November 1, 1911.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



63 



A MEXICAN PLAN FOR TAPPING "CASTILLOA." 



'T'O the Editor India Rubber World: Some months ago I 

 ■'• contributed to your journal a short article illustrating 

 witli a sketch what I believed to be an advance in the direc- 

 tion of tapping Castilloa 

 with less excision of bark 

 than is the general cus- 

 tom. I took occasion to 

 say that the use of the 

 chisel one and a half inch 

 in width with a long burl 

 was a modification of the 

 Trinidad and Tobago sys- 

 tem, but that my plan 

 provided a permanent sys- 

 tem of channels to con- 

 vey the latex to a cup or 

 other receptacle. I re- 

 gretted to observe that 

 the sketch was defective 

 as published, inasmuch as 

 the chisel cuts were not 

 shown, though a careful 

 reading of the text would 

 perhaps have been suf- 

 ficient. Since then an- 

 other idea has presented 

 itself and is shown in ac- 

 companying sketch. 



This system contem- 

 plates operation on virgin 

 trees, either wild or cul- 

 tivated, such as have not 

 already been scarred by 

 any other plan, or no plan 

 of tapping. To make the 

 application of this method 

 as clear as possible we 

 will assume that a group 

 of trees to be operated 

 upon have a diameter of 

 ten inches, or in round 

 figures a circumference 

 of thirty inches, and the 

 height of the channels to 

 be ten feet from base to 

 upper end. A cord can 

 then be attached to a little 

 peg driven into the bark 

 at ten feet from the 

 ground, drawn tight and 



fastened to another peg at the base of the tree. The entire 

 angle should not describe more than one-third of the circum- 

 ference of the tree. This cord should have a marked line drawn 

 along it on the bark; in other words the bark must be marked 

 with some pigment or colored chalk to serve as a guide for 

 the tools as extreme care should be exercised to have these 

 channels correctly made. The excision need not exceed more 

 than one-half of the thickness of the bark. Some difficulty may 

 be experienced in the beginning with individual trees, the latex 

 of which may not be sufficiently fluid to run freely down the 

 channel, but not more than in any other system ; rather less 

 indeed, since the angle is but a few degrees of inclination from 

 the perpendicular, while all other methods as far as I know 

 involves transverse excisions at an angle approximating 45 de- 

 grees, over the lower edge of which the latex often falls. 



The plan now under consideration provides for three of these 



Di.^GRAM Showing Method of 

 Tapping "Castilloa." 



nearly perpendicular channels to be made, not at once but at 

 intervals of three or four months, perhaps longer, according to 

 the vigor and size of the tree; the chisel incisions to be made 

 in a series as shown in sketch. It will be seen that these in- 

 cisions are in strictly perpendicular series and the incline 

 of the long channel is sufficient to catch and guide the latex 

 to the receptacle at the base. 



In establishing the long channels I have said that the excision 

 need not be made more than half the thickness of the bark. 

 When such latex as may be secured is free from the channel, 

 the knife or cutting point can then be run down the center of 

 the channel, lightly touching the cambium where a much in- 

 creased flow will be had. By this will be understood that most 

 V or U-shaped knives for tapping Castilloa have a fine penknife- 

 like attachment to run down the center of the excision made 

 by the first operation. 



After a proper lapse of time the chisel operation is then 

 worked and no further excision of bark occurs. One great ad- 

 vantage of the slightly inclined long channel is that less pro- 

 portion of bark is removed than with the strictly perpendicular 

 channel with the lateral transverse contributing channels; more- 

 over the growth of new bark is in almost uniform line with the 

 expansion of the tree trunk, and the transverse excrescences 

 are done away with. 



If we are to accept the evidence up to date as final, viz. : 

 that the phenomenon known as wound response, occurring in 

 the tapping of Hevea, is wanting in Castilloa, it stands to reason 

 that with the continuing excision of bark in Castilloa as now 

 generally practised, a time must come when the tree will require 

 a very long rest to restore the connection between the lactici- 

 ferous tubes. Physiologically the union should be made much 

 quicker in the case of incision with the long bevelled chisel. 

 This method is not offered as a final solution of the problem of 

 tapping Castilloa, but I believe it is in the line of progress, and I 

 trust my fellow planters will give it their consideration. 



J. C. Harvey. 

 * * * 



EXTRACT FROM A LETTEK FROM MR. HARVEY, DATE OF AUG. 25/11. 



That which most interests me is the amazing growth made by 

 the Hevea trees in our El Palmar nurseries — since I was last 

 here in May. Just before my departure for England our seed- 

 lings from seeds sown last November stood at a general average 

 of 4 feet. I now find an average growth up to 6 feet, and per- 

 haps one-third of the plants have reached 8 feet, and a few have 

 reached 9 feet. Such astonishing vigor I have rarely seen in any 

 class of plants I have had to deal with. These plants — some 

 5,000 of the best ones — we are about to transport to permanent 

 position with new nurseries ready for the daily expected receipt 

 of 100,000 seeds from Cevlon. 



A recent communication of the Tehauntepec Rubber Culture 

 Co., New York, whose property is at Plantation Rubio, Coatza- 

 coalcos, Vera Cruz, Mexico, contains the following statement: 

 "Since the report of May 26, tapping has been continued as 

 the season permitted. Twenty-two thousand seven hundred and 

 eighty trees, with a circumference of 12 to 15 inches 3 feet from 

 the ground, not previously tapped, produced 633 pounds of rub- 

 ber, shipping weight, with a cost for tapping of 374 labor days. 

 Eight hundred and forty-five re-tapped trees, 16 inches and up- 

 ward in circumference 3 feet from the ground, produced 22 

 pounds of rubber, shipping weight, with a cost of 40 labor days 

 for tapping. 



"The present policy of the company is to produce all the 

 rubber that can be produced without injury to the trees, to im- 

 prove so far as possible the physical condition of the trees and 

 of the soil, and to discover and apply the methods which will 

 produce Castilloa rubber in the largest quantity, of the best 

 quality, and at the lowest cost." 



