an area of rubber plantation
2. Give (3) criteria of the suitable time for a rubber ready to be cut open or tapped.
✓ 4 - 5 years after planting
✓ Done in the early morning
✓ the girth should b e 45cm or more and measured at 150cm height from the ground level
3. Write the full description of the following tapping system combinations. And determine which of
the tapping system is considered as Low Intensity Tapping System (LITS) that can sustains the
rubber production.
i. 1S d/1 ET2.5% 2/y
Full circumference spiral, everyday tapping, no interval, use 2.5% Ethefon/Ethrel, use 2 times
a year.
ii. 1/2 d/3 ET5% 3/y
One half spiral cut, every third day tapping, two days interval, use 5% Ethefon/Ethrel, use 3 times a
year. (LITS)
iii. 1/4S d/4 ET5% 3/y
One quarter spiral cut, every fourth day tapping, three days interval, use 5% Ethefon/Ethrel, use 3
times a year.
iv. 1/4S d/1 ET2.5% 2/y
One quarter spiral cut, everyday tapping, no interval, use 2.5% Ethefon/Ethrel, use two times a
year.
v. 1/8S d/5 ET2.5% 4/y
One eight spiral cut, every fifth day tapping, four days interval, use 2.5% Ethefon/Ethrel, four times
a year.