78 TARA RUBBER. 



to obtain a maximum amount of rubber from a tree at a 

 minimum cost, and at the same time inflict a minimum amount 

 of injury to its vitality. 



FLOW OF LATEX INCREASED BY WOUNDING THE TREE. 



Tapping experiments prove that the amount of latex yielded 

 generally increases day by day until about the seventh day, and 

 then gradually decreases ; but the length of the period which 

 must elapse before the maximum yield is obtained will naturally 

 vary considerably in different places, and even trees on the same 

 plantation behave differently. 



In some cases the maximum yield is obtained as early as the 

 third day, but in other cases not until the fourteenth. 



The extraordinary manner in which the flow of latex is 

 accelerated by wounding the tree is well known to the native 

 collectors in Brazil, who state that the rubber trees do not yield 

 satisfactorily until they are "accustomed" to being tapped, 

 Wounding increases the flow of latex towards the injured portions, 

 so that it is advisable that successive tappings should be adjacent 

 to preceding ones, in order to take advantage of this curious 

 phenomenon. 



WHEN TO "TAP." 



Tapping should take place either during the morning or the 

 evening, but preferably during the morning, as the flow of latex 

 is then more abundant. On no account should tapping take 

 place during the heat of the day. 



Before commencing operations the trunk of the tree must be 

 thoroughly cleared of all dirt, loose bark, or plant growths, to a 

 distance of 6 feet from the ground. 



Mr Ridley reports* that he was informed by M. Bonnechaux, 

 a man of great experience in the rubber business of the Amazons, 

 and who had spent some time among the Serengueiros investi- 

 gating their methods and collecting notes and observations on 

 all subjects connected with Para rubber, trees there are tapped 

 for 1 80 days continuously and then allowed to rest for six 



* Straits Settlements Agricultural Bulletin, vol. ii., p. 44. 



