720 PROPERTIES, HARVESTING AND DISPOSAL OF RESIN. 



in diameter and 80 to 120 centimeters (2J to 4 feet) long, is 

 bored with an auger into the trunk of a tree as near the 

 ground as possible, sloping upwards and passing across the 

 axis of the tree. Crude resin exudes through this hole into a 

 pot placed at its entrance, from which it is guided to the pot 

 by a piece of spruce bark. Impurities are kept out by cover- 

 ing the pot with a leafy branch of spruce or a piece of bark 

 (Fig. 378). 



Eesin-tapping exhausts the larch, so that the resin is 



Fig. 385. Styrian method of tapping larch. 



collected for a season only at a time, the hole being then 

 stopped with a piece of wood which is removed after a rest of 

 from two to six years, when the flow of resin recommences. 

 By means of this precaution the tree may be tapped for 30 

 years, or more. 



(b) Tyrolese Method. In this case (Fig. 386) the hole in 

 the larch tree is somewhat larger than the preceding one 

 (3 centimeters) and is either bored horizontally or at an angle 

 towards the axis of the tree, being", then closed by a plug. 

 The resin which accumulates in this hole is removed in 

 autumn by means of a specially made spoon. 



The process is carried on only at intervals, as in the pre- 

 ceding case; but, though it yields more resin at first, it 



