82 THE WHOLE ART OF RUBBER-GROWING 



Elsewhere I have made mention of the fact that 

 one of the many extraordinary characteristics 

 which environment has conferred upon the Ceara 

 tree in Ceylon is that of the behaviour of the latex 

 of a manipulated tree. In its native country 

 this peculiarity does not exist. The plant is very 

 shy and requires repeated gentle coaxings before it 

 will respond freely to the knife, and even then the 

 milk flows very sluggishly, is thick, and coagulates 

 hurriedly without the aid of acid or any other reagent 

 but the air. 



T n Ceylon, however, the latex flows freely and in- 

 stantaneously, which is a great advantage, as it 

 enables the planter to prepare his rubber on 

 up-to-date lines and to obtain for the product a price 

 absolutely impossible when prepared in the familiar 

 " scrap " form in which Ceara rubber usually 

 reaches the market. Unfortunately there are not 

 many owners of Ceara rubber plantations acquainted 

 with these methods, the most important details of 

 which are perhaps centred in the system under 

 which the tree is tapped, and only the oldest trees 

 can be subjected to this treatment with any degree 

 of safety. 



A sketch of the system is appended. The tree is 

 first stripped of its outer bark and the green inner 

 bark exposed for several weeks until it presents a 

 very hardened surface. Tapping is then commenced. 

 Having marked off the height limit — 42 inches from 

 the base — to which the tree is to be tapped, the bark 

 is incised over the whole of the operating 

 area by a straight vertical cut made down the 



