110 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



This machine thoroughly washes and 

 cleanses the rubber, turning it out in a 

 thin, semi transparent sheet, punched 

 all over and giving it the appearance 

 of crepe— hence the name of rubber 

 treated by the machine. An advantage 

 with it is that scrap and dirty rubber 

 taken from the trees can be put through 

 it and turned out perfectly clean and 

 as good as fresh biscuits* Besides the 

 tapping knives and "lace machine," 

 Mr. Holloway has invented a " rubber 

 tapping guide." It consists of a pole 

 12 feet long with a row of holes one 

 foot apart and a peg to fit into them. 

 On the pole a sheet of tin fits and 

 slides readily up and down and is fix- 

 able at any of these holes with the 

 iron peg through it. This guide, held 

 against the tree, gives exactly the posi- 

 tions and is a rule for cutting half or 

 full " herring bone " cuts. It is quite 

 evident that whatever tapping system 

 is adopted, to be economic, the cuts 

 must be made regularly and correctly; 

 this the Tamil coolie cannot do him- 

 self, but given the Holloway guide he 

 cannot easily go wrong. Further, held 

 the other way up, the guide gives cor- 

 rect positions and marks for the spiral 

 cutting method, one which has recently 

 been brought forward in Ceylon by Mr. 

 Charles Northway, a rubber planter of 

 experience in the southern province, 

 and a system which has given astonish- 

 ing results. It is well worth giving a 

 few particulars here. 



SPIRAL TAPPING. 



The spiral tapping system is the re- 

 sult of experiments carried on by two 

 planters, Messrs. Charles Northway 

 and E. D. Bowman, on Deviturai estate, 

 in the Southern province, Ceylon, who 

 recognized the need of an economical 

 and scientific method of tapping Hevea 

 Brastlitnsis. 



It is desirable that the bark be re- 

 moved from the tree as slowly as pos- 

 sible, at the same time yielding the 

 greatest flow of latex consistent with 

 no harm to the tree. Though it is now 

 known that the tree will stand a tre- 

 mendous lot of ill treatment in Ceylon 

 and yet survive and yield well, yet the 

 tree has a limit of production of latex, 

 and when that is reached its flow di- 

 minishes and a rest for recuperation is 

 required. Further, under scientific tap- 

 ping, the bark must be renewed evenly 



»The machine referred to, made by the Fede- 

 rated EosineerinK Co., Limited, (Kuala Lumpur), 

 was designed by their manager, Mr. Dearie Rus- 

 sell, and has been in practical use on Malay States 

 rubber plantations for more than a year, having the 

 warm approval of Mr. P. J. Burgess, the govern- 

 ment rubber expert.— The Editor. 



[January i, 1906. 



SPIRAL SYSTEM OF TAPPINQ.t 



over the trunk so as to offer a new 

 surface which is smooth and easily re- 

 tapped, and the renewed bark must be 

 mature and full of laticiferous cells by 

 the time it has to be tapped a second 

 or third time. All these essentials are 

 found in the use of the spiral system. 

 In this method a series of spiral cuts 

 corkscrewing up the tree are made in 

 the bark, each channel terminating at 

 the base of the trunk. 



For a tree of 18 inches girth, 3 feet 

 from the ground (at which size the 

 commencement of tapping is recom- 

 mended), two spirals are cut, starting 

 at opposite sides of the trunk, and only 

 encircling the trunk once. As the girth 

 of the tree increases, more spirals can 

 be cut between and parallel to these, so 

 that a large tree, of say 60 inches girth. 

 will have 5 spiral channels one foot 

 apart running up the tree to 12 or 15 

 feet high or more. The channels are 

 cut at an angle of 45 degrees— never 

 more obtuse, and even more acute in 

 the case of young trees to allow for 

 the expansion of the trunk. None of 

 the various tapping tools and knives 

 I previously in use in Ceylon or else- 

 where was suited to this system, and 

 the producers of the system had also 

 to evolve a knife to suit the require- 

 ments. This is called the " Bowman- 

 Northway" knife— or knives, rather, as 

 more than one is required. 



The spiral tapping must be carefully 

 carried out to secure the fullest results 

 and to be really economic. It is im- 

 portant that the first cut. which is 

 thereafter to be continually reopened, 

 should be correctly done, and that the 

 corkscrew curves be regular and paral- 

 lel. To do thist he outlines of the ini- 

 tial cuts are carefully marked on the 

 tree with a sheet tin guide and stencil 

 ink. The inventors lay stress on this. 

 The first narrow channel is cut with 

 the Bowman-Northway No. i knife, 

 which gouges out a narrow channel. 

 The latex runs round the spiral and is 

 collected at the base of the tree in cups 

 resting on the ground. At the end of 

 each cut a little tin spout is pushed 

 into the teee , this always remains 

 there, and does away with the constant 

 pushing of the cups into the bark as in 

 the older V system, and thereby need- 

 lessly wounding the bark. If required, 

 to make the latex flow rapidly the whole 



HIQH TAPPINa OF *' HEVEA." 



tThis is a view of a Hevea tree on Deviturai 

 estate, in Ceylon, yielding at the rate of l6 pounds 

 per year. The coolies in the picture had just 

 started, and had not got down to the lower trunk 

 when the photograph was taken. The photo- 

 graphic negative was absolutely untouched. 



