150 THE RUBBER TREE BOOK 



tapping was of the lightest possible description at the surface. 

 The yields of latex were extremely meagre, but, as stated, the 

 rubber was of very unusual strength. 



Tapping on young trees of 24 inches girth and under 3 feet 

 from the ground should never be done higher than 3 to 4 feet 

 from the ground. 



High tapping is bad tapping, everywhere and all the 

 time. 



Before starting to tap, the coolies should see that the trunk 

 of the tree is clean and free from dust. If the bark is very 

 rough, it should be scraped down with the back of the knife. 

 The bark should not be too severely scraped so as to show 

 green, or damage will be done, and probably latex will exude. 



For many systems of tapping, where there are several cuts 

 on the bark of the tree one over the other, it is very advisable 

 to mark the trees with light scores on the bark so as to secure 

 regularity of the tapping lines. It is a very common fault of 

 coolies when tapping to lean more heavily at the end of a cut 

 and take off a thicker paring than is done at the beginning of 

 the cut. This " drooping/' as it is called, is very troublesome. 

 If not checked, small areas of bark are apt to be left isolated or 

 untapped. 



When tapping is first started on young trees what is called 

 the basal V is the method most generally adopted. Very good 

 yields are in most cases obtained from this style of tapping. 

 Mr W. J. Gallagher, late Director of Agriculture, Federated 

 Malay States, however, strongly condemns it. In a pamphlet 

 published in April, 1910, he states as follows: 



" Equally bad is the system sometimes followed on young 

 trees of putting on a V-shaped cut, each of which goes half-way 

 round the tree. An attempt has been made to minimize the 

 evil of this by leaving a strip of bark i inch wide on each side 

 between the cuts. This is soon found to be insufficient. As 

 the material which should go to the roots and all the area below 

 the cuts is stopped when it reaches them, not alone do the 

 upper borders of the cuts renew rapidly, but there is an ex- 

 cessive growth above them and no growth or very little growth 

 below them, with the abnormal result that the tree becomes 

 greater in girth above than it is below the area being tapped. 



