103 



direction. The handle is held with one hand which 

 pushes it along, and the shank of the blade is steadied 

 with the other hand which also serves to give the 

 proper direction and inclination to the tool, and regulates 

 the depth of the cut. The gouge should be so held that 

 the centre of the back of the hollow blade lies just on 

 the marked out line. To put it geometrically, a line 

 drawn perpendicular to the axis of the gouge should 

 make an angle of 45 with the cambium. Figure 37 

 illustrates the position of the tool. The handle is held 

 as near as possible to the tree so that the long axis 

 of the chisel approaches the cambium as nearly as 

 possible. 



With trees of a good girth this is not difficult, but 

 with young trees, the cooly's fingers are somewhat in 

 his way. When thin trees have therefore to be tapped 

 a bent gouge is used which facilitates matters. The 

 gouge can be easily sharpened, is very cheap, costing 

 only about 50 cents retail, and is the most simple tool 

 which can be used. 



2. The Farrier's Knife. 



In its most simple form this knife consists of a broad 

 blade, a little thinner at the extremity, the point of 

 which is curved. Both edges of the blade are sharp at 

 the curved part; this therefore allows cuts to be made 

 in both directions, making a small channel of the width 

 of the cut. The knife is cheap and very simple, so that 

 any native blacksmith can make it, although as a rule 

 he will rarely follow his pattern with exactitude. Care 

 should be taken that the curved portion is not made 



