16 



BULLETIN 229, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



although in second-growth timber this distance may be only from 

 5 to 6 inches. 



The position of the box depends on the configuration of the tree. 

 If the latter leans, as is usually the case, the first box is placed on the 

 side opposite to the direction in which it leans, which is generally the 

 position occupied by the most prominent root. When additional 

 boxes are cut on a leaning tree, the loss occasioned by the gum falling 

 outside the box increases each year the tree is bled; in some cases 

 little, if any, resin, reaches the box from the fourth 

 year's chipping. 



Cornering. Two or three weeks before the chip- 

 ping season opens the "boxes are cornered" (fig. 3 

 (4)). The operation, which is done with an ordinary 

 ax, consists in removing a triangular chip about 1 

 inch thick above the corners of the box, a right- 

 handed and a left-handed man usually working to- 

 gether. The chip is removed by making one gash 

 which rises obliquely from the apex of the triangular 

 opening of the box and another gash which rises 

 perpendicularly from the corner of the box to meet 

 the former. This operation serves to form both a 

 surface for future chipping and channels for guiding 

 the flowing gum into the box. 



Chipping. The scarification of the tree, or chip- 

 ping, begins in early spring, usually in March, and 

 continues each week up to October or November, 

 when the flow of gum practically ceases. The num- 

 ber of chippings is usually 32 per season, although 

 owing to weather or labor conditions it may vary 

 between 28 and 35. 



The instrument used for chipping or making the 

 "streak" is called a "hack" (fig. 4). It consists of 

 a flat, steel blade 2J inches wide, bent into the shape of a U, 

 measuring an inch between the sides. 1 The blade is fastened at 

 right angles to one end of a wooden handle 18 inches long and 2 

 inches in diameter, to the opposite end of which is attached a pear- 

 shaped iron weight weighing from 5 to 7 pounds ; the blade and han- 

 dle weigh about 1 pound. 



The chipper (PL I, fig. 1) stands directly in front of the face and 

 removes with the hack two strips of wood and bark one-half to three- 

 fourths of an inch wide and one-half to 1 J inches deep, parallel with the 

 oblique gashes made in cornering. The removal of the two strips 

 constitutes the "streak," which is in the shape of a V, having an 

 angle of about 95. The apex of the angle is called the "peak" and 



1 Three sizes of hacks are made. The blade described is for a No. 1 size hack. 



FIG. 4. Hack with 

 handle and weight. 



