REPORT OF CHEJIICAE EARORATORY 
415 
carried out. For tliis reason, the collector, who is above all an agriculturalist, makes 
the work of gum collection a secondary matter, and directs his attention primarily to 
the cultivation and harvesting of his crops — dukhn, sesame, dura, etc. These safely 
harvested, he is then willing to devote his time to the gum. It follows from this that 
while the trees are ready for tapping early in the autumn, by far the greater number 
are only tapped in January or February, so that the season of exudation, which ends 
early in May, has a duration of about four months. An attempt is now being made to 
determine the extent to which the quantity and quality of the gum are affected by the 
time of tapping and the length of season of exudation. 
It has been stated by Muriel that Kordofan gum is of two sorts — one obtained from 
tapped trees in private geueinas (gardens), and known as “ hashab geneina,” and the 
other from wild, untapped trees, in unowned forests, and known as “ hashab wady.” At 
the present time there is little or no collection of “wady” gum, all the trees from 
which gum is gathered being under at least nominal ownership, and they ai’e all tapped. 
The name “wady” is now often applied to any large tear of gum which may happen 
to be rather dark in colour. A small amount of gum is always found in the geneinas, 
exuding from natural cracks or fissures in the bark. This is not, strictly speaking, wady 
gum. It is collected along with the gum exuded at the points of tapping. 
Forests of hashab trees from which gum has never been collected are known to 
exist, but these are either in outlying districts, where there is no water during the dry 
season, or, if supplied with wells, the natives of the district are, as yet, unwilling to 
occupy themselves in the industry. 
The working of the whole of the vast gum-producing district of Kordofan is dependent 
upon the existence of a very small number of wells. Geneinas situated within a reasonable 
distance of these are operated with comparative ease, but those further away only 
incompletely and with great difficulty. Those who gather the gum are forced to carry their 
water, food, and the collected gum with them; and as collections take place in the hottest 
and driest months of the year, it is not a matter of surprise that, in most cases, the workers 
will not go any further than their actual needs force them. Steps are now being taken to 
sink welts in suitable places in order to render new forests aY'ailable and the old ones more 
accessible. 
The trees are tapped at a convenient time, between October and February, after the 
cessation of the rains, the season of which usually extends from about the middle of June 
to the end of September. The method of tapping is shown in Fig. 205. It consists in 
cutting the bark with a small axe and tearing off a thin strip, which, as noted by Muriel 
(Inc. cit.), should apparently not be greater than 2 or 3 feet in length and I to 3 inches 
wide, depending upon the size of the branch operated upon. Care is usually taken that the 
incision does not penetrate into the w'ood, a thin layer of the inner bark being left to 
cover it. 
According to Muriel, some 60 days elapse after tapping before the first collection is 
made. It appears, however, that this would be the case only if the weather be exceptionally 
cold. The rate of exudation is found to be closely dependent upon the temperature. If the 
w'eather is very hot there may l)e sufficient gum exuded in a much shoi'ter period, but it is 
allow'ed, in any case, to remain upon the tree at least two weeks in order that the tear may 
be fairly firm. If picked off too early the gum in the interior may be so liquid as to run out 
and leave only a hollow shell, which easily crushes in transit. The effect of heat on gum 
exudation is referred to again. (.sVe page 420.) 
The total number of collections in a season is usually seven or eight. 
Tapping 
season 
“ Hashab 
geneina" and 
“ Hashab 
wady '■ 
Necessity for 
more wells in 
gum districts 
Method of 
lapping 
Conditions 
influencing 
exudation 
