101 



3. The cutting edge must be easily sharpened. For 

 practical work it is essential to keep the knife always 

 sharp. Fine cuts cannot be made with a blunt knife, and 

 the wounds made by it do not readily recover. 



4. The knife should not be expensive. 



We may divide tapping tools into two main groups. 



Firstly, those which have a round edge, and secondly 

 those the edges of which consist of two straight surfaces, 

 giving thereby an angular cut. 



2. TAPPING TOOLS WITH A ROUND EDGE. 



The two primitive tools from which tapping knives 

 under this head have developed are the gouge and the 

 farrier's knife. Both are used on many estates in the 

 Malay Peninsula. With regard to the latter it is difficult 

 to explain why it should be used, as there are certainly 

 knives which possess all the advantages of the farrier's 

 knife and are more easy to handle. 



i . The or o u of e. 



o o 



Thus is an ordinary hollow chisel, varying in width 

 from 5 / 1G " to 3 / 8 ". For older trees with a thick bark, 

 the broader chisels are used, the smaller ones for young 

 trees. In. the hands of experienced tappers, the gouge 

 seems to give very satisfactory results. On estates which 

 showed the best system in their work, getting thirty or 

 more cuts to the inch, the gouge was invariably used. 

 The use of this tool left also nothing to be desired as 

 regards the depth of the cuts. 



The gouge may easily be used to cut in either 



