COLLECTING THE LATEX. 69 



quantity is yielded by the lower portion of the trunk, and it is 

 doubtful whether any great advantage is gained by tapping 

 higher than about 8 or 9 feet from the ground ; moreover, latex 

 obtained from the young branches contains a greater percentage 

 of resin than that from the trunk. 



The methods employed in tapping rubber trees are extremely 

 varied. 



The rubber collectors in the Amazon valley use a small axe 

 with a wedge-shaped blade about i-i- inch wide. With this 

 they make an upward cut into the bark of the tree, and im- 

 mediately fix beneath the cut a small cup, by means of clay, to 

 collect the latex as it flows from the injured portion. 



The native collectors in West Africa cut a long perpendicular 

 channel in the bark of the tree, and then smaller transverse 

 channels leading into it. The instrument generally employed is 

 a grooved chisel. At the base of the perpendicular incision a 

 receptacle is placed to catch the latex. 



TAPPING IMPLEMENTS. 



Numerous methods of tapping have been evolved since the 

 establishment of the Para rubber industry in the East, but far 

 more numerous are the implements placed on sale as being suit- 

 able for effecting these processes. A certain number of these 

 implements are useful, but by far the greater number are not, 

 and some of the latter class lead one to doubt whether the 

 inventors have even seen a rubber tree. One of the first knives 

 employed by rubber planters is shown in Fig. 6, i.e, the Eastern 

 Produce and Estates Company's tapping knife. It is compara- 

 tively little used at the present day, as it has been superseded 

 by implements better adapted to the new methods in vogue. 



The handle of this instrument is made of wood and the 

 remaining portion of steel. It is operated with both hands, one 

 holding the handle and the other the neck of the instrument. 

 Tapping is effected by making a downward cut, the wedge- 

 shaped cutting portion of the instrument acting as a safeguard 

 against penetrating too deeply into the trunk of the tree. By 

 the agency of this instrument, and provided its cutting edge be 

 maintained sharp, a thin wedge-shaped piece of bark can be cut 

 out of the trunk with very little difficulty. 



