EXPEEIIIENTS ON GUJI PKOnUCTION IN KORDOFAN 



75 



f^um produced in the country could easily be very much increased without even the 

 necessity of opening up new areas which are not at present developed at all. Mr. Bisset, I'lospect of 

 of the Woods and Forests Department, has shown that clearing the grass awav carefully '"-•nefit from 



, . . ri o . . increasing the 



has a marked beneficial effect in increasing the number of trees by allowing them to obtain numberoftrees 

 a good hold in the first year or two of their life, where they would otherwise simply be °" ^ ^"■''^" *'"''* 

 killed off. I have seen fair-sized tears of gum, an inch and more in diameter, produced by 

 trees three years old, but the natives do not appear to tap their trees until the latter 

 are about six years old. Of course, by tapping the trees at an eai'lier age, there may be a 

 considerable risk of prematurely shortening the gum-producing life of the trees. 



Gum from twentij large trees. — These trees varied considerably more in size than the 

 small trees described above, and were not all equally well preserved. From the general 

 appearance of the trees, however, I should say that they represented an average garden. 

 The following table shows the yield of gum from these trees throughout the season : — 



The average yield of gum from these trees for the season is over two kilogrammes, 

 which again is much higher than the general estimate. Trees Nos. 9, 10 and 13 are 

 remarkable for the exceptionally high yield, and the continued increase in exudation 

 throughout nearly the whole season noticed in No. 9 is very interesting. Individual trees 



