36 THE WHOLE ART OF RUBBER-GROWING 



into quarter sections and only removing the bark 

 every other day. The yield in these cases of course 

 is very small, but the dangers attendant on bark 

 removal is reduced to a minimum, and that is every- 

 thing to a man who cannot shut his eyes to the fact 

 that in the absence of any real practical knowledge 

 on the subject of the safe tapping of plantation Hevea 

 the future of the industry and with it his own fortune 

 lies largely in the lap of the gods. 



I had the opportunity of examining carefully a 

 number of estates that for over a year had been 

 subjected to the Fitting method, and in every case I 

 found evidences either of damage to the cambium or 

 pest attack by " borer " where the coolie had ex- 

 posed the soft tissues behind the lactic vessels to 

 -rain or water (which is now universally used to 

 induce flow of latex) and other foreign agent. 



Mr. Kelway Bamber, perhaps one of the most 

 capable and clearest-headed men in the Mid- 

 East, has been conducting some very interesting ex- 

 periments at Peradeniya Gardens with a view to 

 obviating the dangers to which I have referred. His 

 most promising system, which is fully illustrated 

 herewith, is that of straight vertical cuts, each 

 6 feet in length and f inch broad. Two such cuts are 

 made in the tree every third day, and as much as 

 I lb. of dry rubber has been obtained under this 

 method from trees only 4J years old. Many are in- 

 clined to believe that vertical tapping carefully con- 

 ducted may eventually supersede every other method. 

 It is cheaper, easier, and certainly safer than any 

 system ever yet tried in Ceylon, whilst the actual 



