116 



a proper return without the trees suffering from over 

 rough and too deep tapping-. 



Generally the extreme height to which tapping is 

 limited is about six feet above the soil; if women are used 

 on the work, it will be lower than this, or the two 

 highest cuts would have to be put on by men. If tapping 

 at a greater height than six feet is practised, ladders 

 must be made use of, and men alone are competent 

 for this work. 



A tapper can make about a thousand cuts a day, good 

 men can make 1,400 daily. The number of cuts depends 

 to a great extent on the system of tapping adopted - 

 when there are only two cuts per tree to be made, the 

 coolies must walk a greater distance than if three or 

 four cuts are to be made. 



On one estate I visited, the coolies did 110 trees per 

 day on an average, with 6 to 8 cuts per tree ; the gathe- 

 ring of the scrap was done by the same workpeople 

 and was included in the daily labour. 



If two quarter sections per tree are to be tapped with 

 a half herring bone of 4 cuts, daily, a conservative 

 estimate would allow one workman per 100 trees. Cal- 

 culating 100 trees per acre, which is wide planting, 

 the tapping force required would be one man per 

 acre. If closer planting has been made, the labour force 

 would have to be proportionately increased, but this 

 does not necessarily imply a greater output of rubber. 

 In districts where the price of labour is low, a wide 

 planting distance is advisable so far as the cost of 

 production is concerned. 



The following example has been selected from an estate 

 in full production : 



